Sagadawa: May 12 – June 9, 2021

Sagadawa is the 4th month of the Buddhist calendar during which Buddha Shakyamuni was born, attained enlightenment, and entered parinirvana (passed away). Buddha Shakyamuni was born as Prince Siddhartha in Lumbini, Nepal around 560 BC. At age 29, after witnessing firsthand the sufferings of this life and recognizing his own mortality, Prince Siddhartha left his privileged life in the palace and embarked on a personal search for ultimate truth and lasting happiness. After wandering for many years practicing various forms of asceticism, Siddhartha reached Bodhgaya, India where he remained in meditation under the Bodhi tree.

At age 35 after 6 years of ascetic practice the Prince Siddhartha understood the true way to achieve enlightenment was not through harsh physical practice but rather through gaining insight into the ultimate truth of all phenomena. Sitting at the foot of the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, India and vowing not to move until he had achieved complete enlightenment, after 14 days Prince Siddhartha finally found what he had been searching for – freedom from all suffering by the true nature of all phenomena. Awakening from the sleep of ordinary perception and achieving enlightenment, from this time on Prince Siddhartha was known as Buddha Shakyamuni.

For the following 45 years Buddha Shakyamuni traveled and offered teachings wherever he was requested to do so. At age 81, in order to demonstrate to his students the impermanence of all things and to inspire them to practice well, Buddha Shakyamuni entered parinirvana. To honour this final teaching Buddhists take the opportunity during this special month of Sagadawa to devote more attention to spiritual practice.

Kushok has advised that due to the blessings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s practice, the results of the actions we do during this entire month are multiplied 100,000 times.

Please take time each day during this month to recite special prayers such as the Twelve Deeds of Shakyamuni Buddha, the Verses of the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones, and long life prayers for His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and Kushok.