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Website design By BotEap.com“Thousands of candles can be lit with a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness is never diminished by being shared.” the buddha
Website design By BotEap.comCandles are an age-old traditional part of Buddhist rituals. Along with incense and flowers, they are placed in front of Buddhist shrines or Buddha statues and images as a sign of respect. They are often accompanied by offerings of food and drink. The light from a lit candle flame represents the light of the Buddha’s teachings. Candles and incense also evoke the state of impermanence and change. Its light can also be said to symbolize the enlightenment of the Buddha.
Website design By BotEap.comThailand Buddhist Candlelight Festival
Website design By BotEap.com“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, so men cannot live without a spiritual life.” the buddha
Website design By BotEap.comThe Buddhist Lenten Day in Thailand, an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, is celebrated in July each year and is mainly practiced by established monks. The day before the start of Lent, Thais celebrate the Festival of Candles. This Festival is celebrated throughout the country, but the most specific celebrations take place in Ubon Rachathani, northeast of Thailand (Isaan).
Website design By BotEap.comAccording to tradition, the Buddhist Lenten Day began as a result of villagers’ complaints to the Buddha. It is said that a group of ordained monks were making merit (tamboon) and had walked through wet rice fields. At that time the rice fields were at their peak of growth and by walking in them they had ruined the crop. As a consequence, legend has it that the Buddha told all monks to practice merit creation while staying within the confines of their temples. Today Buddhist Lent stipulates that all monks must remain confined to their temples for a period of 3 months during the rainy season, beginning on the first day of the eighth waning moon.
Website design By BotEap.comThe Thais offer a variety of staples to their monks and this offer also includes candles and this of course includes the famous Festival of Candles. In earlier times, most temples had no electricity, so candles had important symbolic meaning for ceremonies, but also more practically for lighting in everyday use. Furthermore, they are said to represent wisdom as divine light; During the Festival of Candles, Buddhists practice their beliefs by offering large and often extravagantly decorated candles to monks.
Website design By BotEap.comCandle Festival Celebrations: “There are two ways to spread light: be the candle or be the mirror that reflects it.” Edith Warton
Website design By BotEap.comOn the day before Lent, large groups of people gather with their beautifully decorated candles and march with them in elaborate and beautiful parades. The rich, lavishly sculpted decorations on these beautiful works of art represent the willpower, unity, and beliefs of that community. The parade of candles procession contains the widest cross-section of the community, all in their best clothes. In Ubon Ratchathani, this also includes many groups of local Isaan artists, musicians and dancers who accompany the candles as they tour the city. There is also a popular beauty pageant to select Miss Vela (who is considered to be the most beautiful lady in that community).
Website design By BotEap.comThroughout the country, there are celebrations of the Festival de la Vela. Whatever the weather in Thailand, people have fun and express their faith on July 8, the beginning of Buddhist Lent.
Website design By BotEap.com“How far that little candle casts its rays! Thus shines a good deed in a wicked world.” William Shakespeare
Website design By BotEap.comcandlelight meditation
Website design By BotEap.comSit in a quiet and peaceful room and light a candle. It can be any color but some prefer blue or white. Now look deeply into the burning candle flame and focus on it. Don’t let your vision of the candle flame become blurred. As you stare into the burning flame, your mind will be filled with the noise of everyday thoughts, worries and trivial concerns. These should start to fade, and after a while you may start getting images and thoughts that don’t seem to be coming from you. Take them as your spirit guides and try to interpret them.
Website design By BotEap.comKeep looking at the burning flame, do not get distracted and try to interpret the visions you are receiving. A common example is that of ‘seeing’ a peeled onion. At first this may seem pointless, but in this example it could mean that as you move forward in your life’s journey, the layers are peeling away, allowing you to see and experience the ultimate core of your existence.
Website design By BotEap.comAs you progress with your candlelight meditation, try to learn to trust your own analysis and understanding of these thoughts that the candlelight brings to your mind. This form of meditation acts as a powerful way to focus your concentration.
Website design By BotEap.comTry to develop your experience of candlelight meditation from 5 minutes a day to 20 minutes and do it for several months. Your eyes will need to adjust to the dim light, and over time you will be able to distinguish between which thoughts are your own and which can act as your spirit guides.
Website design By BotEap.com“Better light a candle than curse the darkness” Chinese proverb
Website design By BotEap.com“Like a white candle in a holy place, So is the beauty of an aged face” joseph campbell
Website design By BotEap.comWhere is the largest candle in the world?
Website design By BotEap.com“We say that God and imagination are one… How high the tallest candle lights up the darkness.” stevenwallace
Website design By BotEap.comDeviating slightly from the use of candles in Buddhism in my research, I took a detour to see what the human imagination could bring to the world of candles: this is what I found.
Website design By BotEap.com“A good teacher is like a candle: it is consumed to illuminate the path of others.” Later
Website design By BotEap.comThere are many contenders and a long history of searching for the world’s largest sail. The first contender for the world’s largest candle is the USA: Warm Glow Candle Outlet in Centerville, Indiana, where they claim to have the world’s largest candle. However, at the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897 what has been described as the largest recorded candle in the world was displayed. This huge sail is said to have been eighty feet high and eight feet in diameter.
Website design By BotEap.comThe long-established firm of Ajello Candles is another contender for the historical title of the world’s largest candle. In 1921 he created the Enrico Caruso Memorial Candle. This sail measured five feet in circumference and tapered at the top to 18 inches. This candle stood an impressive 18 feet tall and once the candle was lit, the company claimed it could continue for 1800 years, burning one day each year on the anniversary of Enrico Caruso’s death.
Website design By BotEap.comIn 2005 in Jerusalem they made the largest Hannukha candle in the world. This huge sail was more than eight and a half meters high and 85 cm wide. It was located in the Pisga shopping center of the city. These are just a few examples of what the largest candles in the world claim to be or were.
Website design By BotEap.com“Nirvana is not blowing out the candle. It is blowing out the flame of the candle because the day has come.” Rabindranath Tago
