Converts: Have any of you given up your old holiday traditions?

RebeccaS

Christmas is coming, and it got me thinking about how I could never give up Christmas!

Have any of you let go of the traditions from the religion you converted from?

Jeffrey

Make it dharmamas. There was a Japanese mystic who handed out toys to children just like santa.

I have modified Christmas to give smaller gifts and I have said to get me less to my family. But that is my choice. I still make cookies and decorate the tree.

Remember that Christmas is older than Christianity. It used to signify the returning point of light and warmth into the world.

Merry dharmamas! Light heart and mirth.

karasti

We celebrate during the season, but we actually celebrate solstice more than Christmas, we don't go to church and put up nativities or anything like that. We still give gifts. We participate more in community and charity, the kids donate their things and we shop together for the community giving tree.

It wouldn't be fair of me to take a holiday my kids have celebrated their whole lives, away, just because I changed my religion. If I did not have children, I likely would not celebrate beyond doing a Yule log and maybe some decorating (more typical winter decorating than just for the holiday) and spending time with family and friends I rarely see who are around for holidays. I actually don't particularly care for Christmas, especially in the last few years with all the "Jesus is the reason for the season" and "War on Christmas" crap. Celebrate however you want, whatever you want, whenever you want. The season does not belong to anyone.

And, it still signifies the return of light, because that is what the entire season is, lol. Christmas was "stolen" from the Pagans way back in the day, including many of the traditions such as Yule logs and the tree and the colors. It's kind of funny when you think about how many important Christian holidays are taken from Pagan holidays, lol, they couldn't come up with their own?

(I didn't mean to sound as bitchy as I probably did, sorry, just in a funky mood today)

person

I don't go to church with my mom and sister at christmas eve or easter anymore. Other than that I still love getting together with the family and exchanging gifts.

vinlyn

One thing I learned from living in Thailand was that one can surely enjoy a festive holiday without necessarily buying into certain principles. The Thais always do!

And remember, in the US, Christmas is a federal holiday.

karasti

In MN, Deer hunting is a holiday, they just don't say so, lol. Opening deer season is a 4 day weekend listed under "teacher in-service" though everyone knows it's just because too many people take school off for deer hunting to make having class worthwhile. It's kind of interesting that xmas is a federal holiday but Easter is not, nor is any insinuation to Easter being a holiday allowed in school or anything else. Easter=spring break. Xmas=winter break.

Beej

well its not that christians couldnt come up with their own holidays, but it was far easier to get pagans to accept christianity if they still got to keep all of their customs, as far as my understanding goes. tibet has a very similar ammalgamation of beleifs systems, do they not? oh and xmas for me is about vakay time, because i work in schools which are all closed. so i do celebrate, in some form.

footiam

RebeccaS said:

Christmas is coming, and it got me thinking about how I could never give up Christmas!

Have any of you let go of the traditions from the religion you converted from?

You don't have to give up what is good unless of course, you have a vendetta. Over here, once during Christmas, some of my friends gathered and exchanged gifts even though no one is a Christian. Chinese who are Buddhists do not give up their Chinese culture and on Chinese New Year, 'ang pows' or red packets filled with money are still given to children and grown-ups too who are not married.

Dakini

karasti said:

In MN, Deer hunting is a holiday, they just don't say so, lol. Opening deer season is a 4 day weekend listed under "teacher in-service" though everyone knows it's just because too many people take school off for deer hunting to make having class worthwhile. It's kind of interesting that xmas is a federal holiday but Easter is not, nor is any insinuation to Easter being a holiday allowed in school or anything else. Easter=spring break. Xmas=winter break.

Easter always falls on a Sunday. Good Friday is a federal holiday, though, isn't it? If not, it's a holiday in many states.

seeker242

If it were not for my family, I would not celebrate Christmas at all. I don't have a tree or decorations or anything like that. :eek:

federica

footiam said:

...'ang pows' or red packets filled with money are still given to children and grown-ups too who are not married.

We sell 'Christmas money-gift envelopes in our shop.......

RebeccaS

Well I know that when some people convert from one religion they adopt the new traditions and let go of the old ones, but I could never give up Christmas. It's just too awesome!

