Buddha's B-day Photos

Here are a few photos from the Buddha's birthday celebration at Cal Poly last weekend.

Bathing the baby Buddha (or rather, the Buddha-to-be).  This is done becuase Buddhist lore teaches that when he was born, a sweet rain fell upon him.  Notice how he is standing.  Legend also says he took seven steps, pointed one finger to the sky and one to the earth and said, "Above and below the heavens, I am the world honored one."  There was also a giant inflatable baby Buddha, but I don't have a shot of that.

A close shot of the baby Buddha.

This was part of the chanting ceremony.  It doesn't come through in this photo, but everyone was given a small lotus shaped glass light to hold in the dark.  When the lights were fully down, it was a sight to see.

A shot of the Thai dancing.  They worked really hard for this performance.

This is Shakya, myself, and Ven. Kiet back on campus. Above Ven. Kiet's head is the new Buddha statue at the enterance to the campus.

Thanks to Shakya for the photos.  My hands were full with my robes and things, so I left my camera home that day. 

I'll be going to a Vietnamese temple tomorrow for another Buddha's birthday celebration, so I'll blog about that as well.