Never too late to celebrate Enlightenment Day

Rachel and Kathy both offered lovely posts about their belief systems and the holidays. So I'll throw something in, too.

The quote below is from an article written in response to a question about whether Buddhists celebrate Christmas. A number of people at work asked me that question this week, and my reply was, "Sure! Why not?" I'm afraid I'm not great at explaining zen to folks who don't practice it, because I take great delight in ambiguity and have little interest in black and white stuff. So I end up sounding like a blithering idiot. To avoid blogging like a blithering idiot, here's a little compilation of texts that answer the question better than I did this week in the office ;-)

Within a context of non-judgment and non-attachment to transient material phenomena, what's a holiday? Is it a distraction, a hindrance to practice? Should a Buddhist dourly wrap him/herself in black robes and turn his/her back to the tinsel crowd? Is the commercialism of Christmas a deterrent to spiritual growth? Or is this just another opportunity, like everything else in life when seen through the Buddhist perspective, to observe with detachment, but also with affection and concern, to sense the love and generosity and hope that underlies the material display of the season, and to contemplate the meaning of Jesus' life and message?

...Although I have taken vows to follow the Buddhist precepts and to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, I go to a friend's home to eat too much, exchange presents, and play killer Scrabble on Christmas. Why not? Would one cancel out the other?

...Certainly one who calls him or herself a Buddhist could well celebrate Christmas.

...Despite the cultural diversity of world Buddhism, there are some occasions observed by so many Buddhist groups, sects, lineages, retreats, monasteries and local sanghas that one would almost dare to make a generality. This would be Bodhi Day, the day Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. December 8 is widely agreed to be that date.

You can check out the text of an Enlightenment Day speech by a zen master by using this link.

And the last word goes to Seung Sahn, zen master and founder of the Kwan Um school of zen:

A long time ago Shakyamuni Buddha sat under the bodhi tree for six years. Then one morning he saw a star and got enlightenment. In our world many kinds of religion have appeared: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Today many people believe in these religions. In the Buddha's time, also, there were many kinds of religion. But the Buddha left all these beliefs behind and went to the mountain. He only asked himself, "What am I?" Then he attained enlightenment. So Buddhism is a religion of enlightenment, not of belief.

This morning was a wonderful Christmas Eve led primary. The place was packed, and everyone was cheery. We also had a number of new folks. I was a little worried--some of these folks had pretty much no yoga background at all. I'm not sure if they left feeling happy or freaked out. Volleyball Guy tried to narrate what was happening as much as possible to let them know what they were supposed to be doing, and he offered suggestions for many modifications. A busy morning for him! I am curious to ask him about what it feels like, from a teacher's perspective, to have a huge class of experienced folks as well as a significant number of novices to look after.

I trust he'll have a compassionate and humorous (hence, zen-like) answer.