HANAMATSURI: The Special Service

If it’s April, it’s all about Hanamatsuri at temple.  Hana means “flower” and matsuri means “festival” in Japanese—and that word is used a lot in Japan!  Every town has at least one shrine, and every shrine has its own matsuri, drawing the entire population together to put on and attend the festival.

The Flower Festival is far bigger than a local shrine festival however.  It’s when we celebrate the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha, born over 2,500 years ago in what was then India and is now a southern corner of modern-day Nepal.

Stories of the birth of great teachers and gods are frequently surrounded in beautiful legends, and Shakyamuni Buddha was no exception.  The stories that have come to us say that at his birth, the very earth itself shook in all of the six directions (north, south, east, west, up and down), and flowers bloomed everywhere.  Devas (or gods) filled the air with music, and heavenly beings scattered flowers from the sky.  The newborn infant Buddha immediately stood up and took seven steps to the north and pointed his left hand at the earth below and his right hand to the heavens above, and declared, “In the heavens above and on earth below, I alone will become the Honored One.”  And with each step he took, a lotus flower bloomed under his feet.  Hence we call the celebration of his birth Hanamatsuri—the Flower Festival.

The stories are beautiful and about as literally “true” as mangers, stars, and Wise Men.  The legends carry teachings and imagery that appeal to all of us, particularly children being introduced to the story of the Buddha.

Our children, for instance, build a hanamido, or miniature flower altar of bright flowers to approximate Lumbini Garden where the Buddha was born.  Inside the hanamido, we place a statue of an infant Buddha with arms extended to the heavens and the earth.  During our Hanamatsuri service, instead of burning incense as we normally do, we have the opportunity to pour sweet tea (amacha, made from hydrangea leaves) over the statue to represent the sweet gentle rain that fell in Lumbini Garden and washed the infant Buddha.

Flowers play a conspicuous role in many Buddhist myths and in the Buddha’s birth.  It is no accident that this celebration takes place in spring, when all the flowers are in bloom.  In Japan, the sakura (cherry) trees bloom at this time, and are sometimes used as offerings for the festival.

We are a long way from Japan, and our gardeners will tell you we don’t have the climate for cherry trees.  But we are fortunate to be located in an area that has been called the Flower Capital of the World since the 1920s.  Much of the flower growing was dedicated to poinsettias—that flower most associated with the celebration of a different sage’s birth.  Our temple was founded by issei (first generation) Japanese immigrants who owned and operated the farmlands of North San Diego County until they were moved to relocation camps during World War II.

Although we no longer have much more than memories of our farmlands and flower-growing history, Hanamatsuri is a much-loved opportunity to return to our own symbols of the past, as well as to celebrate those of our earliest teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha.  Happy birthday, Shakyamuni Buddha!