Parinirvana Day

Parinirvana Day is one of the main Buddhist festival days of our year and on it we honour both the last period of the Buddha’s physical life and also his death, which is an opportunity to approach the basic Buddhist teachings of impermanence and the preciousness of life, and our own attitudes to them.

Parinirvana Day is an opportunity to reflect not only on the nature of the Buddha’s life and example but also on his teachings around death, gratitude and connection and on our own experiences of the death of those we know. 

Come along for meditation, talks, discussion and ritual.  We will also celebrate and remember, within the context of a ritual, those we know who have died in the past year. Please do bring a picture of anyone whose death you’d like to mark in this way or simply bring their name and the date they died to be read out aloud.

Alongside the activities of the day we will, as last year, be offering the opportunity to take part in a ritual continous reading of the Mahaparinibbana Sutta all day from dawn until dusk in our small shrine room.  This significant and moving sutta contains a very detailed account of the last few months of the Buddha's earthly life.  If you would like to sign up to read for a 30 minute slot of time between 7.15am and 5.15pm then please contact Sthiranaga (sthiranaga@gmail.com) who will arrange for you to be added to the programme at a time suitable for you. 

Please bring vegan food for a shared lunch