February 2021 Is The Month Containing Two Significant Festivals: Chinese Lunar #NewYear And Buddhist #MaghaPuja To Celebrate

February 2021 Is The Month Containing Two Significant Festivals: Chinese Lunar #NewYear And Buddhist #MaghaPuja To Celebrate

Author: Witcoin Miner

Keywords: #COVID-19, #pandemic, #zoom, #shopping, #online, #Chinatown, #festival, #Buddha, #hue

Length: 1786 words    

Date: 15th February 2021

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          By the time when this article is posted on the Blogg, it has already passed celebrating the Chinese lunar #NewYear 2021 or in China, it is called Spring Festival which falls on February 12-13 this year.  Anyway it is always a delight to talk about what people were doing during the festival, even though, there was no festive street gathering, no countdown party and the celebrating mood was noticeably subdued due to the recent spike in #COVID-19 cases and pandemic restrictions still largely in place.

          Normally Chinese descendants start busying themselves with the preparation of their residence to welcome the occasion since the beginning of the week which is around February 8 or 9.  It is the time of the year again when everyone is supposed to be cleaning their homes in time for Chinese #NewYear.  But instead of being just a symbolic act, a kind of, out with the old and in with the new, the pandemic has given it added significance to keep the house safe and clean ahead and during Chinese #NewYear visits from guests.

           So ‘Spring Cleaning’ is a bit different this year, not only on the preparing effort but also the reception of the #NewYear guests.  Thinking about, if the #COVID-19 virus can survive for a while, it may put house owner’s mind at ease to wipe down high-touch areas with a disinfectant after each turn of visitors and at the end of the day.  It is also a good idea to leave bottles of hand sanitizers around for the guests to use.

          Preparation is not limited only on cleaning but also decorating the place to fit with the festive mood such as with bright red paper cuttings to snacks and pomelos.  And festival always comes with making offering to ancestors, gods and goddesses.  Shopping is a means to get raw ingredients to make items.  This year, many people are afraid of getting #COVID-19, so many things are unavailable such as prawn rolls.

          Chinatown in Bangkok at this time is busy with browsing shoppers.  People are still buying but they also tend to avoid crowds and will leave after making a purchase.  In the past, they would spend more time browsing in shops and comparing prices with other vendors.  One interesting observation is people are not travelling abroad for vacation this year because of the travel restriction, so there are some new customers patronizing the stalls, but it does not mean this year’s sales to be better because the pandemic restriction also means no foreign customers.  Vendors and stakeholders have adapted their businesses to cater to the change in target market from being foreign tourist-centric to serving local shoppers.

          And because of the pandemic, many people do not want to come out and browse around, so many business decided to switch to concentrate on online sales for the well-being of their customers and workers.  Bakeries in Bangkok Chinatown’s streets, which have experienced a drop in business since the pandemic, have gone online to reach out to their customers.  Although offering online order is a new business strategy for some of these bakeries, to their delight, many of them noted that this move has paid off.  Even though, there were a lot of hiccups during the first launch such as they have faced higher shipping fees and delays from disruptions due to #COVID-19; they said they strive to work better the next year.

          Thailand has in recent weeks seen outbreaks of cases, especially in Bangkok’s outskirt areas such as Samutsakorn Province, the message is clear that there would be no travelling during the Chinese #NewYear vacation from this region.  But even if some areas are not under such a strict lockdown, it might be hard to get home.  The government advised families to celebrate safely by using video calls to reduce physical contact, especially with the elderly who are among at-risk groups.

          Some people from up-country working away from their hometown decide to brace themselves for a quiet Chinese #NewYear celebration in the location of their workplace.

          Chinese #NewYear is for many the only time to reunite and celebrate with their families and it is an event not to be missed.  If they can do it this year, in preparing themselves for the family reunion, how to dress is one of the key issues to consider.  Apart from the style of fashion, the propitious hue is important as being said to attract good fortune. 

          The superstitious advantages of the colour, red has the ability to enhance a person’s both man and woman appearance to be considered more attractive as discovered by multiple studies by researchers.  Green is also considered to be auspicious as it is symbolic of nobility.  Chinese aristocrats wore green jade to demonstrate their elite privilege and as a public display of their fortune.  They also used jade as a form of protection against evil spirits.  Blue symbolizes flowing water, which is linked to the idea of restoration.  It is also believed to have the ability to strengthen friendships and aid in networking.

