Parinirvana Day
What is Parinirvana Day?
Parinirvana day is a Mahayana Buddhist holiday. It celebrates the day when the Buddha is said to have achieved Parinirvana or complete Nirvana, upon the death of his physical body. The day is a time to think about one’s future demise and the deaths of loved ones. This thought process reflects the Buddhist teachings on the impermanent nature of physical existence. The day is mainly celebrated in East Asia, Vietnam and the Philippines. . Some sects celebrate the festival on 8 February, but most celebrate the festival on 15 February. In Bhutan, it is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the Bhutanese calendar. Some Western Buddhist groups also celebrate Parinirvana Day with hearts full of devotion.
The history behind the Parinirvana Day celebration
The historical Buddha is mistaken by many as a god. A mere mortal human being named Siddhartha Gautam was successful in achieving spiritual awakening, and hence earned the title of Buddha which means “a person who is awake.”
Siddhartha Gautama was born in the royal family of Lumbini, now in Nepal. For the initial years of his life, he had known no suffering. However, at around the age of thirty, he for the first time went outside the walls of his palace and encountered the inescapable darker aspects of life: sorrow, diseases, and death. He realized that even though he was royalty, he too would one day die like every other organism. He renounced his royal life and went on a spiritual quest to find a solution to this existential dread.
For years he travelled and meditated, and finally, under a tree in Bodh Gaya, he achieved enlightenment and earned the title of the Buddha, the awakened. He laid out the foundational philosophical concept of life, peace, harmony and death which would one day grow into Buddhism teachings, and eventually a religion in itself, worldwide.
However, Buddhists believe one could only achieve partial enlightenment, called Nirvana, by following through with the four noble truths laid out by Budhha. Only through death, one achieves complete enlightenment or Parinirvana. Parinirvana is a state of complete understanding when no more suffering can be experienced.
Parinirvana day commemorates the death of the Buddha at the age of 80. Buddhists believed that he reached a state of Parinirvana upon his death. Nirvana means ‘to extinguish’, and is the ultimate aim of a Buddhist. It is an important day for Buddhists because it is the time to think about their own lives and how they can personally achieve Nirvana. Parinirvana day is therefore a traditional day for pilgrimage as pilgrims may visit shrines or temples as part of their celebration.
How is Parinirvana Day Celebrated?
Parinirvana Day is a social occasion in Buddhist monasteries. To celebrate the day food is shared and people exchange gifts such as money, household items or lothes. Buddhists also celebrate the day by going to Buddhist temples or with meditation. Passages from Parinibbana Sutta or Parinirvana Sutra are recited. These passages describe Buddha’s last days of life. Buddhist devotees take this time to reflect on the impermanent nature of physical existence and think about one’s future demise and the deaths of loved ones. They also remember friends and relatives who have died and reflect that death is a natural part of life that happens to
everyone. Nirvana Day also is a traditional day for pilgrimage. The Buddha is believed to have died near a city named Kushinagar, located in the modern-day state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Kushinagar is a major pilgrimage destination on Nirvana Day. Devotees also visit other significant Stupas, temples and monasteries to pray and meditate.
In which countries is Parinirvana Day celebrated?
Parinirvana day is a Mahayana holiday primarily observed in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, Philippines, Bhutan, India and other parts of the world with Mahayana Buddhist population.
