Suspicion Dispelling collection-The Significance of the Buddha Bathing Festival

Transcribed by Yin Zheng on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month, 2015

This year, a newly converted disciple from Xiamen named Jue Dao, who had recently taken refuge at Dajue Temple, was confused about the significance of the Buddha Bathing Festival. She sent a message to Jing Shifu, asking:

"Today is the Buddha Bathing Festival. I participated in an event with fellow practitioners, and I saw a Buddhist monk. I asked, 'Why do we pour water over a Buddha statue and then drink some of the water ourselves? What is the meaning behind this?' The monk replied, 'The meaning of bathing the Buddha is to cleanse the karmic obstacles of one’s body and mind.' I was deeply puzzled—can this really cleanse karmic obstacles? I just don’t believe it! My fellow practitioners were surprised that I had such doubts, and I felt out of place, unsure of how to fit in. Shifu, do you have any advice on how to dispel this worry?"

Jing Shifu replied:

To believe in the Buddha, one must first have "right faith." Right faith dispels superstition, and with right faith, there will be no doubt! Right faith is the starting point of Buddhist practice. What is right faith? To believe in the Buddha is to believe in your own "true Buddha nature." The "true mind" does not need cleansing—what needs to be cleansed is the "deluded mind." The "true mind" is inherently pure and free from karmic obstacles, but the "deluded mind" that clings to illusory forms creates karmic obstacles. It is sentient beings with karmic burdens who need cleansing; the Buddha, free from such burdens, does not require purification. Our physical bodies may gather impurities that need cleansing, but the Buddha’s dharma body, being formless, does not require purification by us, ordinary beings.

Furthermore, the statues in the temple—whether made of clay, wood, bronze, or gold—do not need to be worshipped by sentient beings. It is sentient beings who need to worship the Buddha. Why is that? Because sentient beings do not realize they have an inherent Buddha nature. They do not believe that they naturally possess this intrinsic Buddha nature, which is their original teacher Buddha. Without realizing this inner teacher Buddha, they do not believe in external Buddhas. They do not believe that everyone has Buddha nature or that every person is a Buddha-to-be in the future. When they see others prostrating, they mistake it for superstition, not realizing that such worship is an act of "reverence" and "surrender."

As Bodhidharma, the First Patriarch, said, "Bowing embodies reverence, and prostration signifies surrender." By showing reverence to our inherent, original Buddha-nature and surrendering the ignorance that, since time without beginning, has made us disbelieve in the Buddha-nature within ourselves and others, we realize that when we worship, we bow not only to the external Buddha but also to our inner Buddha. This is not superstition or idol worship; it is true faith!
 
We must understand that bathing the statue of Prince Siddhartha is essentially an act of bathing oneself. The Buddha has already attained Buddhahood, does he need us ordinary beings to bathe him? What requires cleansing is the ignorance and defilements we have accumulated over countless lifetimes. We need to adorn ourselves with purity, cultivating wisdom and merit, and hope that this wisdom and merit will be dedicated to all sentient beings. May it help all beings in the evil world of the five turbidities to purify themselves and eliminate their karmic obstacles, afflictions of suffering, and retributive burdens.
Therefore, in Chinese Buddhism, on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month, during the "Buddha’s Birthday" celebration, the faithful gather to bathe the Buddha. At the same time, they pour water over their own hands cleansing their physical bodies, as a symbolic act of collectively realizing the inherently complete pure Dharma body of the Tathāgata's true nature. In this way, bathing the Buddha is not an act of superstition but of right faith. By understanding the meaning of right faith, doubts and worries naturally dissolve. With right faith, one can live harmoniously with fellow practitioners.