Rohatsu

Early Saturday morning I will be headed to Nashville Zen Center for our little mini Rohatsu celebration. Rohatsu is a day that commemorates the historical Buddha's awakening. It is celebrated on Dec 8th. According to tradition, he decided to sit under a tree until he found the root of all suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it.

There a differences depending on the tradition as to what happened, but I think all traditions agree that as the Morning Star (Venus) rose in the sky in the early morning, he realized enlightenment and became a Buddha, an awakened one.

Zen centers differ as to how they celebrate. Some centers do a week-long retreat. Our center will be doing a 3am to 9am sit on Dec 5th.