Enlightenment Achieved: Bodhi Day #bodhiday #buddhism

 

What is Bodhi Day?

Siddhārtha Gautama, a rich prince living in Nepal, lived a life of emmense luxury and knew nothing of the sufferings of the outside world.  Upon leaving the palace one day, he was suddenly struck with the immensity of sufferings and tribulations of others.  This revelation shocked him into seeing the emptiness of his life of leisure and sent him on a quest to understand truly the purpose of life, seeking enlightenment.  For six years, he studied with six different teachers hoping they could help him, putting himself in the most desperate of situations he could, but despite his efforts, he came up lacking.  

There are two days on which Bodhi Day is celebrated, one considered secular and the other the actual day.  The reason for this is that the place where the Bodhi Tree was located, where Siddhartha found enlightenment, is in Bodhgaya, India, which follows the Lunar calendar.  Thus, the days are celebrated differently from each other whether it be the Solar or Lunar Calendar.  The Solar calendar date is always the 8th day of the 12 month, that being, December 8th, and that is considered for the devout, the secular version of the holiday. 

Exhausted and in despair, he collapsed in agony under a tree, today known as the Bodhi Tree, and there he determined to sit until he would achieve enlightenment.  The Holy texts differ in the length of time he sat, either 7 to 49 days, in meditation not peaceful but full of anguish and tumult.  Then, on the 8th day of the 12th day, he awoke from his feverish focus with the Venus, the Morning star in his focus.  And, with that light, came upon his light, enlightenment achieved.  

Four Noble Truths

 All of the baggage and tricks in his mind dissolved into silence and peace, he truly saw and understood for the first time what would be the basis of the Four Noble Truths, leading him to become The Buddha.

As he sat there in this new discovery, a girl from the village came by, offering him a meal of rice and milk, which sustained him as he began his 40 days of teaching.  

In any religious or spiritual practice, or even having none, finding stillness within is important for all.  In this fast paced world full of its daily tumult, this importance is even more paramount.  My deepist wish is that time is taken from the busyness to ponder the significance of Bodhi Day for oneself personally.  My belief is that this holiday fits well with the other holidays of this month in preparation for each celebration and the beginning of the New Year.

Bodhi Day

Articles used as reference:

Bodhi Day 2022: Date, History and Significance

When is Bodhi Day 2018?

https://bodhiday.org/

Sinners Every One Of Us #confession #spirituality

 

Few things accelerate the peace process 

as much as humbly admitting our own 

wrongdoing and asking forgiveness. 

- Lee Strobel

In the days after my leaving the church, as I stumbled through the painful path of deconstruction, I came upon the Hindu text, Srimad Bhagavatam, and read it throughout the year of 2016, some six years after my last Sunday morning church service.  What I found began to soften the wound from the church's failings and afflictions, widened my appreciation for the spiritual paths of others, and quickened the path toward healing.  For I discovered was that there more similarities rather than differences between the Hindu text and the Christian Bible as the phrasing of scriptures found in both seemed to reflect universal truths of a eternal connection with the divine.  This realization began the process of forgiveness for the hurts left over from my fundie connections and the healing commenced.  My belief suddenly revealed itself to be, if these texts reflected these similarities and other spiritual practices were alike, then perhaps the solution to my deconstruction is to reconstruct, now viewing that since many of all walks of life, religion, nationalities throughout all of time have sought something beyond understanding, there must then be universal truth.  Finally, all paths do, in fact, lead to God.

Recently, I was discussing with a co-worker about one of the ways that therapy has helped in my life  by giving me the desire to be radically and authentically honest.  She and I discussed how most of the general public do not practice this in their day to day life and instead choose to dwell within the stories created in their mind fraught with pain easily released if one should admit and ask for clarification.  However, this is easier said than done, and as my colleague pointed out, most find false protection in the barrier caused by the stories of their mind and once beaten down will leave to the afeard vulnerability.  However, scary this brokenness may seem from afar, once acquired the pieces lost lend themselves toward true freedom and peace.

This discussion led me back to pondering the similarities in spiritual beliefs and how they also relate to therapeutic method.  The practice of 'confession' sprang up to my mind as I began to seek out the many ways that religions and beliefs encouraged this.  Although there are many differences in how to confess, nevertheless, many of the world spiritual texts, such as the Bible, the Torah, and The Quran, have verses on the importance of confessing one's sins and shortcomings.  For instance, some religions, such as Catholicism believe that confession must be done in the presence of a priest, while others believe none are needed to intercede between God and self, both self alone.  Furthermore, although the Christian faith teaches that confessing sins allows for God's forgiveness, the Jewish belief is not of hell or purgatory but see the act of confession as one of cleansing and purification.  Within Islam, there are two forms of sinning, one against God and one against the religion, with the latter needing reconcialition and retribution to follow after the initial act of confession.  

The thesaurus of Merriam Webster shares that a synonym for confession is admission:

       confession:as in admission
            an open declaration of something (as a fault or the commission of an offense) about oneself
    a confession that he had been lying all along

So, if admission is akin to confession, then the act of therapy can align itself with spiritual practice in that one shares their struggles with a third, non-bias party, such as a counselor or social worker.  It is important in this regard that mental illness or struggles are not equated with the notion of sin, however, the therapeutic process of sharing is similar in relief to one's confession  within spirituality. 

Upon this revelation, I return to my earlier resolution that if all spiritual practices share similarities, adding now the process of recovery through the variety of therapy, finally there is universal truth in something beyond which aligns in unity the vast differences of those everywhere seeking for the freedom and peace found within confession. 

Confession is verbal humiliation.

- Richard Sibbes

Where To Find Me

When the lie is deeper than I know

You capture me and You carry me home

You see these wounds and rescue me

You always heal things beautifully

And I close my eyes

And You can still my heart

And I call out Your name…

‘Cause You always know

You always know where to find me…

You always know

You always know where to find me…

Links & Articles Used As Research In This Entry:

confession noun

24 Quotes About Confession

Confession: Is Dr. Freud at War with Religious Beliefs?

Confession (religion)

Confession In Religion

Confession varies among world's major religions