Wesak

Happy Wesak day people! Also known as Vesak, Vesākha and Saga Dawa, just to name a few, Wesak day is Guatama Buddha's birthday. It is always held in the first full moon of Taurus, usually in May. All Buddhists celebrate this day as Buddha's birthday, and some also celebrate his enlightenment and death on this day as well. Common practice for Wesak includes wearing white, offering donations to the poor and to charities, visiting and giving to monks, and freely giving the Dharma to people. In temples, flowers are given to represent beauty, and how the flowers will wilt and die, as all things will. Also, water is poured over a statue of baby Guatama Buddha, to represent his birth. All Buddhists are encouraged not to eat any meat on Wesak, and to observe the five precepts (in Sri Lanka, slaughter houses and alcohol shops are closed, on orders from the government). The five precepts are:

1. Do not harm living things
2. Don't steal
3. Do not engage in sexual misconduct
4. Do not lie
5. Don't take intoxicating drugs, such as alcohol

All in all, it's a day for happiness, colourful paintings and decorations, and the like.

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~Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.~