The Meaning of Vesak
Talk delivered by The President
Universal Wisdom Foundation
At the Holy Buddhist Temple
Quezon City, Philippines
May 09, 2009

Venerable Dharma Masters, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Officers of the Diplomatic Corps, Fellow Practitioners, Honored Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of the Universal Wisdom Foundation we join all sentient beings in celebrating Vesak Day.
Vesak is a key festival for all Buddhists everywhere. Indeed, so significant is Vesak, that eight years ago, on March 21, 2001, through the initiative of Dr. Mariano Yupitun, the Founder and President Emeritus of the Universal Wisdom Foundation, Inc., Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Presidential Proclamation No. 24 declaring the full moon day in May every year as Vesak Day.
It was proper and fitting for the President of the Philippines herself to have declared Vesak Day in our country. Vesak marks the four most important events in the life of the Buddha: (1) his birth at Lumbini; (2) his great renunciation when he left the palace in order to find a cure for suffering; (3) his supreme enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh-gaya, Uruvela; and (4) his Parinirvana, when he attained final and complete liberation—freed at last from the residual substrate of the physical and mental constituents.
The importance of Vesak can hardly be overemphasized. Because of Vesak, we and every sentient being can be free at last of suffering.
As Buddhism has spread far and wide to embrace adherents by the hundreds of millions worldwide, we sometimes forget how fortunate we are as a consequence of the Buddha’s Enlightenment.
Sakyamuni lived at a time not unlike our age. Tribal sacrificialism and imperialistic urbanization were the order of the day, initiating a cycle of violence that has continued even down to our present times. But his approach was revolutionary in the sense that he was the first to teach that hatred ceases not by hatred but by love. He taught that one cannot effectively overcome evil by becoming evil; for to meet evil by evil is to surrender to it. True, non-violence may take a longer time, but it is more effective.
Sakyamuni said he taught only two things: suffering and the cessation of suffering. That is why even if he was predicted either to be a world emperor or a Buddha, he chose the latter path because he knew that even a universal monarch could not protect his people from the real enemies—the enemies of birth, illness, old age, and death.
We celebrate Vesak in deep appreciation for the Buddha’s giving us the supreme gift of the Dharma which is the greatest of gifts, which excels all gifts. It behooves us, therefore, on our part, to study and to share, to share and to study the Dharma. More than that, we should live the Dharma, we should let the Dharma manifest through our speech and actions: by being considerate and kind, by being truthful and compassionate; by always keeping the precepts: not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, not to engage in sexual misconduct, not to take intoxicants.
Like we said earlier, the Buddha taught only two things: suffering and the cessation of suffering. That is the good news of Buddhism—that there is a physician and there is a cure. That physician is the Buddha and that medicine is the Dharma. And in this waste land we call samsara, there is no safer refuge than the Triple Gem. That is why every day, many times a day, we repeat the Threefold Refuge to remind ourselves of our good fortune of having found the supreme refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
One of the best ways to hasten one’s journey of self-transformation to perfection is to look for a role model. If you are searching for a role model on which to sculpt your thought, word, and deed to perfection, I think the best model would be the model supreme: Sakyamuni. If you want to be a Buddha, think, speak, and act like a Buddha.
We do not know exactly how Sakyamuni looked like. But I think he was the embodiment of the perfect man, not only spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally, but also physically. There are legends that a statue of him was carved while he was still in the world, a stand-in statue for King Prasenajit of Kosala, while Sakyamuni was away in the Trayastrimsa heaven. I have not seen that statue. But I have gazed at many statues of the Buddha. Each time I gaze at them, I cannot help seeing in the Buddha the model supreme. Even the required measurements laid down in the Buddhist art canon correspond to the ideal physical proportions. If you carefully examine a Buddha statue or painting, observe the proportions, for they are perfect. To gaze at a Buddha image is to gaze at the canon of the perfect body of the Buddha, the Nirmanakaya. Every detail represents harmonious proportion—the spot between the eyebrows, the shape and length of the nose, the perfect shape of the mouth, the eyes—the face itself. Whenever I glance at a statute or image of the Buddha, my thoughts always run this way:
What life so beautifully lived, what heart so pure and kind, what mind so sane and enlightened, what physical beauty perfect and proportioned, what personality so calm and inspiring. Truly Sakyamuni is worthy of all the honor and offering we could render, for truly he achieved the highest perfection of mankind, the full-blown lotus of humanity.
To be a Buddhist is to receive the greatest of privileges in this lifetime and in all lifetimes. To be a Buddhist is to receive from the Buddha the greatest of gifts, and the greatest of gifts that excels all gifts is the Dharma. As we celebrate the great feast of Vesak this year, we prostrate to the Buddha and his gift of the Dharma which truly is lovely at the beginning, lovely in the middle, and lovely at the ending.

Buddha Bathing
Background and Procedure

One of the major activities of Vesak is the Buddha Bathing ritual.
Prince Siddhartha, known as Sakyamuni, was born in Lumbini Park in northern India in the full moon in May approximately 2,553 years ago. It is said that at the time of his birth, nine dragons sprinkled pure water to cleanse the newly born prince. The baby then took seven steps, and at each step a lotus flower sprung from under the ground. Then, with one hand pointing toward the sky and another hand pointing to the ground, the baby said: “In heaven above and on earth below, I vow to liberate all who suffer in these three realms.”
Since the time after the Buddha’s Parinirvana, Buddhists all over the world would celebrate Vesak by using clear, fragrant water to bathe the Baby Buddha statue.
Of the various types of homage to the Buddha, Buddha Bathing is the best. According to the Sutra on the Merit of Bathing the Buddha, it excels the giving of the seven jewels equal to the sands of the Ganges.

Here’s the procedure on how to bathe the Baby Buddha statue:
1. Make a half bow.
2. Scoop a ladle of pure water from the basin.
3. Slowly pour the water over the shoulder (not the head) of the Baby Buddha statue while saying: “May I eliminate all evil thoughts.”
4. Repeat the process, this time say while pouring: “May I cultivate good deeds.”
5. The third time, pour again and say: “May I help all sentient beings.”

The deeper significance of the ritual is not the external bathing itself but rather the cleansing of our delusions that obstruct the Buddha within. The external ceremony, albeit a symbolic reenactment of the heavenly shower of nectar that fell at the time of the Buddha’s birth, is merely an outward sign—a reminder—to emphasize the need to purify our body, speech and actions. When bathing the Buddha, it helps to visualize the water cleansing our own inner poisons of greed, anger, and delusion, while at the same time vowing to keep the Five Precepts and live from now on as the Buddha taught.
You may want to take a few drops from your two fingers of the water with which you bathed the image and place the drops on your own head. This is called “good luck water.”
Buddha Bathing is based on the Sutra on the Merit of Bathing the Buddha (Tripitaka No. 698) and it brings the benefits of good health, long life, prosperity, and happiness to those who practice it. According to this Sutra, your every wish will be fulfilled.