Vaisakha, or Wesak, is the most important Buddhist holiday of the year. The birth, the enlightenment and the death of Gotama Buddha who was the latest Buddha, happened around the same time and so, Buddhists celebrate these events jointly. The three events are also theologically closely related because being born signifies one step closer to enlightenment. Once enlightenment is reached and a person becomes a Buddha (enlightened being) he or she is freed from reincarnation. Therefore, the awaited death is also the welcomed very last one. This is why the death of the Buddha is not mourned but celebrated, in the same time as his birth, as a happy feast. With his last words the Buddha reminded his followers not to be saddened and said to them: ‘subject to decay are all component things. Strive on with diligence’ (Maha Parinibbana Sutta).

Buddhism is not a religion in the way that the other five religions that I celebrate are. Buddhism does not preach the existence of an omnipotent creator. The Buddha was an ordinary man who achieved enlightenment, not a God. He claimed to have the answer to happiness and to why most people are not happy. But he claimed this knowledge because he himself had found it not because he had it innately within him. In this sense I find Buddhism attractive; it doesn’t speak of the afterlife using metaphors from this life and it doesn’t look ahead forgetting that we live here and now. Also, because it does not have a good and evil in the sense that other religions have, it doesn’t seem to generate the feeling of guilt as much, or the idea of punishment for that matter. There is another positive thought that comes to my mind about Buddhism and that is the lack of a deadline. There is no dooms day when all are to be judged; if one doesn’t get closer to Nirvana in this life one is given another go in the next. It is never too late to change ones way of life.

I am very happy with my celebration on Vaisakha. I didn’t celebrate at home because we were invited to my sister’s girlfriend for her birthday. I started thinking of ways to integrate Buddha’s day into Claire’s barbeque that she had planned for the day. How could I go about it without appearing to be a party parasite? In Buddhist spirit food should be vegetarian and I really didn’t feel like telling Claire what to serve but neither did I feel like compromising. So, since we had stayed over from the day before I decided to have the celebration before people arrived to the other party and before it would start to interfere with Claire’s preparations.

It was great being in someone else’s house, especially since I felt comfortable to use whatever I liked to assist me, including other people’s skills. Also, Mmedo had taken Nemo to go voting for the French presidential election and Norma took a three-hour long nap so I was undisturbed to prepare. I went to pick flowers for the Buddha in the neighbourhood and found some wonderful ones; my favourite was some orange poppies.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a Buddha figure to decorate around but I think I made a nice place in which he would have liked to meditate. It was straight onto the ground as a reminder that human life is ultimately bound up with everything earthly. Lanterns are commonly made for Vaisakha in Buddhist countries to symbolise enlightenment and more generally the light of understanding what comes if one follows the teachings of the Buddha. The garden in which I was already had some homemade lanterns so I decorated them with flowers.

I couldn’t find a special Vaisakha recipe but chose a vegetarian one from Thailand with roasted pumpkin.

600 g peeled and seeded pumpkin, cut into 3cm cubes
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon red curry paste
400 ml coconut cream
200 g French beans
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
30 g fresh Thai basil or basil leaves
1 tablespoon lime juice

Dice the pumpkin and roast in oven for about 20 min or until soft. Heat oil in wok and add curry paste, stir for 1-2 min. Add coconut cream, stir with wooden spoon. Add the pumpkin, the roasting juices and the beans. Reduce heat and cook for 5 min. Stir in palm sugar, basil and limejuice. Garnish with basil leaves. Serve with rice and Mango Lassi.

Cooking is a great part of any celebration and is something that is easy to relate to for most people. We need to eat everyday and food often becomes basic and routine but during celebrations food itself is celebrated and gratified. It is almost as if the effort to make the nicest of meals on a special day is done particularly to honour the simple food of not so special days. Cooking has gained a central role in my celebrations. It has been an appropriate way to integrate others into the holidays; no one says no to good food. And with very little time at hands it has often been the only way to do it; we had to eat anyway. It is the same with the whole practical side to the holidays; it’s been manageable to do with the children around. Children love making things and their excitement has added greatly to the holiday spirit in the house. My next step now is to find time and ways to theorize my celebrations. I always read a head of every celebration of course, which is good for my own learning, but I would also like to put the theological material into proper use.