Lunar Observance Days (Uposatha)

AccessToInsight.org (BUDDHIST CALENDAR); Wisdom Quarterly

Moon phases (pattykamson.wordpress.com)

 

Uposatha  or traditional Buddhist observance days mark renewed dedication to Dharma practice.

  

Such weekly days are observed by lay and monastic Buddhists throughout the Theravada Buddhist world.

  

Monastics may engage in more intensive contemplation and meditation. In many monastic residences physical labor (repairs, construction projects, cleaning) is curtailed.

  

On new and full moon days the fortnightly recitation and confession of the Patimokkha (monastic discipline) takes place.

  

Lay Buddhists may observe the Eight Precepts as a means of supporting their meditation practice and as a way to reinvigorate commitment to the Dharma. 

  

Whenever possible, lay people use these days as an opportunity to visit the local abbey to make special offerings to the Sangha, listen to the Dharma, and practice meditation with good companions (kalyana mitta) late into the night.

  

For those without a local monastery, one may step up one's meditation efforts while drawing inspiration from millions of other practitioners around the world.

  

• Discourse on the Roots of Uposatha (AN 3.70)
• Discourse on Uposatha Observance (AN 8.41)
• Discourse to Visakha on Uposatha (AN 8.43)
• To the Sakyans (on Uposatha) (AN 10.46)
• Ven. Ñanavara's Q&A about Uposatha
• Lay Buddhist Practice (Ven. Khantipalo, BPS)

The observance day calendar is calculated using a complex traditional formula loosely based on the ancient lunar calendar. This means that the resulting dates do not always coincide with the actual astronomical dates. Further complicating matters, each sect within the Theravada tradition tends to follow a slightly different calendar.

  

But several full moon days hold special significance on the Buddhist calendar: The most significant of all is Vesak (Visakha Puja) usually in May.

This day is sometimes called "Buddha Day" since it commemorates three key events in the Buddha's life all of which took place on the full moon day: birth, enlightenment, and final nirvana.