Bodhi Day

According to the Western calendar, the 8^th of December is Bodhi Day. Bodhi is a Buddhist holiday which commemorates the day that Siddhartha Gautauma (Shakyamuni) experienced enlightenment. The word Bodhi means enlightenment in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had spent years seeking spiritual progression, his latest attempt using extreme asceticism had been a disappointment, so he decided to sit under a peepal tree and meditate until he discovered the root of suffering and how to escape it. Here the story varies; some say he swore to discover this or die trying. Other traditions say he was harassed by the demon of illusion, known as Mara or Destroyer. Yet, another school says he entered deeper and deeper into meditation until he confronted the nature of the self. The Pali Canon claims that during the first watch of the night, Siddhartha discovered all of his past lives in the cycle of rebirth, realizing that he had been born and reborn countless times before. As he kept the second watch, he discovered the Law of Karma, and the importance of living by the Eightfold Path. Lastly, he discovered the Four Noble Truths, and as the morning star ascended, Siddhartha finally found the answers that he sought. He became Enlightened and experienced Nirvana. From then on, Siddhartha became a Buddha or Awakened One.