Buddha Purnima 2011 celebrated at Thubten Lekshey Ling

May 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Today, the 17th of May is Buddha Purnima according to Indian calendar. This marks the anniversary of three important events in the life of Gautama Buddha. These are his birth, his enlightenment and his final passing away to the state beyond all suffering. Thubten Lekshey Ling Nyingma Buddhist Centre (www.lekshey.org) in Bangalore celebrated this occasion with a half day program.

The day started with chanting of praises to the Buddha to reflect on his qualities and attainments and to gain inspiration from that. This was followed by an elaborate offering ceremony according to Bodhicarya-avataara, a classic text from Santideva, the renowned master of Mahayana from sixth Century India. These offerings are ways to open up our minds and eradicate various afflicting tendencies. "Though we make actual offerings of finest of substances as part of this practice, they are only representative in nature. The most critical aspect in these practices is the mental attitude of offering that is supported through meditations involving elaborate visualization of offering substances", explained Phuntsok Namgyal, the spokesperson for Thubten Lekshey Ling. Many of the participants also used this auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima to renew their Bodhisattva commitment to progress towards enlightenment and benefit all beings without any bias.

This was followed by an ablution ritual where a bath was offered to the Buddha. In this ceremony the bath is given to a mirror on which the Buddha statue is reflected. "The real Buddha is enlightened wisdom and is free from all stains. So, Buddha does not need a bath ceremony. However, the Buddha that we see depends upon our mind. This is why the bath is given to the mirror. It symbolically represents the cleansing of our mental impurities upon which the Buddha qualities innate our being will shine forth vividly. So, this ceremony indicates the long process of Mahayana path where we engage in the path of compassion and wisdom to cleanse our own inner obscuration to reveal our innate Buddha-nature", explain Mr. Namgyal.

There were also recitations of the words of the Buddha, like, the Heart Sutra and Tathagatagarbha-sutra. Group meditations were also conducted.

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Thubten Lekshey Ling is a Nyingma Buddhist Meditation Centre in Bangalore founded by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, the former head of Nyingma school of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. We conduct meditation classes, spiritual discourses and advanced study programs.