Celebrate. . .
This time of year the question arises: “Can Buddhists celebrate Christmas ?”
Christmas is an annual festival celebrated in order to commemorate the birth of Jesus. So Christmas is associated with Christianity or Lord Jesus. So people wonder whether Buddhists celebrate Christmas or not. Many Buddhists have believed that Jesus was a High Bodhisattva and he was a manifestation of Enlighten mind. There was some small evidence that Jesus had travelled to the East and learned Buddhism.
As you all know the traditional Christmas message “Peace on Earth – Goodwill to All”, this message is similar to what Buddhist learn who share the common thread of peace, love, kindness to others and care for others. So generally Buddhists celebrate Christmas but not in a Christian way. They have their own way to celebrate Christmas. So Buddhists often see Jesus as an avatar of being blessed to our beloved Earth.
Everyone knows the Christmas tree. We put up special decorations with lights, bulbs to make it beautiful, colorful and decorative. Well, Buddhists decorate the pine trees but it doesn’t have anything to do with Christmas. Though many people don’t know, but Buddhists celebrate a popular holiday also known as “Bodhi Day” to celebrate Lord Buddha’s enlightenment and achieving nirvana. This is celebrated in December month and they decorate ficus tree or Bodhi tree with multicolor, decoration, bulbs but some may use pine tree used in Christmas. The fact that Western Buddhists are using Christmas trees is actually quite acceptable since Buddhism is also about accepting another religion. So generally it can be said that Buddhists also use Christmas trees but they are used to celebrate their own holiday which goes on for 30 days.
So Buddhists do celebrate Christmas in a non-Christian way. They are happy with celebrating Christmas and having fun with Christmas decoration and enlightening and decorating the Christmas tree.
Peace and Love, Jim
#celebrate #thedailybuddha
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