A Las Chapas: Bathing Buddha

A couple of Sundays ago John and I went to the Chinatown to stock up on all the imports us Americans can't live without, ie soy sauce, sriracha sauce, hot sauce, etc. To our surprise, they were having a Buddha party in the street.

I decided I wanted to join in on the Buddha festival, and went to watch what was happening. After reading through the Vow of Buddha I thought it'd be a great thing to do!

Below is a rough translation of the Vow of Buddha:

To take the Vow of Bathing Buddha

1. In bathing the right shoulder, I wish to speak well. In bathing his left shoulder, I wish to do good deeds, In bathing the bathe back I wish to have a positive mind

2. In bathing the right shoulder, I wish to have a healthy body. In bathing the left shoulder I desire to rid of all the accumulated karmas. In bathing the back I desire to increase my wisdom.

3. In bathing the right shoulder, I wish to be more compassionate. In bathing the left shoulder I wish to have more patience. In bathing the back I wish to serve the good of society.

4. In bathing the right shoulder, I wish to have a thriving business. In bathing the left shoulder I wish to have a united family. In bathing the back I wish to have a harmonious society

5. In bathing the right shoulder, I wish to increase my wisdom. In bathing his left shoulder, I wish to have successful studies. By bathing the back I wish to have good affinity with everyone else.

So, as you might have guessed, what was set up was a spot to bathe Buddah. I asked for help from some of the men working the bath area and he explained to me what to do. First, I was to bow to Buddah to show respect. Then, I was to bathe his right side, followed by his left side, followed by his back. A lot of people were out for the event, it was pretty cool!