Is there a Buddhist equivalent to Christmas?

karasti

@Dakini nope, Good Friday is not a federal holiday. It is not a state holiday here, my hubby works for the state and he does not get it off. He does get the day after Thanksgiving off, which says a lot, lol.

karasti

@RebeccaS there are many festivals in the various Buddhist sects but none that resembles Christmas. Usually they do more typical Buddhist stuff, maybe retake their vows/precepts, go to the temple and listen to talks, give alms, do good deeds, etc. Nothing I've ever heard of involves spending a bunch of money on fake trees, stockings and gifts, lol.

Actually tomorrow celebrates a # of things:

12/8: Day for meditation on Tantric Bodhisattva Deities Manjusri and Prajna-Paramita, consciousness and empowerment of Wisdom. Prajna-Paramita is considered Mother of All Buddhas. [See Manjusri Mantra and Prajna-Paramita Mantra.] [10th Tibetan month, 25th day]

* 12/8: Dakinis' Day--Day Tantric Buddhists make offerings to the Dakinis (female embodiments of enlightened energy) and Mother Tantra; day to unite will and power to manifest positive social change and environmental healing. [Observed primarily by Tantric initiates.] [a/k/a Dakini Puja, Mother Tantra Puja, Tsog, Tsok] [25th Tibetan day]

* 12/8: Rohatsu--Zen Buddhist celebration of the Buddha's enlightenment. [a/k/a Bodhi Day]

RebeccaS

That's pretty cool! I like the sound of Bodhi Day.

TheEccentric

I am not going to giving up Christmas as I never celebtrated it as a religious holiday anyway as my family are secular, Christmas is losing its original meaning for a lot of people now. Even if I did want to give it up I would have no choice as my family celebrate it.

music

RebeccaS said:

That's pretty cool! I like the sound of Bodhi Day.

We can call it Buddhmas - the fat Buddha could be our Santa Claus.

federica

The resemblance is more than uncanny - in fact, there are many who consider the jolly fat, round Father Christmas, with the sack on his shoulder, to be solidly based on the jolly fat round monk with the sack on his shoulder....

http://buddhism.about.com/b/2009/12/23/santa-and-hotei.htm

zombiegirl

Heh, my family's Christmas is about as religious as the Easter bunny...

lobster

ho ho hotei

wishing tree/ bo tree

dharma gifts:
dorge and jingle bells for the tantrika elves
empty box for zennists
Christmas turkey release for all Mahayanists

eh ma ho ho ho

DairyLama

RebeccaS said:

Have any of you let go of the traditions from the religion you converted from?

I thought Christmas was invented by Walmart?

I shall be worshipping in the Tesco shrine because "every little helps"...

Citta

RebeccaS said:

Christmas is coming, and it got me thinking about how I could never give up Christmas!

Have any of you let go of the traditions from the religion you converted from?

The monks at Ajahn Chahs monastery were encouraged by him to have a Christmas Tree..which they improvised...fir trees not being common in the jungles of Thailand..
The only people to have a reaction to this were a few of the western monks who were still working through their aversion to their own birth culture..

Happy Advent to all.

DairyLama

lobster said:

Christmas turkey release for all Mahayanists

Yes, let's all adopt a turkey for Christmas instead of eating them, and then we could say "A turkey isn't just for Christmas"

Jeffrey

I wonder what the cats and dog (little sheltie) would think of a turkey in the back yard? The dog gets ground turkey in his dinner :hair:

Vastmind

It's Buddha's Birthday around here on Christmas day. haha
Eating...sharing gifts....making crafts with all the kids.
Just everyone coming together and being together.

Who doesn't want a party to warm up the heart
in Winter?

Linc

Christians appropriated the Winter Solstice holiday as "Christmas" because no one wants to give up their holidays and traditions, regardless of the century. I see no issue stealing it into Buddhism ad hoc.

DairyLama

Jeffrey said:

The dog gets ground turkey in his dinner :hair:

I think he might like a turkey as a new friend..

black_tea

Nope, I'm not giving up any holidays. My family was never very religious -- my mother's family were sort of half heartedly Methodist and my mom converted to Judiasm when she married dad. My dad's family is Jewish. My upbringing was secular, though we celebrated some Christian and Jewish holidays. The thing is, even if a holiday is technically religious, there's a whole overlay of family memories, traditions and culture that becomes attached. Even if I don't practice the religion behind the holiday (which non of my close relatives really do), the holiday is a way to connect to and have fun with my family.

federica

We have two Hindu Brothers who run a local shop. One of their employees is Muslim. All three wished me a really happy Christmas today.
I said likewise....
All done with warmth and sincerity.

Lovely.

