What is the significance of the Vesakh Days for us?

“This is the significance of the Vesakha Puja day, it is for us to be thankful that we have come across the Buddha, have met his teaching.”

Than Ajahn: It is a reminder of the miracle that we have come across, the miracle of meeting a Buddha, which only happens once in a long long time. By having met a Buddha it gives a chance to learn the truth of ourselves, learn the truth about suffering, learn the truth of the endless round of rebirth and learn the truth about our ability to be able to cut off this endless round of rebirth. So this is very significant day: the day of the Lord Buddha’s birth, his enlightenment and his passing away. We should constantly remind ourselves that without him we will never be able to become enlighten, we will not be able to stop this ceaseless and endless round of rebirth.

Now we are fortunate to have come across his teaching. If we apply his teaching to our practice, we will sooner or later become enlightened and will be free from all forms of suffering. This is the significance of the Vesakha Puja day, it is for us to be thankful that we have come across the Buddha, have met his teaching. We might not have met him personally but he said that his teaching is his representative.

The Buddha said that if you see the Dhamma, you see me. And before he passed away he said that after I died, my teaching will be your teacher. So we have to learn the teaching, learn the Dhamma then we will know what to do and when we do what he instructed us to do then we will become enlightened and we will be free from suffering.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto