LEVERETT — A mid-spring Buddhist holiday will be celebrated rain or shine Sunday with a local ceremony focused on peace and spirituality.
The New England Peace Pagoda will host their annual “Birth of the Buddha” event Sunday from 11 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. The event, at 100 Cave Hill Road, is free and open to the public.
Buddha’s birthday is a widely-acknowledged festival commemorating the founder of Buddhism.
Sister Clare Carter from the pagoda said Thursday that the ancient stories of the birth differ across styles of practicing, but the overarching message is “inherent peacefulness.”
She said the event will include a retelling of Buddhist legends, celestial-sounding music from a hammered dulcimer instrument, the ceremonial bathing of a small Buddha shrine in medicinal tea, a time for all visitors to sing together, and a lunchtime meal.
“This is about getting in touch with the Buddha nature, the sacredness in the hearts of humanity,” said Carter. “That is the source of peace, really, and the source of goodness. It’s in every single one of us.”
Carter said the birth event also ties in with the spring season.
“The ancient legends just capture your spiritual imagination,” she said, adding that the stories say Buddha’s mother gave birth while she was resting in a garden on her way to her parent’s house.
“All living beings could feel the goodness of the birth, even in the trees, and everything rejoiced,” she said of the stories. “We’re trying to recreate that springtime feeling.”
Accordingly, a Buddha shrine will be displayed and covered in flowers.
“The earth is expressing it’s renewal of life, and we need to get that inspiration and keep nurturing peace in our souls,” she said, adding that it’s “time to connect to the actual conditions of the world and move away from war, destruction and suffering.”
“We can do this,” she said. “The celebration will refresh our inner spirits and encourage us that we can make this a peaceful country and world.”