Buddha’s birthday is the anniversary of Shakyamuni Buddha’s birth. In Vietnam, Buddha’s birthday is celebrated on the 15th day of the fourth lunar month of each year. The Buddha Bathing Ceremony is one of the rituals performed on Buddha’s birthday, originating from the story of Buddha’s birth. His mother gave birth to him from the right side, suddenly a lotus flower bounced to support him, at the same time, nine dragons came down from the sky and sprayed two streams of hot and cold water to bathe him. So how to perform the Buddha Bath ritual? Where is “How to bathe Buddha correctly on Buddha’s birthday“? We will guide you in the following article.
How to bathe Buddha correctly on Buddha’s birthday
How to bathe Buddha correctly on Buddha’s birthday
The Buddha Bathing Ceremony was restored to recreate the solemn and mysterious scene when the Buddha was born. This is a solemn ritual during the Buddha’s birthday season. Therefore, the Buddha Bath ceremony is carefully prepared and carried out in a very solemn and dignified manner.
Le Bathing Buddha in addition to the purpose of celebrating Buddha’s birthday, it also has a deep meaning. It is the eradication of impurities, towards the purity of the three karmas of the human body, speech and mind.
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How to prepare items for the Buddha Bath ritual
Prepare the altar and decorate the altar with incense and flowers.
Take a large clean bowl and place it in the center of the altar, then place the Buddha’s birthday statue in the bowl.
Prepare a bowl of scented water for the Buddha bath. The aromatic water for bathing the Buddha is usually cooked with clean water combined with other ingredients such as: jasmine, chrysanthemum flower, grapefruit flower, cinnamon… When the water for the Buddha bath is cooked, let it cool down and then pour it into a clean container. and then sprinkle on more fresh jasmine flowers. Buddha bath water can also use rainwater or cooked purified filtered water.
The Buddha bath water must be eight-merit water, so the person preparing the water must be sincere, fully believe in the merits of the Buddha bath in order to fulfill their vows.
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Performing the Buddha Bath Ritual
At the time of the ceremony, the ashram recites the penitential sutras according to the ritual of the bathing of the Buddha.
At the stage of bathing the Buddha, everyone chanted the Buddha Bath verse and mantra. Then go sequentially to the platform where the Buddha’s birthday statue is placed, hands clasped in reverence. And gently collect water to water the Buddha’s shoulder.
While bathing the Buddha, each person needs a lot of purity, contemplating this clean stream of orange juice will wash the mind. My own thoughts of greed, hate and delusion are cleansed through this merit. Bad thoughts, words and actions are also erased, allowing the mind to become pure, fresh and gentle.
After bathing the Buddha, worship the Buddha and then leave. Don’t push, push or shower the Buddha in a hurry to get rid of tears that will not achieve merit. Because Bathing the Buddha is also bathing ourselves, making the Buddha nature manifest in us.
For temples that do not have an abbot, the Buddha bathing ceremony should also be performed during the Buddha’s birthday celebration. Only the Buddhist who presides over the ceremony should be very sincere, dignified and pure. With careful preparation and devotion from the entire ashram, the Buddha Bath ceremony will surely bring immeasurable merit and dharma bliss to all Buddhists.
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Ways of drawing water to bathe the Buddha
Regarding the extraction of fragrant water for Bathe Buddha, there are the following ways:
Method 1: Take a ladle to collect an arbitrary amount of fragrant water to bathe the Buddha. These do not specify how many buckets of water are to bathe the Buddha. And there is no regulation to pour water on any part of the Buddha statue. When you bathe the Buddha’s mind, visualize that the water will wash away all his sorrows and sins. Thus achieving merits and blessings.
Method 2: Take two ladles of fragrant water and gently water the shoulders of the Buddha. In this way he visualizes two jets of hot and cold water sprayed from the sky by nine dragons to bathe him when he was born. When bathing, the Buddha visualizes the flow of water that cleanses impurities from the body and mind. Pray to keep your mind peaceful and pure in the face of the pros and cons of life.
Method 3: Take three ladles of fragrant water and slowly pour it over the Buddha statue. The first ladle is poured over the top of the Buddha image, the second is poured over the Buddha’s right shoulder, and the third is poured over the Buddha’s left shoulder. When bathing, the Buddha visualizes that these buckets of water will wash away our karma and woes. Make the three karmas of our body, speech and mind pure, our bodies dignified and beautiful.
Method 4: Take three ladles of fragrant water and slowly pour it over the Buddha statue. The first ladle is poured over the left shoulder of the Buddha statue, swearing to abandon all evil. The second ladle is poured over the right shoulder of the Buddha statue, promising to do all good deeds. The third ladle is poured at the Buddha’s feet, vowing to save all sentient beings.
A summary of Shakyamuni Buddha’s life while on earth
Shakyamuni Buddha was born around 624 B.C. He was the Crown Prince of the former Shakyamuni Kingdom, whose name was Siddhartha. His father is King Tinh San, his mother is Queen Ma Da.
According to the recorded documents, the news of the Crown Prince’s birth spread throughout the world and brought joy to the entire Kingdom. The Crown Prince was prophesied to become a monk after seeing signs of old age, sickness, death, and seeing a monk. But the king did not want the Crown Prince to become a monk, rather he wanted the Crown Prince to follow in his footsteps. So, from a young age, the king loved and cared deeply for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was well educated, intellectually competent, literary and martial arts, living in glory and wealth. The king did not let the crown prince know the sufferings of life. The Crown Prince’s life was very peaceful and pure until the year the Crown Prince turned 19 years old.
Day after day, despite living a prosperous life in the palace, the Crown Prince’s heart was still filled with questions about the royal life abroad. The Crown Prince aspires to get out and learn about life outside the palace. He asked his father to let him go for a walk and see the scenery, and his father agreed.
Although every time the Crown Prince’s palace was liberated, the king had arranged it in advance. But God’s will is determined, man cannot change. The first time he left the Crown Prince Citadel, the king led him for a walk through the East, South, and West gates. At these gates the Prince saw an old man, a sick man, and a dead man. The Prince realized that the rich life in the palace was just a lie, the real life of the people was miserable. And the Crown Prince wanted people to be freed from the sufferings of old age, disease, and death. But the Crown Prince did not know what to do to achieve it, so his heart felt heavy.
Until one day, when the Crown Prince walked towards the North Gate and saw a monk meditating under a tree. The monk with a peaceful and compassionate face left a strong impression on the Crown Prince, and the Prince loved him very much. Also from here the path was revealed for the Crown Prince to find the truth of life which is liberation and save sentient beings from suffering. The Crown Prince intended to practice, he gave up Vuong Vi, glory and wealth, on a dark night, the Prince quietly said goodbye to the palace and left to start the path of practice.
Prince Siddhartha passed a series of days of arduous practice and attained the high realm of the Buddha. See through the past and the future, learn the source of suffering and how to get rid of it, and understand the ultimate truths of the universe. He attained enlightenment at the age of 30 and went everywhere preaching Buddhadharma and saving sentient beings. He did that for 50 years until he entered Nirvana at the age of 80.
Reference:
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- The address where the Buddha’s birthday statue and the prestigious Buddha Bathtub are sold
- Shakyamuni Buddha Statue with Flowers and Meaning of Worship
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