Today 31st October - Descending Day of Lord Buddha

Today 31st October, 22nd Day of Tibetan Calendar is a very holy and auspicious day as today is celebrated as Lhabab Duechen or the 'Descending Day of Lord Buddha'.

Buddha's mother, Mayadevi, had passed away after seven days of his birth. She was reborn in Heaven of Thirty-Three Trayastrimsa. Seven years after attaining enlightenment, when Buddha was forty two years old in order to repay her kindness and to liberate her, and also to benefit the gods, Buddha spent three months teaching in the realm of the gods as Lhayi Dampa Togkarpo (Devaputra).

When he was preaching his mother along with gods and goddesses in heaven, people on earth were worried because they did not know where the Buddha was. Then, Buddha’s disciple, the clairvoyant Sharibu (Sariputra), had a vision of the lord Buddha to be in heaven. Following the request of all the devotees, another disciple of Lord Buddha, Maogyelgebu (Maudgalyayana), who was known to possess miraculous powers, ascended to heaven on the 15th day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar and requested Buddha to return to earth. Following the request of his devotees who were in great sadness, the Buddha decided to return to this world. When he was about to return to this world, Indra and Brahma manifested three stairs of 80,000 yojanas each reaching this world in Sanchi. As the Buddha walked down the central one, they accompanied him to his left and right carrying umbrellas to honor him. Lord Buddha's descent landed him at a mountain peak known as Sankahya in Basantpur, Uttar Pradesh, India and which is presently counted among the eight holy places of Buddha Shakyamuni.

~ Our parents have shown us such immense love and kindness that to upset them in their old age would be an extremely negative act. The Buddha himself out of his immense compassion wanted to repay his mother’s Love and kindness and therefore went to the heaven of Thirty-three to teach her the Dharma.

So anything you can do physically, verbally or mentally to help your own parents, especially, or those suffering from chronic ill health, will bring inconceivable benefits. Jowo Atisa says:

“To be kind to those who have come from afar, to those who have been ill for a long time, or to our parents in their old age, is equivalent to meditating on emptiness of which compassion is the very essence.”

It is said that even if we were to serve our parents by carrying them around the whole world on our shoulders, it would still not repay their kindness. However, we can repay that kindness by introducing them to the Buddha’s teaching. So always serve your parents in thought, word and deed, and try to find ways to bring to them the Dharma.

The Great Master of Oddiyana(Guru Rinpoche) said,
“Do not make old people distressed; look after them with care and respect.”

In whatever you say and do, be kind to all those older than you. Take care of them and do whatever you can to please them.

~H.H. Patrul Rinpoche from the text Words of My Perfect Teacher.

Today is a very religious day for dedicating oneself towards virtuous deeds. The benefits or the merits of all good deeds are believed to be tremendous and multiplied by several times on this day but the same effect for harmful/negative deeds.

Mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni: Tayatha Om Muni Muni Maha Muni Ye Svaha