Thursday, May 12, 2011

Happy Wesak 2011

Wat Deva Raja Banphot wish all devotees Happy Wesak and may all be happy and prosperous always.

(Wat Deva Raja Banphot mengucapkan Selamat Hari Wesak kepada semua penganut agama Buddha dan semoga semuanya akan mendapat keberkatan dan kesempurnaan di dalam menjalankan kewajipan seharian)

Sadhu.Sadhu.Sadhu..

Monday, November 1, 2010

Sangha Phapa & Loy Krathong 2010

Wat Deva Raja Banphot dengan berbesar hati ingin menjemput semua untuk menghadiri upacara Sangha Phapa dan perayaan Loy Krathong pada 13hb November 2010(Sabtu).

Devotees, well wishers and friends of the dhamma.

May All of you be well and happy.

In conjunction with the ending of the bhuddist lent, we are celebrating Sangha Phapa (Robe offering to the sangha members) on Saturday 13th November 2010 @ 2.00pm and Loy Krathong @ 8.30pm.

All devotees and well wishers are most welcome to share in this merit making.

Programme:

November 12, 2010 (Friday)

7.00pm ~ Offering of auspicious lamps
8.00pm ~ Chanting of parittas by venerable sangha
9.00pm ~ Transfers of merit by fellow devotees

November 13, 2010 (Saturday)

7.00am ~ Buddha puja and offering breakfast to venerable sangha
10.30am ~ Chanting of parittas for Tak Bart (Filling alms bowl)
11.30am ~ Lunch for the sangha members
12.30pm ~ Lunch for devotees and well wishers
1.30pm ~ Procession round of the bodhi tree with robes and others
2.30pm ~ Offering of the robes to the members of the sangha
~ Transfers of merit to all living beings
7.00pm ~ Dinner for all well wishers and devotees
8.30pm ~ Loy Krathong

Friday, April 9, 2010

Songkran

The Songkran festival (Thai: สงกรานต์, from Sanskrit saṅkrānti, "astrological passage") is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. It coincides with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia.
The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off are taken on the weekdays immediately following. If they fall in the middle of the week, many Thai take off from the previous Friday until the following Monday. Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter 1 April was used until 1940. 1 January is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then.
Songkran originally was celebrated only in the north of Thailand, and was probably brought there by the Burmese, who adapted it from the Indian Holi festival. It spread across Thailand in the mid 20th century and is now observed even in the far south. However, the most famous Songkran celebrations are still in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture.

The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. Thais roam the streets with containers of water or water guns (sometimes mixed with mentholated talc), or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby. This, however, was not always the main activity of this festival. Songkran was traditionally a time to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends and neighbors.
Besides the throwing of water, people celebrating Songkran may also go to a wat (Buddhist monastery) to pray and give food to monks. They may also cleanse Buddha images from household shrines as well as Buddha images at monasteries by gently pouring water mixed with a Thai fragrance (Thai: น้ำอบไทย) over them. It is believed that doing this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year. In many cities, such as Chiang Mai, the Buddha images from all of the city's important monasteries are paraded through the streets so that people can toss water at them, ritually 'bathing' the images, as they pass by on ornately decorated floats. In northern Thailand, people may carry handfuls of sand to their neighborhood monastery in order to recompense the dirt that they have carried away on their feet during the rest of the year. The sand is then sculpted into stupa-shaped piles and decorated with colorful flags.
Some people make New Year resolutions - to refrain from bad behavior, or to do good things. Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal. Besides washing household Buddha images, many Thais also take this opportunity to give their home a thorough cleaning.

The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. Among young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles.
Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and religious aspects.
The water is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad away and is sometimes filled with fragrant herbs when celebrated in the correct traditional manner.
Songkran is also celebrated in many places with a pageant in which young women demonstrate their beauty and unique talents, as judged by the audience.
Astrological calculation although the traditional calendar of Thailand like most of Southeast Asia utilizes a lunisolar calendar, the date of the new year was calculated on a purely solar basis. The term Songkran comes from Sanskrit "Sankranta" and means "a move or change" - in this case the move of the sun into the Aries zodiac. Originally this happened at the vernal equinox, but, as the Thai astrology did not observe precession, the date moved from March to April.
There is a similar named Indian Festival called as Sankrant or Makar Sankranti celebrated on 14 January every year.
The traditional new year celebration in Sri Lanka also coincides with the Thai new year.

The traditional greeting is "สวัสดีปีใหม่" (sa-wat-dee pee mai), basically "Happy New Year". Sawatdee is also used for "hello" or "goodbye" (Romanized spellings may vary between sawatdee, sawadee and sawasdee). Pee and mai means "year" and "new" respectively in Thai. Another greeting used is "สุขสันต์ปีใหม่" (suk-san pee mai), where suksan means "happy".
However, most people use "สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์" (suk-san wan songkran) — meaning "Happy Songkran Day" — since pee mai is more often linked with the first of January. Suksan is also used as an attribute for other days such as Valentine's Day ("สุขสันต์วันแห่งความรัก" suk-san wan haeng khwam rak; Happy Valentine's Day).
In other calendars, Songkran is also celebrated in Laos (called pee mai lao), Cambodia (called Chaul Chnam Thmey, Cambodian New Year), Myanmar (called Thingyan), and by the Dai people in Yunnan, China (called Water-Splashing Festival). The same day is celebrated in South Asian calendars as well: the Assamese (called Rongali Bihu), Bengali (called Pohela Boishakh), Oriya (called Maha Visuba Sankranthi), Malayali, Punjabi, Sinhalese, and Tamil New Years fall on the same dates, based on the astrological event of the sun beginning its northward journey. And, as mention aboved, there is an Indian Festival called as Sankrant or Makar Sankranti, celebrated every year on 14 January. Songkran as such is similar to the Indian festival of Holi, with a lot of splashing of water as paints, colored dusts, and fragances.
The traditional new year celebration in Sri Lanka also coincides with the Thai new year.
It occurs at the same time as that given by Bede for festivals of Eostre—and Easter weekend occasionally coincides with Songkran (most recently 1979, 1990, and 2001, but not again until 2085).
source:wikipedia

Monday, March 22, 2010

Anniversary of the Late Chief Abbot Phra Khru Baidikar Kemiyo

All devotees are welcome to commemorate the anniversary of the Late Chief Abbot of Wat Deva Raja Banphot, Phra Khru Baidikar Kemiyo Ploy @ Rev. Tan on 23rd March 2010(Tuesday). May the late reverend will rest in peace and his soul will be in nibbana. Sadhu 3x.

May all devotees be blessed with good health, prosperity and happy always.

[23hb March 2010(Selasa) merupakan hari memperingati pemergian bekas ketua sami Wat Deva Raja Banphot, Phra Khru Baidikar Kemiyo Ploy @ Rev. Tan. Semoga roh beliau akan tenang di nibbana and dicucuri rahmat hendaknya. Sadhu 3x.

Semoga semua 'devotee' akan mendapat keberkatan dan kemakmuran hendaknya.]

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Magha Puja/Makha Puja Day


Māgha Pūjā Day / Makha Bucha Day

Observed by Thai, Lao, and Cambodian Buddhists.

2009 date 9 February
2010 date 28 February

Māgha Pūjā or Makha Bucha ( Thai: มาฆบูชา ) is an important religious festival celebrated by Buddhists in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month (this usually falls in February). The third lunar month is known in the Thai language as Makha (Pali: Māgha); Bucha is also a Thai word (Pali: Pūjā), meaning "to venerate" or "to honor". As such, Makha Bucha Day is for the veneration of Buddha and his teachings on the full moon day of the third lunar month.

The spiritual aims of the day are: not to commit any kind of sins; do only good; purify one's mind.
Māgha Pūjā is a public holiday in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia - and is an occasion when Buddhists tend to go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.

It was nine full months after Buddha got Enlightenment, on the full-moon day of 6th lunar month, 45 year before the Buddhist era.

Origin of Māgha Pūjā Day
Māgha Pūjā day marks the four auspicious occasions, which happened nine months after the Enlightenment of the Buddha at Veḷuvana Bamboo Grove, near Rājagaha in Northern India. On that occasion, as recorded in the commentary to the Mahāsamayasutta, DN-Comm 20) four marvellous events occurred:

There were 1,250 Sangha followers, that came to see the Buddha that evening without any schedule. All of them were Arhantas, the Enlightened One, and all of them were ordained by the Buddha himself.

The Buddha gave those Arhantas principles of the Buddhism, called "The ovadhapatimokha". Those principles are: - To cease from all evil,- To do what is good,- To cleanse one's mind; it was the full-moon day.

The Buddha gave an important teaching to the assembled monks on that day 2,500 years ago called the 'Ovādapātimokkha' which laid down the principles of the Buddhist teachings. In Thailand, this teaching has been dubbed the 'Heart of Buddhism'. Activities to be observed on Māgha Pūjā Day

In the evening of Magha Puja full-moon day, each temple in Thailand holds a candle light procession called a wian tian (wian meaning circle; tian meaning candle). Holding flowers, incense and a lighted candle, the monks and congregation members circumambulate clockwise three times around the Uposatha Hall - once for each of the Three Jewels – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

Tham Boon: Making merit by going to temples for special observances and join in the other Buddhist activities.

Rab Sin: Keeping the Five Precepts. Practise of renunciation: Observe the Eight Precepts, practise of meditation and mental discipline, stay in the temple, wearing white robes, for a number of days.
source: wikipedia free encyclopedia

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Happy Chinese New Year - Year of Tiger

Wat Deva Raja wish all devotees Happy Chinese New Year - Year of Tiger. May all be happy and prosperous with great success in business and career and may all be awarded with good health and abundance of wealth. Sadhu 3x.

(Wat Deva Raja ingin mengucapkan Selamat Tahun Baru China kepada semua pada tahun harimau kali ini. Semoga semuanya beroleh kejayaan dan mendapat keberkatan, dimurahkan rezeki dan sihat sentiasa hendaknya. Sadhu 3x.)