This week we have been finding out about the Buddhist festival of Wesak . . .
Wesak is the most important festival for Buddhists - it generally falls on the first full moon in May and celebrates the Buddha's birthday. For many Buddhists the day also marks the Buddha's enlightenment and death. This year, it was celebrated on June 1st.
Having watched a video that included a walking meditation - walking slowly around the circle of water - we thought we would have a go ourselves - it was very peaceful!
The 'Bathing the Buddha' ceremony is also often included. Water is poured over the shoulders of the Buddha as a reminder to purify our own minds from greed, hatred and ignorance.
Gifts are taken to an alter to be offered to the Buddha statues . This shows respect and gratitude to the Buddha for his life and teachings.
Buddhist teachings remind us that working together and being kind to each other is really important. We sat down together under one of our trees and imagined that it was a Bodhi tree - we shared our fruit and sang a song for Wesak and listened to a rhyme about the Golden Buddha.
The mandala is a sacred space, often a circle, which reveals some inner truth about you or the world around you. Buddhists use mandalas for meditation and in their art - we created our own collaborative mandala using flower petals!
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