Article by Bro Sunanda Ooi

“A delightful moment, walking on the path of our worldly and unworldly understanding of light.”
🏮🏮🏮

Once a friend told me, during that time of the year when Shah Alam Buddhist Society has a few hundred lanterns lighted up, he will stop by the roadside to consume the lights spectacle. This happened when he was on his way back from work. He said he was just happy looking at the lights.

I did not delve into the subject further thinking that he was most probably admiring just a beautiful sight. Most people would agree; after all with arrays of lighted red Chinese lanterns, it does exude a heart-warming feeling.

Maybe there is more to it than just an immediate human psychological reaction, just like driving from a pitch dark road in unfamiliar surroundings to a suddenly well lighted one. The sudden relief which normally will not get a second thought may most certainly release a deep hidden feeling in our mind and our emotional connection towards light.

In the old days, (which may take a lot of us to appreciate and understand), the people of the land takes their supper as soon as nightfall comes. And very soon after that they go to bed. At the break of the first light they are up and about doing what their occupations need them to do.

In other words, light is such an important part of our everyday life, so much so that we have almost taken it for granted. It is so much in our psyche representing hope, a new beginning and all things positive in life.

Hence it is not surprising that any religious order imaginable looks at light as an integral part of their practice and has in many ways use it as a very acceptable ritual.

Buddhist is no different. In fact, one of our highly engaged practices at SABS is the Light Offering. Generally, devotees will throng Buddhist temples to perform this ritual during Chinese New Year, Wesak, Full Moon and New Moon days. Here in Malaysia many of us will observe that this practice is highly popular during the three birthdays of the Goddess of Mercy or Kwan Yin. (These three dates denote the Bodhissattva’s birthday, her initiation and the event of her attaining the state of Nirvana)

In the Therevadan tradition, one of the offerings for Puja is the Offering of Light. The English version of the Pali chant that accompanies is as follows:

With lights brightly shining,
Abolishing this gloom
I adore the Enlightened One,
Who dispels the darkness (of ignorance).

Hence, when we perform light offering, the above verse should always be reflected. The Right Understanding of this ritual shows that we proffer our gratitude to our teacher, the Buddha who has shown and continuously showing us through His Dhamma to help lift us from the gloom of ignorance with His light and thence leading to wisdom.

Maybe my friend who mentioned about stopping his car to look at the lights at SABS was not thinking about ‘lifting himself from gloom’. But you know (from his disposition) that in some way, those lights have given him a sense of joy, peace and calm. (And he does look happy!)

Photo credits to Bro Chee Eng Saan