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Can Buddhists celebrate Valentine Day?
footiam
Veteran
Chinese New year ends with a bang this year. Known as Chap Goh Meh or the fifteenth night, it coincides with the popular Valentine Day. http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Features/2014/02/14/Valentines-Day-Chap-Goh-Meh-lots-of-love/The latter had caused a furore to some since it is suppose to cause social ills.http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/valentines-day-celebrations-cause-of-social-ills-says-jakim
Now, I wonder, can Buddhist celebrate Valentine Day?
Now, I wonder, can Buddhist celebrate Valentine Day?
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Comments
Happy Valentines Day
Hang on for some shattering news.
There is no 'Buddhist' view of Valentines Day.
The universe does not give a hoot whether you celebrate Valentines Day or not.
You are going to have to make your own decision...
Sorry about that.
It's better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all.
I think that if you asked an elderly widow who was in love with her husband whether the suffering from losing her mate made the years together a mistake, she would say most certainly not.
Are Buddhists less able to bear the grief of loss than the average person?
few images at start, then music . . .
Watch me.....
Do small things with great love.
Happy Love Day everyone!
Much love to all you guys here......
*passes out little valentines and trinkets*
heart lollipop or temp tattoo?
Don't forget to pick up a cupcake over at the
treat table........
I view today as a day to save money and have less dukkha regarding whether I got the right gifts and I did this right and whether she will like it... bla bla bla, such hassle for nothing.. in the end we are all dead.
Take heart!
We celebrate Valentine's day. We don't do the flower thing because as much as I love flowers and plants I don't see the point of spending a fortune on them. My husband got me a grow your own tea plants set. I got him an outfit. Got the kids each a small treat. I love hearts, and pink, and Reese's Peanut Butter Hearts. And making Valentine's boxes with my preschooler's class was the best!
So out of great compassion and much fear, I comply with the convention of Valentine's day.
[grumpy hedgehog]
That's the (only) reason I acknowledge Valentine's day at all.
oh I TOTALLY agree, because it brings you one step closer to wanting to renounce the whole thing and practice dhamma, whether its in this lifetime or 100 from now.
She needs to read this article
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/13/a-buddhist-guide-to-valentines-day/
I checked wikipedia: So this guy, we know nothing about him. So there is no Buddhisty reason to celebrate his day in the same way me might celebrate a Bodhisatva's Birthday. (Ha, maybe instead of Bodhisatva-never-disparaging-- a real Bodhisatta, St Valentines would be Bodhisattva-no-one-knows-shit-about-him)
But the question is really about, should we Buddhists be prudes and not celebrate a holiday that entails chasing skirts, kissing and having fun.
I would say that as long as one has a healthy idea about what desire is (wanting something that is ephemeral as everything), why not chase skirts, kiss and have fun. Just be at peace with how it's all temporary and passes. If one doesn't have a healthy idea about what desire is, maybe austerities are in order-- going without for a while. But that seems like something that one would have to decide on a case by case basis.
Blanket prohibitions on chasing skirts is an exercise of power will ulterior motives, like making sure the daughter doesn't run off with the lead drummer of the zen punk rock band or vica versa.
But the role of fun in a Buddhist path of liberation would be a thread all of its own.
Is there really a day out there that you don't have anything to celebrate?
The day after... when all the chocolate goes on sale. hahaha
sleep with the cat on the couch tonight.
Poor married bastards lol.
delivered to the house.
Oh you may be surprised at the similarities that can arise between an ordination and a marriage.
LOL
Also i know i say things and joke around but i really dont have much against marriage. All things aside i had a fairly normal marriage with good and bad times, i screwed up plenty and thankfully had a forgiving wife lol. I just feel that its not universally something everyone should feel they have to do, its for some, and not for others, both equally valid.
Buddha advocates detachment.
Buddha left his family to find the ultimate happiness.
No regrets except that I could have been a more romantic partner.
In some cases the Buddha taught detachment, and in others: The path is a diverse one, and there's plenty of room on it for love.
If Buddha was so detached, they would never had heard from him again.
And we would never had heard from him at all.
Extreme detachment is as unskillful as any other extreme.
And the commercialism irritates me too.
I always bought something for my mom till she died. Now my kids always call me if they can find me, on Father's Day.
It's the circle of life. No need to be pissed off about it.