Dhr. Seven, Bhante, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
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| The Moon will be big, bright, yellow, and very close tonight (latimes.com) |
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| Honey full moon lunar observance or Madhu Purnima (thedailystar.net, 9-12-11) |
Tonight,
Chandra/Luna the Moon is providing a spectacular show in the sky (
akasha) above
Bhumi (Earth/Gaia). Every month has a full moon, a "month" (which we should call a
moonth) being four weeks, a week being seven days, a day being 24 hours. Because with arithmetic like this, a year is 364 days (13x28) or 13 months rather than 12. The last or 365th day is New Year's Day, a fresh start, and resets the calendar. That is how it was, and that is how it would be, if we reverted to the more accurate, useful, and intuitive lunar calendar. The ancient societies had versions of it, not the least of which was the Buddhist calendar and the more ancient
Mayan
calendar. Buddhism, using Indian time, celebrated the lunar days of the new moon, quarter moon, half moon, and full moon as
uposatha or "observance" days of intensive meditation, study, and hearing the Dharma. The tradition lives on around the world, including the USA. Seek out any
Mahayana (Japanese
roku sainichi)
or Theravada temple, be it Thai, Burmese, Sri Lankan, Cambodian (Khmer), Laotian, Bangladeshi (East Bengal), or Indonesian, and feel free to participate in its monthly observance, dressed in white, practicing devotional activities, recalling the Buddha, endeavoring to comprehend the Dharma, and eating great ethnic foods. There are are least 25 temples to choose from in greater Los Angeles. The "
Full Moon Honey Offering" is a special
poornima or "full moon" observance day relating to remarkable event in the forest between the Buddha and a generous monkey and attentive elephant. Ancient yogic tradition calls for fasting on full moon days. The Buddha modified this to mean not eating after noon, which is the daily practice of Theravada monastics.
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