Visakha Bucha Day was originated from the power of true love – the love with no desire. It’s the love of Buddha for his father, his wife, his people and all beings.

From the day he realized that everyone would eventually die and throughout their lives, they have to face suffering, despair, lament, loss and separation, with the power of his love, he tried to find the way to escape from this cycle of suffering that seemed to be unavoidable.

The love that is filled with good wishes is also called “compassion”.

However, the word “love” sounds deeper than compassion because compassion tends to be more religious. When we say the words “the great benevolence”, we feel grateful for the love and compassion. So, these words should be used appropriately. Sometimes, my mind in an ordinary state wanted to say the word “love”. Therefore, during the meditation in this morning, my mind was filled with the word “love”. At the same time, I felt the current of both love and hate all over the country.

Love is the opposite of hate.

The power of love is now damaged and covered by the power of hate that is spreading with the ultimate goal to turn beautiful minds into gloomy and rough minds until people lose their humanity and then do all things against goodness.

When hate is in anyone’s mind, it will push that person into darkness and downfall. He will act with rough mind and will be overwhelmed by delusions.

This morning, I dedicated the merit to the Buddha with my truly respectful heart for his love. His greatest love brought him to extreme self-torment, then finally led to the enlightenment. I also prayed for our country. I prayed that love would not be destroyed and that the power of hate would not ruin Thai people. I wished that all people would keep their love for their parents, their families, their loved ones, the country and the monarchy. I also wished all students and their families be protected by the power of love and share their pure love to others because only love can make the world survive. But without love, it can be destroyed.

The power of true love will protect and heal everything.

Gratitude is also caused by love. That’s why we determine to repay our parents, our benefactors, our country, the Buddha and Buddhism.

Do not let hate overpower love. Do not allow the dark power consume our minds.

Visakha Bucha is the day that the Buddha’s true love is the most powerful. That’s because it was the day he overcame the power of hate, envy and all kilesa.

Let us all show our love and respect to the Buddha through the way of Dhamma in the primary, the middle and the final step.

Let us guard love and maintain it in our mind. Do not let it be taken away because love is the great power that will lead us to the path to happiness, lasting success, fulfilling wishes, and then the final destination, Nirvana.

Miracle of the Middle Path

The day before Buddha attained enlightenment, he had come to realize the meaning of the Middle Path principle which is to keep oneself away from extreme attachment to pleasure and resentment, to stay balanced between happiness and sadness. When you are in the middle, you are not tied to anything. That is called “equanimity” in Buddhism. This universal truth is Buddha’s most important discovery. This is how to stay

beyond the world and the powerful attraction energy of the Universe.

What the Buddha had discovered was not a miracle, but simply the Law of Energy that is hidden from humans. Therefore, humans fail to understand the Law of Freedom from attachment. When the feeling of attraction or repulsion arises, it triggers a reaction of plus and minus energy, leading to an imbalanced energy field. In order to avoid being trapped in this push-and-pull cycle, you must keep your mind “neutral” and free of the ripples of emotions. Whatever comes to your mind, just know.

Equanimity is, therefore, detachment from both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. It is not that you are prohibited from taking an action, You just have to treat your mind as if it were a water drop on the lotus leaf.

But it is the discoverer of the law himself, the Buddha, who is the miracle. Such is revealed through his birth which took place in the middle of the year. In the Lunar Calendar, the period is the 15th day of the 6th waxing moon. Moreover, he also attained enlightenment and reached Nirvana on the same day in different  years.

The advent of Gautama Buddha is to show us what the Middle Path truly means. It is the revelation of the Buddha’s supreme holiness that nothing can impede. The circumstance is exclusively reserved for those who will become Buddha. It is a miracle beyond miracle that can be achieved only after incalculable lifetimes of sacrifices for the sole purpose of pulling all beings from the Cycle of Birth and Death, and nothing else.

Master Acharavadee Wongsakon

June 3, 2023