WHY BUDDHISTS CELEBRATE NIRVANA DAY
15 FEB 2016 COREY BARNETT World Religion News
Nirvana Day refers to an annual Buddhist festival that is celebrated on February 15th in commemoration of the death of Buddha at the age of 80 years when he reached Nirvana. The day is also known as Parinirvana Day. According to the Buddhist faith, Nirvana is believed to be the festival that marks the end of the cycle of death and rebirth.
The
Buddhist celebrates Buddha’s death since they believe that he had attained his
Enlightenment stage. He spent his last 40 years teaching, and it’s believed
that Buddha met his death in a state of meditation and attained Nirvana.
Buddhism faith teaches that a state of Nirvana is achieved when one gets rid of
every suffering and need.
Today, a Buddhist commemorates
Nirvana Day either through meditation or even going to the Buddhist temples or
monasteries. However, Nirvana Day is celebrated by Buddhists in different ways
all over the globe. There are Buddhists who spend the Parinirvana Day reading
scriptures from the Parinirvana Sutra, an ancient chronicle that explains the
last days of Buddha. Some Buddhists hold their celebrations in monasteries and
treat the festival as a social occasion. They prepare food while others bring
valuable items such as money, clothes and household goods to mark the day.
But why
is Nirvana Day so important to Buddhists? Buddhists use Nirvana Day as an
occasion for reflecting on one’s future death and their relations to friends
and those who have of passed away recently. Buddhist teachings remind them that
everything is temporary, and nothing remains the same. They are encouraged that
matters of death should be accepted as something normal, and it should not
cause grief.
On this festival, meditations are done to the recently deceased so as to give them help and support wherever they are.
Amituofo
.