From giving offerings, hosting guided meditation sessions, chanting and observing other rituals online, the practice of Buddhism in Singapore, like other faiths, has evolved as the coronavirus pandemic has restricted religious gatherings at places of worship.
Buddhist temples and groups have found their own innovative ways to continue their spiritual practices in the days leading up to Vesak Day today, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.
Traditionally, Buddhists visit temples on Vesak Day for rituals like chanting, three-step-one-bow and bathing of the Buddha statue, or take part in retreats. With the circuit breaker extended until June 1, temples are not able to organise their usual Vesak activities.
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Watch for the - "Vesak Festival moon"
FULL MOON FOR MAY 7, 2020
May’s full Moon rises on Thursday, May 7! This full Moon will be the last of the three supermoons to occur this year, so don’t miss it! Here’s everything you should know about this month’s full moon, including how it got its name, “The Full Flower Moon.”
May’s full Flower Moon reaches peak illumination at 6:45 A.M. (EDT) on Thursday, May 7. It will be below the horizon at this time, so plan to venture outdoors the night before (Wednesday, May 6) or on Thursday night to get the best view of the bright full Flower Moon! Find out what time the Moon will be visible in your area with our Moonrise and Moonset Calculator. This year, we’ve been enjoying a series of spring supermoons, which began with March’s Worm Moon, culminated in April’s Pink Moon, and will finish with May’s Flower Moon on May 7.
When the full Moon appears this month, it will be ever-so-slightly farther away than it was in April and March. May’s full Moon still qualifies as a supermoon, but it won’t be as bright or as big as the others in the series, technically speaking. However, the difference in distance between its orbit and April’s—about 2500 miles—is not much in the grand scale of space, so you will still see a bright, beautiful supermoon! On average, supermoons are about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical full Moon.
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Vesak Day (韦塞节)
Vesak Day is the most significant day of the Buddhist calendar. It usually falls in May, on the 15th day of the fourth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
On Vesak Day, temples are decorated with flags and flowers. Devoted Buddhists and many observers of the faith congregate at their temple before dawn, saffron-clad monks chant the sutras, the Buddhist flag is raised and the people sing hymns to celebrate the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings) and the Sangha (his disciples).
Worshippers bring offerings of flowers, candles and incense to lay at the feet of the statues. These offerings demonstrate that the believers accept that life, like the offerings, is subject to decay and destruction.
Buddhists believe that performing good deeds on Vesak Day will multiply merit and it is often a day when Buddhist youth organise mass blood donations at hospitals and other Buddhists perform acts of generosity that can include releasing of caged birds and animals, taking goods to the poor and needy, and making gifts to charity. These acts of generosity are also known as Dana.
The celebration concludes with a candlelit procession through the streets. Mahayana Buddhist temples in Singapore, like the Phor Kark, practise the “three-step, one-bow” ritual on Vesak Day. Devotees take steps on both knees, bowing at every third step as they pray for world peace, personal blessings and repentance. The exhausting two-hour procession actually begins 24 hours before, when many reserve a place in the procession.
The main theme of Vesak Day is to practice love, peace and harmony as taught by the Buddha.
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Buddha's Birthday
A statue of the child Gautama Buddha as depicted in his apocryphal story of birth
Buddha's Birthday (Fó Dàn Rì 佛诞日 {Simplified} 佛誕日 {Traditional} is a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mahayana Buddhism to commemorate the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha and founder of Buddhism. According to the Theravada Tripitaka scriptures (from Pali, meaning "three baskets"), Gautama was born in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal, around the year 563 BCE, and raised in Kapilavastu.
The exact date of Buddha's Birthday is based on the Asian lunisolar calendars and is primarily celebrated in Baisakh month of the Buddhist calendar and the Bikram Sambat Hindu calendar, and hence it is also called Vesak. In Nepal, which is considered the birth-country of Buddha, it is celebrated on the full moon day of the Vaisakha month of the Buddhist calendar.
In China, Hong Kong and Korea, it is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. In Nepal and neighboring South Asian and Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), Buddha's birthday Vesak Day (韦塞节) is celebrated on the 15th day of 4th lunar month.
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