Buddha's Birthday and 49-Days Ceremony for Ven. Karuna Dharma

IBMC celebrated the Buddha's birthday on Sunday, April 13, 2014. In Japanese communities here and around the world, Hannamatsuri celebrates the birth, death and awakening of Siddhartha Gautama. In other Buddhist communities, this is celebrated in May. Since IBMC was founded in 1970, it has celebrated the Buddha's birthday according to the Japanese tradition.

On the same day, IBMC held its 49-Days ceremony for Ven. Karuna Dharma, the former abbess of IBMC and a prominent American Buddhist nun who passed away earlier this year.

In Mahayana Buddhism, especially the Vietnamese tradition, there is chanting for the dead 49 days after his/her passing, 49 being the estimated time it takes for the spirit to be reborn again into a new life.

Photos by Vincent Lim.