Major Events

Vassa: The Theravada calendar centers on a three-month period called vassa, or Rains-retreat. This period begins the day after the full moon in July (or the second full moon if there are two) and ends three months later on the morning after the full moon in October. In India, this corresponds to the first three months of the rainy season, a time when travel is difficult. During this period, all monks must take up residence in a single place, most often in a monastery. They are not allowed to spend the night elsewhere, except for certain allowable reasons, and even then may stay away no more than seven days at a time.
Traditionally, the Rains-retreat is a time for serious meditation and study. Monks may sometimes take special ascetic vows for the duration of the retreat, such as accepting no food aside from what they have received on alms round. Lay people, too, often use the Rains-retreat to accelerate their practice. Often this includes taking the eight precepts, visiting the monastery on a regular basis, or devoting extra time to meditation.
The first day of the retreat is marked by a special ceremony, after the evening chants, during which the monks vow to reside in the monastery throughout the retreat, and ask one another for forgiveness for any wrongs they may have done to one another in the past.

This year Vassa falls on July 30, 2007

Kathina: The month after the Rains-retreat is the kathina season. In the time of the Buddha, this was the month when monks would prepare their requisites for the up-coming eight-month period when they could wander and meditate freely in the wilderness. These preparations would include patching their old robes or sewing new ones if the old ones were beyond repair. Lay supporters thus took the opportunity to provide the monks with cloth at this time, and the Buddha established the custom of the kathina, in which donors would present cloth to a community of monks as a whole. The monks would then make the cloth into a robe within that day and present it to one of their members whose robes were old and worn, or who was deserving in any other way. (The name "kathina" comes from the frame over which the cloth could be stretched while it was sewn, much like the frame used in a quilting bee.)
The texts do not say why the Buddha established this custom, but a few moments' reflection will show that it promotes the virtue of cooperation among the monks and affords the opportunity for senior monks to pass on their sewing skills to more junior monks-skills very important for anyone who has few possessions and wants to be unburdensome to others. To encourage the monks to maintain this custom, the Buddha allowed them to enjoy certain privileges-i.e., to temporarily be freed from certain minor rules-for the remaining four months.
Because the kathina ceremony may be held only during one month of the year, and only once a year in any one monastery, it is considered a very special opportunity for donors to join in and develop the virtue of generosity together.

At Buddha Haksa Temple, the kathina is conducted as follows: The day before the ceremony, monastery supporters help in setting up the tents needed to shelter the many people who are to attend the ceremony. The kathina offerings are placed on tables in front of the meditation hall at Sala-Buddhalavanh, and that night the evening chants include special passages in celebration of the donors' generosity. The next morning, the alms round is held at 9:00 a.m. After the monks have been served their food, the lay participants have their meal, drawing either from the potluck dishes they have brought themselves or from the free food cooked and distributed at food stalls set up in the Basement area.               At noon everyone gathers at the Sala-Buddhalavanh ,     where the donors present the monks with the kathina cloth and other offerings. The monks then conduct a formalized  discussion in which they decide who among them is to receive the cloth, after which they chant blessings for the gathering of donors.
This concludes the ceremony, although the work of making the robe has only begun. Later that evening, after the new robe has been sewn, dyed, and dried, the monk receiving it determines it for use and informs the other monks that the kathina privileges have been properly established. This concludes the activities of the day.

This year the end of Rains-retreat falls on October 26, 2007. The date for the Kathina is scheduled for November 11, 2007.

Religious Holidays:

The Thai religious calendar, like that in Laos and Cambodia, is marked by three holidays. At Buddha Haksa Temple, all three are celebrated in roughly the same manner. After the regular evening chants, the group recites a special passage, describing the meaning and importance of the day, and expressing veneration for the Triple Gem. Then-holding lit candles, incense, and flowers-everyone forms a line and circumambulates the meditation hall three times in homage to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. This is followed by a group meditation period, after which individuals may continue meditating into the night if they wish.

Visakha Puja. This holiday commemorates three events that occurred on the same date: the Buddha's birth; his Awakening 35 years later; and his passing away (parinibbana) 45 years after that. The name of the holiday means the homage (puja) paid on the full moon day of the month of Visakha, which falls in May or early June.

This year Visakha Puja falls on May 31, 2007.

Magha Puja. This holiday falls on the full moon in the month of Magha, (February or early March). On this date, 1,250 fully awakened monks met to pay respect to the Buddha without any prior appointment, and the Buddha gave them one of his most important sermons, summarized in the following verses:

Patient endurance:
the foremost austerity.
Unbinding:
the foremost,
so say the Awakened.
He who injures another
is no contemplative.
He who mistreats another,
no monk.

The non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what's skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
this is the teaching
of the Awakened.

Not disparaging, not injuring,
restraint in line with the Patimokkha,
moderation in food,
dwelling in seclusion,
commitment to the heightened mind:
this is the teaching
of the Awakened.

This year Magha Puja falls on March 3, 2007.

Asalha Puja falls on the full moon in July (or the second if there are two) and commemorates the Buddha's first sermon after his Awakening. The sermon is commonly called Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion, after the following passage which sets out a table (called a "wheel" in ancient India) explaining the four noble truths and the three levels of knowledge appropriate to each:

"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of stress'... 'This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended' ... 'This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the origination of stress' ... 'This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned' ... 'This noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the cessation of stress' ... 'This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly experienced' ... 'This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been directly experienced.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress' ... 'This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed' ... 'This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress has been developed.'"

This year Asalha Puja falls on July 29, 2007.

Songkran (New Year):

The new year in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, is celebrated when the sun enters the actual constellation of Aries. This event, called Songkran, currently occurs around April 13. At Buddha Haksa Temple, the new year is celebrated on a Sunday in early or mid April as follows:
The alms round is held at 9:30 a.m. After the monks have been served their meal, the lay participants have theirs, drawing either from the potluck dishes they have brought themselves or from the free food cooked and distributed at food stalls set up in the Basement area. At noon everyone gathers at the meditation hall. The monks sit in a line in front of the hall. The lay people individually take small bowls of scented water and pour it over the hands of each monk, blessing him with whatever words they find appropriate. (This is the one time during the year when the lay people bless the monks, rather than the other way around.) The monks then chant a blessing, after which the lay people then bless one another in the same fashion. In Thailand, given that April is the hottest month of the year.

The date for the Songkran festival is scheduled for April 15, 2007.