Abhidhamma Day -

The Full Moon of Thadingyut

The month of Wagaung which we discussed in the last Newsletter is followed by the month of Tawthelin. In this month there are no important religious festivals. As it is a time of heavy rains, life becomes very quiet. Then the rains draw to an end, the month of Thadingyut with its festivities arrives. There are still showers and down pours, but the worst of the monsoon is over. It is again possible to move about and society comes back to life. This month is also very important in the yearly cycle of the bhikkhus, as in this month they end their rains retreat. After three months of contemplative life, they are again allowed to travel and to spend the night in monasteries other than their own.

The Full Moon of Thadingyut is a festival of lights.[1] This may have its origin in pre-Buddhist times, but now the lights are lit to celebrate Abhidhamma day.

At the beginning of the rainy season one year, the Buddha performed the fire and water miracle in the garden of the king of Kosala, in order to discredit the boasts of the naked ascetics. Then he ascended to the Tavatimsa celestial plane where the deva who had been his mother lived. In order to show his gratitude, the Buddha taught his highest teachings, the Abhidhamma, to this deva, and to devas and Brahmas from all the other planes of existence who came to listen. When he had concluded the teaching, which lasted for three months without interruption, on the full moon of Thadingyut, the Buddha announced that he was going to return to the human plane. Sakka, the king of the devas, created three ladders: one made of gold; one made of silver and one made of emeralds. Sakka then placed the ladders so that they touched the earth outside the gate of the city of Sankassa. The devas descended on the golden ladder to the right of the Buddha, the Brahmas on the silver ladder to the left of the Buddha, and the Buddha himself descended on the emerald ladder in the middle, radiating rays of light of six colours. When the Buddha descended, the view from the human realm to all the planes of existence, from the Brahma planes down to the lowest hell, was open, and the whole world-system could be seen without any obstruction. The people were able to see all the devas and Brahmas with their own eyes. All the people of Savatthi, whose journey to Sankassa had been made easily, without the need of provisions, joined with the great devas and Brahmas and the Sangha, led by the two chief disciples, in paying respects to the Buddha.

In former times the return of the Buddha to the human plane was remembered by re-enacting these events in drama and dance. Nowadays, people prefer to listen to sermons and talks by the bhikkhus, rather than watching performances. However, one feature which has remained the same through the ages is the celebration of this important day by the lighting of thousands of oil-lamps and other lights at night. All the pagodas are adorned with innumerable lights; the lakes shine with thousands of floating oil-lamps and there are even lights up in the air, attached to a simple form of hot-air balloon.

The Sangha, on the other hand performs the Pavarana Ceremony on this day. On this occasion all the bhikkhus of a certain monastery come together as for an Uposatha recitation of the code of conduct (the patimokka). Then the bhikkhus invite their elders and each other to point out any mistakes or transgressions which they may have committed in the past year. Then they ask forgiveness of each other and they can start again with a clean slate.

On this day the lay people also make a point of paying respects to their elders, namely to their religious teachers, parents, grandparents and teachers. Everyone visits his elders and teachers and gives suitable offerings and pays respects. The Buddha said that those who respect and worship their elders and teachers will gain long life and fulfil several of the "mangalas," (the different types of happiness found in the mangala sutta). Someone who follows these traditions gains the happiness of paying respects to those worthy of respect; the happiness of dana, of reverence, of humility and gratitude, and of being easy to talk to.

not to be confused with "The Festival of Lights" which will be featured in the next issue

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