Vesakha Puja day falls on May27th. You do not need a lot of money; in fact a lot of money would not be Buddhist. Buddhism teaches non-attachment therefore no need for money. To say you cannot celebrate this day because of not a lot of money would not be the Buddhist way. Instead what you should do is get everyone that wants to celebrate to bring food to one home.
This takes the need for money away. While in the home you can have a gohonzon table set up, meaning the Buddha alter. Everyone can take the Buddhist vows (refuge in the triple jewels) and the five precepts in front of the alter in pairs of about four people at a time. Make sure to burn incense and candles throughout the house you are using. You can learn to set up your gohonzon table (alter) right here.
You could lead this. Then you can have Dharma music playing from your computer- by using MY personal Dharma radio station: click here. You can also lead the reading of the Heart Sutra using this site: click for the heart Sutra. And then you can have meditation time maybe for one hour and get everyone to chant the Heart Sutra mantra: Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Sam gate Bodhi svaha.
In the Pure Land school of Buddhism it is proper to chant the name of Amitaba Buddha for 24 hours when someone dies over the body, this is before anything is done to the body not even movement can be done till the 24 hours are expired. Vesakha Puja day is not only the celebration of the birth of Buddha Shakyamuni but also the celebration of his death as well as his reaching enlightenment, so chanting will definitely have a proper place in this celebration.
All of this will cost you almost nothing. If you already have someone’s house to use that has a Buddha alter then all of this should cost you absolutely nothing. When hosting the celebration you always want to make sure the participants are told they are free to help. It is everyone’s celebration time not just the host. It should be as it is; truly those that are coming together for Vesakha Puja day are your Sangha, or community of Buddhists.
In the Sangha it is everyone’s responsibility to set up, share in festivities and afterwards to help clean up. Although in many countries around the world there will be large festivals that obviously require a lot of money to make happen, it is not a necessary thing. But on the alternative if you are celebrating alone or just with one or two other people then you can always just go to the closest monastery and spend the day listening to the Dharma, eating the food provided, meditating and chanting with the monks. This is also free and a nice way to celebrate Vesakha Puja day.
Author : Merlyn Seeley
Source : http://www.examiner.com