Lee82

I never considered Christmas to be a religious holiday. I was Christened by my parents as a child but have never been religious myself. For as long as I can remember I have classed myself as atheist and I suppose i still do even though I might now say I am Buddhist. Christmas is a time of giving, thinking of others and spending time with loved ones. It's part of our culture, religious or not, and I see no reason why anyone would want to give up such a thing.

caz

RebeccaS said:

Christmas is coming, and it got me thinking about how I could never give up Christmas!

Have any of you let go of the traditions from the religion you converted from?

Christmas has always been an Ancient celebration of the Winter Solstice plus For many people living in Britain now it doesn't really have a religious meaning any more that's the way its been for me and my family.

Jason

No, I still tend to celebrate the Sabbats every now and then.

BhikkhuJayasara

considering as practitioners of dhamma we are moving towards the end of dependence on any and all rites and rituals, does it really matter what a holiday is, who's it by, where it comes from etc? If you wish to celebrate it in some way, that's fine, if not, that's fine... in the end it's all convention

robot

I'm taking a break from Christmas until grandchildren start to arrive. These Asians don't seem to have a handle on it. They were still playing their Christmas CDs at Starbucks in February .

vinlyn

I had such a silly conversation today at our monthly Bunco party. One of the players was ranting and raving about her daughter-in-law who does not believe in God or Christ or -- and this was the crux of the discussion -- celebrating Christmas. What was so odd about it was that our Bunco player who was ranting and raving about it doesn't seem to be the least bit religious. It just seemed so ludicrous.

DairyLama

caz said:

Christmas has always been an Ancient celebration of the Winter Solstice....

Yep, we're all still pagans at heart...trouble is, they keep building Tescos stores on the stone circles..

Barra

I love all the lights that people put up to decorate their houses. One of our big hotels (the Empress in Victoria BC) has dozens of decorated trees set up inside - done by businesses, associations, unions etc - and the public can pay to vote for their favorite. Its a fundraiser, and also really nice to see. We also have a lighted truck parade. All kinds of business decorate their trucks (semis, tow trucks, moving vans, you name it) with lights and displays and music and they tour through the area (and we give donations to the food bank). It is sort of weird, because this is not a blue collar town, but the truckers put so much effort into the decorations - its just great!

I've been listening to a local radio station that plays only Xmas music at this time of year, and I'm enjoying it, but I find it ludicrous that the songs are clearly Christmas-themed, but the station keeps referring to it as "holiday music". Lets just call everything what it is and celebrate everybody's holidays.

I'd like to know from Karasti what "doing a Yule log" means. Is it something to eat?

karasti

@Barra a Yule Log is a tradition. It varies by the person/family/tradition but for us it means we started with a chunk of birch tree log. We decorated it with various things, like cranberries, mistletoe, candles in the middle (drilled holes to put the candle in) bows and sparkly ribbons, etc. We use it as a centerpiece at our table. Then on winter solstice, we burn the log in our fire pit as a celebration. We then take some of the ashes and store them until the next year, where we use those ashes to light the fire for the yule log for that year, so it's a continuation every year from the first yule log we ever had. Winter solstice is known as Yule in many Pagan traditions, and is a celebration of the start of the return of the sun (since winter solstice is the "shortest day of the year.) Summer Solstice, or Litha, is celebrated opposite Yule, in June, and is usually celebrated as a day to spend outside, enjoying the height of the "longest day of the year" and the abundant sunshine.

Barra

@karasti - I like the sound of the Yule Log tradition, although I guess it only works if you have a fireplace! What country are you in?

karasti

We don't have a fire place, we do it outside, but we do have a fire pit, lol. I live in the US, in Minnesota.

BigD

caz said:

RebeccaS said:

Christmas is coming, and it got me thinking about how I could never give up Christmas!

Have any of you let go of the traditions from the religion you converted from?

Christmas has always been an Ancient celebration of the Winter Solstice plus For many people living in Britain now it doesn't really have a religious meaning any more that's the way its been for me and my family.

Exactly the same for me and my immediate family. My wife's sister is a very religious christian and despairs of me....

I do find the solstice well worth a celebration though. My mood lifts so much as soon as the days start to lengthen.

shadowleaver

No. I believe Buddhism is about breaking boundaries between "I" and everyone/everything else, not fortifying them. Christmas, I believe, is a wonderful opportunity for folks to come together, be greatful for their lives and be lighthearted. Seems like a very Buddhist occasion in spirit, regardless of the theory/history behind it.