恭迎释迦牟尼佛成道日Celebration of Śākyamuni Buddha’s Enlightenment Day

农历十二月初八，是本师释迦牟尼佛成道日，也是我国民间的腊八节。

The Fundamental Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha’s Enlightenment Day is celebrated at the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month of the Chinese calendar; this day also coincides with the traditional Laba Festival.

经论中记载，佛陀成道前，经六年苦行，骨瘦如柴，以致晕倒在尼连禅河畔。在接受一位牧羊女供养的乳糜之后，恢复了体力，于菩提树下，悟道成佛。中国佛教徒依禅宗之习，于十二月初八，以谷米和果物等煮粥供佛。

As recorded in the Buddhist scriptures, Śākyamuni Buddha spent six years for ascetic practice before enlightenment, which caused him to be reduced to skin and bones, falling in a faint at the bank of Niranjana. Later, he regained strength after eating rice gruel made from milk, offered by a shepherd girl. Sitting under a bodhi tree, he awakened to the Way and attained supreme enlightenment. On this day, the Chinese Buddhists, following the tradition of the Chan school, make congee with grains, dried dates, nuts, and so on as an offering to the Buddha.

《佛本行集经·成无上道品》云：“明星将欲初出现时，夜尚寂静，一切众生行与不行，皆未觉寤。是时婆伽婆，即生智见，成阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。” 二千五百多年前那个寂静的夜晚，在一棵未来将举世闻名的菩提树下，今天被世人尊称为释迦牟尼佛的乔达摩·悉达多王子，在禅定中降伏了一切的烦恼，证悟了一切的真理。

The “Chapter of Attaining Unsurpassed Enlightenment” of the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra states, “The night was silent before a bright star was about to emerge. All sentient beings, practicing and not practicing, were not awakened. At that very moment, the bhagavat developed insight and attained the supreme, perfect enlightenment.” In that evening 2,500 years ago, under a bodhi tree that was about to be known all over the world, Prince Siddhārtha Gautama, who would soon be respectfully referred to as Śākyamuni Buddha, tamed all afflictions in meditative concentration and realized the ultimate truth of everything.

此时黎明将至，一颗启明星正在东方天际闪耀，佛陀感叹：“真是奇妙啊！原来一切众生都如此智慧，正和我所证悟到的一样，只是心灵被妄想执着的黑暗蒙蔽，因此看不到真相。”

The daylight was about to break, and a morning star was shining in the east sky. The Buddha exclaimed, “Strange indeed! All living beings have the same wisdom as what I just realized, yet they could not perceive this truth because their minds are clouded by the darkness of delusion and attachments.”

从这一天起，慈悲伟大的佛陀，以永不停歇的脚步，将自己对于宇宙人生终极意义的证悟传递给所有众生，为沉沦苦海的众生开演出八万四千法门，无论贫富贵贱、凡圣智愚，都能够远离贪婪、仇恨和无知的烦恼，获得清凉、慈悲、智慧的快乐，走上离苦得乐、究竟解脱的大道。

From that day on, the great and compassionate Buddha started teaching all sentient beings, without stop, his knowledge about the ultimate truth of the universe and life. He teaches 84,000 dharma gates to sentient beings who are trapped in the ocean of suffering, so that people, rich or poor, wise or unwise, holy or mundane, are all able to stay away from afflictions brought about by craving, hatred, and ignorance, obtain the joy of tranquility, compassion, and wisdom, and embark on the great path towards elimination of sufferings, attainment of happiness, and realization of ultimate liberation.

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