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Flip to reveal answersName the Buddhist festivals the guide lists.
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All 9 Flashcards — Festivals, gender and society
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Question
Name the Buddhist festivals the guide lists.
Answer
Wesak (Vaisakhi), Asala, Kathina, Vassa, Obon Matsuri in Japan, and a Mahayana New Year festival in spring.
Question
What does Wesak mark?
Answer
In Theravada practice, the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death — all on one full-moon day in May.
Question
What does Asala mark?
Answer
The Buddha's conception, renunciation and first sermon — the setting in motion of the dhamma.
Question
What are Vassa and Kathina?
Answer
Vassa is the three-month rain retreat during which monastics stay in one place; Kathina is the giving of robes to monks at its close, one of the largest merit-making occasions of the year.
Question
What is Obon Matsuri, and why does the guide name it?
Answer
Homage to the dead, kept in Japan. It shows Buddhism taking the shape of the culture it entered — ancestor observance woven into a Mahayana setting.
Question
How does the guide describe gender in Theravada ritual?
Answer
Bhikkhus (monks) are traditionally ranked above bhikkhunis (nuns), and change is occurring in contemporary modern society.
Question
How does the guide describe gender in Mahayana ritual?
Answer
A lay community of both genders and female bodhisattvas, the Taras; and humans seen as exemplifying both feminine and masculine principles, so given identical meditation exercises.
Question
What does the guide say about women in Tibetan tantric ritual?
Answer
That females have an essential role in rituals involving sex, understood within the tradition as leading to liberation through the union of wisdom and compassion.
Question
Where does Buddhist ritual take place?
Answer
Individual meditation at home or collectively at a temple; festivals involve puja at home and attendance at a temple. Pilgrimage is present in both Theravada and Mahayana.
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Topic 3.1 hub
Rituals
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