Descriptions:
The temple’s Buddhist youth and children will lead the audience in singing “Praise to the Sangha”.
Buddha instructed that the disciples only eat one meal a day, rest under the tree, and thus the monks need to travel daily from the mountains and forests to other places to gather various donations.
During the summer times of India there are a lot of insects. When the monks go to gather donations, they may accidentally kill those insects by stepping on them. Therefore Buddha instructed that for the three months, spanning from April 15th to July 15th, the monks should stay in one location; that they live within the monastery and do not go out to collect donations.
If there is a time where there is no need to go gather donations, the time is to be spent practicing diligently. Therefore within the three months, there will be various disciples who will have attained the rewards of their learning. Seeing this, the Buddha is very happy and thus this day, July 15th, the day which marked the end of summer, is known as “Buddha’s joyful day”.
On Buddha’s joyful day, where all sentient beings witnessed the end of summer retreat, those who are sons and daughters should prepare delicious food for not only their parents in this lifetime, but also previous parents from seven of their past lifetimes; fresh fruits, clothing or bedding…etc. They are to put those items in a container and offer them to the assembly of monks who came from all ten directions.
The merits of the assembled monks’ conduct allowed the parents of all seven incarnations to go to heaven; it will allow the parents of this lifetime, if they have already passed on, to be released from the three realms of suffering: the realms of hell, hungry ghosts and animal incarnation; and for those who are still alive, to live prosperously.
