Today
is the Mid-Autumn Festival. We did a Guru Rinpoche Practice under the guidance
of Acho Rinpoche. After which, Acho Rinpoche shared with us a story told by
Venerable Haitao with regards to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Venerable Haitao said
that the folk tale about a rabbit residing in the moon was somehow related to
Buddhism too. In one of the numerous past lives of Sakyamuni Buddha, he was
born as the king of rabbit once. It became the spiritual leader to the animals in
the forest and advocated the practice of offering on every 15th day
of the month. One day, this king of rabbit made a vow that it wished to offer
its body for the benefits of other sentient beings. It was a very powerful vow
that shook the entire universe. Even the Jade Emperor in the heaven felt the
tremors while sitting in his throne. A sentient being can be born as a Jade
Emperor endowed with the greatest wealth and longevity in the heavenly realm if
he abides by the Five Precepts (no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct,
no lying and no overdose of alcohol) and observes the Seven Good Conducts
(filial piety, reverence to the elders and teachers, gentleness in speech and
conduct, no criticism of others, no lying, no scolding and no anger). So, the
Jade Emperor decided to test the determination of the king of rabbit and
transformed himself into a poor old man begging for food. The rabbits offered
him vegetables for meal but he rejected them and demanded for meat instead. The
king of rabbit did not hesitate at all and just leaped into a fire, planning to
offer its body as meal to the old man. The Jade Emperor was very touched by the
conduct of the king of rabbit and transformed the fire into lotus through his magical
power, thus saving the king of rabbit from sacrificing itself. Ever since, come
the 15th day of every month on a full moon day, we are reminded of this
touching story about the king of rabbit and the importance of offering.
Besides, the Tibetans
also celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in a different way. Their version of the
story was related to the Karmapa. In 1339, on the 14th day of the
eighth lunar month, the 3rd Karmapa gave his teachings to his
audience upon the request of the Mongolian emperor, Yuan Shun. After giving his
teaching, the 3rd Karmapa passed away on the 14th of the
eighth lunar month. However, on the following day, many people saw the appearance
of the 3rd Karmapa in the moon above the sky! Ever since, the Karma
Kagyud school of Tibetan Buddhism regarded the 15th day of the
eighth lunar month a very sacred day.
Finally, we ended our prayer by reciting the names of
the Buddhas under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche, and dedicated the merits to
all sentient beings - may all sentient beings be happy, free of sufferings and
attain enlightenment one day.
Reported
by Sun Moon KFS on 4-10-2017 @Singapore
