Happy Vesak Day!

It was Vesak Day 2 days ago. Being a regular student of Buddhist teaching classes, I attended the Bathing Buddha ceremony. I was extremely surprised by the turnout. There were over 1,000 people in the small hall, and not to mention there were 3 similar sessions on the same day. The ceremony was like any other event, but what caught my attention was the exhibitions after that.

My society is divided into many segments, where the ones related to food and education are the more "interesting" ones. I went up to the food segment, and they showed us how coke is produced. By adding a lot of chemicals, plain water really turns into fragrant, gassy and dark-coloured coke! Then, they also told us the hazardous effects of taking in these chemicals. On top of that, they also showed us the amount of oil contained in each piece of Prinkles potato chip by burning it. After seeing, I really don't feel like drinking coke or eating potato chips anymore haha.. Besides these, they also showed the organic farms that our members have taken care of. There's a story behind the starting up of these farms:

Initially when the farmers wanted to grow the vegetables on the organic soil, they failed in multiple attempts because the ants kept feeding on them. They wanted to kill the ants, but since they're taught not to kill, they refrained from doing so. Hence, they approached the venerable who set up our society. Here's what he said, "you buy a packet of sugar, and pour along the crops". The farmers really followed his instructions, and the ants ended up feeding on the sugar! From then on, the vegetables grew healthily without the use of pesticides.

After succeeding, the farmers went back to thank the venerable. He explained, "the ants are hungry, so they have no choice but to eat the crops. If you treat them well, they will reciprocate." With that, the farmers started leaving a small space on the crop land specially meant for the pests. They grew small amount of vegetables and fruits on that piece of land, and the pests indeed did not touch their main crops.

Even insects know how repay the kindness! I was really amazed by the story and I begin to trust karma more and more. Hmm looks like I have to do more good deeds from now on!

Other than the food segment, I was really touched by the education segment. As Buddhism is closely related to Confucianism, the society placed strong emphasis on filial piety. There was a station in the exhibition hall, where children need to kneel down in front of their parents to offer tea and express gratitude. My siblings and I did. When it was my turn, the minute I knelt down, tears started trickling down my cheeks. I started thinking back, and realized that there were many incidents where I argued with my parents and got irritated by their constant nagging. Being a daughter, I've never done much in being filial to my parents. Not knowing what to say as there were too many things to be thankful for, all I did was to say "thank you".

After this tea offering session, I suddenly came to realize all my wrongdoings for the past years. I will try to improve on that by first changing my attitude towards my parents.

It was indeed a meaningful Vesak Day! :)