Rohatsu

[Indadhanu]

Rohatsu / Bodhi Day is here (December 1-8 for some) and I thought I'd do a little post about it

Rohatsu is remembered as the week Siddhartha Gautama sat under the Bodhi tree and meditated until he gained enlightenment with the rising of the morning star, which was actually Venus, on December 8, and from then became known as Buddha.

Some traditions celebrate Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death in the same celebration in May (Saga Dawa Duchen / Vesak) rather than December, and some celebrate Vesak and Rohatsu (I do).

I like to celebrate them seperately, even though they are connected, as I think there are different things to be thought about at each celebration (life and death during Vesak, and future directions during Rohatsu).

So what do people do during Rohatsu? Well, I have to celebrate a little differently this year, as most people fast from December 1.
Obviously, with little Bubble in there at the moment, I can't do that.
As well as fasting, there is usually sunrise to sunset meditations from december 1, with an all night meditation december 7, and a feast on the morning of December 8 after sunrise to celebrate.
I don't have the concentration or stamina to even attempt an all day meditation (and thanks to Bubble I generally fall asleep halfway through or need to get up and pee every 20 minutes...) so I am trying 2-3hr blocks once or twice a day.
I think I will still have that feast on Saturday though and make a nice cooked vegetarian breakfast.

Though I think, even if you aren't strictly following it, or even strictly Buddhist, there is a lot to learn from Rohatsu, even if it is just reflection on the past and thoughts about the future. This year most of my thoughts are central to Shel and Bubble, my future with them, and my plans for the next few years...
I guess you could say it is a bit like a week of planning your new year resolution LOL

[rosehannah]

Thanks for sharing Alisia, that is very interesting , I had not heard of Rohatsu before but I love hearing about what other people are doing. I have tried meditating on things but have trouble quieting my mined.

[mrsmac]

Thanks for this information, my class are doing celebrations this term so I can tell them about this now. We have been looking at celebrations from all different cultures and religions, it has been very interesting for all of us.

[reneenay]

Gosh I didn’t even know the date that he gained enlightenment was known!! Oops!

Alisia - I was wondering, why are there so many different images of the buddah? I understand there are different forms of Buddism like zen buddhism, tibetan buddhism & theravada buddhism. Is it because of this reason?

Sorry if it’s a daft question I’m still learning