Buddha's Birthday Bash

Buddha’s Birthday Bash

The Lost Sutra

Buddha was
Sitting around with a bunch of the bikkhus under the Banyan tree
When he became aware
Of a ripple of discord that moved through the air
Almost palpably.
It appeared that two of his monks were quarreling
Cautiously, quietly, ever so politely
Citing this teaching and that
Jewel of darma.

The question in dispute?  When to celebrate Buddha's birthday
The Blessed One bade each monk to state his case

One monk, an elder elegantly dressed
Whose silky robes were encrusted with precious stones --
Brilliant emeralds, glittering sapphires, dazzling diamonds
And the roundest, most perfect milk-white pearls --
Told the story of Siddhartha Gautama,
Who some call Shakyamuni the sage.
This prince who was to become the Buddha,
Was born into the royal family of Kapilavastu,
A tiny kingdom in the Himalayan foothills.
His was a divine conception and a miraculous birth,
On the night the Buddha was conceived,
His mother, Queen Maha Maya dreamt
A white elephant with six white tusks
Pierced her right side, and on the night of his birth
She passed from this earth under the light of a full moon.
All the sages foretold he would become a great king,
Conqueror of all the physical world, or of men's minds,
Though none knew which it would be, as we do now.
Thus, said the elder monk, we should honor the Buddha's birthday
On the day his mother the Queen Maya gave him life.

The Blessed One nodded in respect to the elegant monk
And turned to the other, gaunt and more modestly arrayed

The other monk was, underneath her robes, a bhikkuni.
Her head was shaved as smooth as any bhikku's.
Her five-fold robes, plain and unadorned, were woven
By hand from the hemp that grew in nearby Gaya
Dyed ochre from the jackfruit's heartwood
Boiled in water from the Phalgu river
And cut in the pattern of the Magadha padi-fields.
The bhikkuni told how on the day when the Blessed One
Became enlightened, sitting deep in meditation
Under a tree laden with the ripest purple figs,
The Buddha vanished from human sight, unseen --
No form, nor feeling, nor perception,
Nor impulse, nor consciousness. Nothing.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, no mind.
He remained like an empty space beneath a parasol,
Pure light in the shade of the sacred fig tree.
On taking human form again, the Enlightened One
Embodied the fullness of emptiness, as he turned
His spirit to the service of human suffering:
Thus, said the bhikkuni, the Buddha’s birth was his awakening.

The Blessed One nodded his approval to the austere Bhikkuni.
Arranging his shawl on one shoulder, he turned to his companion,
And said, Ananda, both of these, my followers, are right.
How shall I decide?

Ananda replied that since the Buddha represents the Middle Path,
Rejecting both luxury and asceticism, and since the Buddha resides
Within everyone, each of us should celebrate on his or her own birthday.

Then, Buddha remarked, you may all celebrate my birthday
Every day you are alive to draw a breath in this glorious land.
You have limitless opportunity, o Bikkhus, to spread loving kindness,
To relieve the suffering of others and, by doing so, find happiness.

The bikkhus and bhikkunis were pleased with this resolution.
Soon a cake appeared, brought before the Blessed One
By three devoted followers in saffron robes
The cake was adorned with a multitude of beeswax candles,
And sending its light to the four corners of the earth
With his breath, the Buddha blessed the birthday cake
Which the bhikkus and bhikkunis shared to everyone's delight.

So ends this sutra.

- Michael West

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Come celebrate Buddha’s Birthday with a pair of wonderful films and during the intermezzo, a fabulous birthday cake from Cakes by Liz and some other refreshments.  And you may also hear a live performance of the Lost Sutra.

At 4 pm, Crazy Wisdom featuring Pema Chödrön, Bhagavan Das, Ram Dass, James George, Allen Ginsberg, Diana Mukpo, Sakyong Mipham, Robert Thurman and, of course, Chögyam Trungpa.

"In the story of Tibetan Buddhism in the west, 1970 is an almost prehistoric date...... By the decade's end however, the religion was firmly entrenched.  It was a human whirlwind who wrought this change, but at first glance Trungpa looked so unimpressive he was often mistaken for a little Chinese man in a business suit."
- Jeffery Paine, author of Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West

At 730 pm, When the Iron Bird Flies, featuring Tsoknyi Rinpoche III, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Anam Thubten, Choegyal Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, HH Dalai Lama, HH 17th Karmapa, Phakchok Rinpoche, Khandro Rinpoche, and Mingyur Rinpoche. Western teachers and scholars featured in the film include Gerardo Abboud, Tsultrim Allione, Dr. Richard Davidson, Dr. Rita Gross, Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyal, Fleet Maull, Reggie Ray, Sharon Salzberg, Marcia Binder-Schmidt, E. Gene Smith, Matthieu Ricard, and Alan Wallace.

"When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the fac of the earth."  
- Guru Padmasambhava, 8th century