Vesak

The practice

Vesak is the most sacred festival of Theravada Buddhism, kept in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, with parallels across the Buddhist world. Tradition holds that the Buddha was born, reached enlightenment, and died on the same day of the year, the full moon of the month of Vesak.

How it is kept

Devotees go to the temple with flowers, candles, and incense, listen to sermons, take the precepts anew, and give alms to monks and to the poor. Homes and streets are lit with lanterns, and in Sri Lanka pandals, great illuminated panels telling stories of the Buddha's life, draw crowds all night.

What it means

One day holds the whole arc of the Buddha's life: birth, awakening, and passing. The lanterns preach the same sermon as the day itself, that a single human life, fully awakened, can light a world.