Dear Sensei Tony ~ What is the meaning of the Buddha’s Birthday (Hanamatsuri)? This is Bill.

Hi Bill- Hanamatsuri is a Japanese word that means “flower festival”. The Buddhist traditions of temperate climes observe this event during the springtime. While we are a Navayana or new movement in Buddhism, we honor our roots by utilizing certain words in

(stone sculpture of Queen Maya before giving birth - 200 CE Afghanistan)

Japanese terminology. It is known in our liturgical cycle known as the Season of Rebirth. We lift up the miraculous birth of Shakyamuni Buddha by his mother Maya. While we do not take the nativity narrative literally, we do integrate the spiritual meaning. According to the story his mother has a dream of a white male elephant who presents her with a lotus flower and penetrates her womb via her side with his six tusks. The six tusks of the white elephant that impregnates her symbolize the Six Expressions of Oneness (generosity, ethics, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom), representing the qualities of an enlightened being. This elephant is associated with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra who represents ultimate reality and signifies divine conception. Essentially, I see this as a symbolic union of the cosmic energies of the masculine and feminine (Yin and Yang) and the manifestation of the divine and human. Ultimately, it reveals to us our own true nature, the Soul (Ego Self) and Spirit (True Self) as one. When we awaken to our True Self or Buddha/Nirvanic/Universal Consciousness, the Ego Self mindstream is reborn or transmogrified. So, while we celebrate the birth of the pioneer of our faith tradition, we also recognize that his story is a reflection of our own personal “mythic heroes” journey in life. This story also represents a cosmic dimension in that it declares a divine plan of progression in Oneness. It is the joyful recognition of our sacred destiny.