Bathing the Buddha to Purify the Mind and Celebrate Vesak day
Article by Sis Huarong (translated by TMBS Translation Team)
On 26 May 2024, the students, teachers and parents held a Bathing-the-Buddha ceremony to celebrate Vesak Day after the Sunday Children Dharma Class’s morning puja service.
The day started with the students watching an animation film on the life of the Buddha. Then, the teachers gave a brief introduction on Vesak Day. Afterwards, everyone joyfully participated in the Bathing-the-Buddha ceremony. One by one, the children reverently scooped water that was infused with the fragrance of flowers and poured it over the shoulders of Prince Siddhartha. Their pure, innocent faces appeared even more radiant and adorable after bathing the Buddha!
This year, Brother He Xun, who was also from the Sunday Children Dharma Class more than 20 years ago, drew a painting to celebrate Vesak Day. It depicts the Buddha saving sentient beings from the sea of life and death, to finally reaching the other shore. At the same time, each of the students were given a copy of the painting and encouraged to draw their own designs and colour it. Based on their different feelings about the Buddha’s salvation of sentient beings, each created their own unique art. These carefully crafted drawings, when displayed together, were full of colour and creativity, showcasing the students’ understanding of the Buddha and the Dharma.
Next, under the guidance of Uncle Alvin, a parent volunteer, students and teachers formed seven groups to play the game – Spinning the Wheel. When the wheel landed on words like ‘birth,’ ‘enlightenment,’ or ‘Nirvana,’ everyone had to quickly make the corresponding gesture, and the group that completed first would get the highest score. Some pointed one hand to the sky and the other hand to the ground, mimicking the pose of Prince Siddhartha at birth. Others sat cross-legged, imitating the Buddha’s posture during enlightenment, and some laid on their right side, representing the Buddha entering Nirvana. Through the game, everyone gained a deeper understanding of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and Nirvana.
The Buddha Dharma is everywhere in our present world and are realized through worldly awareness. May it blossom like a lotus in the hearts of the young.
