Vesak Revisited: Lifting the Buddha

A week ago, Mr. How came over for a visit. It was Vesak day and we decided to join the crowd in the Buddhist temples in Assam Kumbang Taiping. At Bodhi Lankarama Buddhist Temple, a thin, frail looking Indian woman was kneeling down in front of a Buddha statue. After saying her prayers, she tried to lift the statue. She failed and then, a young girl dressed in a Girl Guide uniform repeated the same ritual. I suppose both were making a wish and their wish were supposed to be furfilled if they could lift the Buddha statue. Many years ago, probably at the 2500 year old Shwedagon Temple in Yangon, Burma, I think I came to hear of this same ritual. Then, probably it was in some other temples in Sri Lanka. I remember seeing a big round stone in a temple ground somewhere whom someone said served the function of the Buddha statue. All said, now, I wonder if there is a Buddhist sutra that describe or prescribe this ritual. Now, I also wonder if right action is merely abstaining from killing, stealing, unlawful sexual intercourse and intoxicants...


Lifting the Buddha...