WHY BUDDHISTS
CELEBRATE NIRVANA DAY
15 FEB 2016 COREY
BARNETT World Religion News
Nirvana Day
refers to an annual Buddhist festival that is celebrated on
February 15th in commemoration of the death of Buddha at the age of
80 years when he reached Nirvana. The day is also known as
Parinirvana Day. According to the Buddhist faith, Nirvana is
believed to be the festival that marks the end of the cycle of
death and rebirth.
The Buddhist celebrates Buddha’s death since they
believe that he had attained his Enlightenment stage. He spent his
last 40 years teaching, and it’s believed that Buddha met his death
in a state of meditation and attained Nirvana. Buddhism faith
teaches that a state of Nirvana is achieved when one gets rid of
every suffering and need.
Today, a
Buddhist commemorates Nirvana Day either through meditation or even
going to the Buddhist temples or monasteries. However, Nirvana Day
is celebrated by Buddhists in different ways all over the globe.
There are Buddhists who spend the Parinirvana Day reading
scriptures from the Parinirvana Sutra, an ancient chronicle that
explains the last days of Buddha. Some Buddhists hold their
celebrations in monasteries and treat the festival as a social
occasion. They prepare food while others bring valuable items such
as money, clothes and household goods to mark the
day.
But why is Nirvana Day so important to Buddhists?
Buddhists use Nirvana Day as an occasion for reflecting on one’s
future death and their relations to friends and those who have of
passed away recently. Buddhist teachings remind them that
everything is temporary, and nothing remains the same. They are
encouraged that matters of death should be accepted as something
normal, and it should not cause grief.
On this festival, meditations are done to the recently deceased so
as to give them help and support wherever they are.