          After having enjoyed the Chinese #NewYear festival, people are looking forwards to another national holiday to celebrate by the end of the month, on February 26 which is the day of #MaghaPuja Ceremony, or sometimes it is called Sangha Day.  The occasion commemorates the first Buddhist gathering of 1250 Arahant monks, presided over by the Lord Buddha Himself at the Veruwana Monastery.

          Sangha is important; it is a treasure that makes its members stronger and helps them survive difficulties.  To endure and pass great suffering in life, the most consistent advice was the reliance on community, again and again, pointing to friends, family, and loves, as the sources of aid, inspiration, and courage.

          Due to the #COVID-19, this year #MaghaPuja celebration is different from customary practice.  The participants gather as a congregation by means of Zoom technology.  And they meet each other in breakout rooms.  Some of the Temple’s elder members, at the first place, insisted that they were too old to learn to connect via video.  To their surprise, after having given it a try, they easily mastered the technology and realized that they had been holding on to a fixed view of themselves as ‘digitally impaired’.  Often people cling to fixed images of themselves and others, but their clinging can soften as they work in a new territory.

          The changes in customary practice to be relevant makes the religion be more dynamic, not become a sterile system and lose its vitality.  The Buddhist teaching around the sense of impermanence helps the Buddhists feel comfortably to embrace change happening from moment to moment.  Buddhism is an amazing teaching and practice.

          The glimpses via Zoom application on #MaghaPuja ceremony will add a familiarity and sense of connection that can enliven what is otherwise a quiet and still gathering.  It also implies that Buddhist community is a treasure which does not change in a world of social distancing.  Of cause, opportunities come along with losses.  Online gatherings cannot replace the energy of being together in person.  But, the least, online enables to bring people together to perform wholesome deeds and strengthen their connection.

          The joint activities in the #MaghaPuja event are that participants receive the Five Precepts which are abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and consuming addictive substances.  The teaching monk who rendered the sermon at the last-year #MaghaPuja as well begged the disciples to take these Five Precepts seriously.  He explained that these Precepts would not only protect the practitioners themselves but would also protect others.  In particular, he ventured how the Fifth might be the most important: if they broke it, they could break all the rest.  He furthered that a number of inmates committed terrible crimes and had their lives altered tragically just because they used alcohol and drugs.

          Alms-giving to the monastics is one of the popular activities in Buddhist ceremony.  People generally experience that generosity nourishes the giver as well as the receiver.

          #MaghaPuja also provides the chance of guided meditation for the whole congregation.  Through meditation practice, participants gain mindfulness which gives rise to insight and wisdom, allows them to live their lives healthier.  In the fast-paced complexed material world, mindfulness may not a panacea for every worldly problems, but it does provide a practical strategy for working directly with reality. In their life, at work, or at home, people might not be able to change certain things, but with the meditated mind, they can change how they look at and experience those immutable aspects of life, work, and home, without immediately engaging with intense emotions and reactions, providing a kind of protection against unconstructive responses.

          For the elderly who live alone on their own with no or very few distractions in life, meditation practice gives them the ability to deal with their mind on the day to day basis, otherwise such solitude can become very difficult and painful.  Buddhist meditation equips practitioners with ability to escape the imprisonment of life situations and enjoy secure and lasting peace.

          At the same time, some people express concerns over the growing commercialization of this ancient practice and its complicity with socioeconomic structural injustice, they denounce the adoption of mindfulness in corporations and the military.  They point out that the ‘mindful sniper’ military personnel have been trained to be more effective killers.  Active Buddhist scholars argue that teaching mindfulness in corporate or military contexts conflicts with other core Buddhist teachings of non-harm and Right livelihood.  They cite the Pali Canon distinguishes between ‘Right mindfulness’ or Sammasati and ‘Wrong mindfulness’ or Micchasati, and that the former is always inextricably linked to the whole of the Noble Eightfold Path, particularly ethics and liberation.  They emphasize that mindfulness is beneficial and powerful when taught in the context of the Noble Eightfold Path.

          This year’s low-key Chinese #NewYear celebration and #MaghaPuja on online on #Zoom are also a good time to reflect, mourn and gather strength to face the uncertained future.  The #Coronavirus taught us how unpredictable life is.  So far, Thailand has unveiled plans to vaccinate 50m people.  But for the on-going, the public would still have to comply with disease control measures until herd immunity is acquired, and active case-finding would continue even though the number of #COVID-19 cases has begun to drop.

          The unpredictability of 2020 reminds us to treasure whatever we still have while we still can and be thankful.  Treasure and appreciate the here and now.  We shall never know if our meetings with someone, our visit to some places faraway, or our time on earth may be the last today.

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