Vesak

On May 12, we celebrate Vesak, Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment and maha-paranirvana. 

Not a celebration. A remembrance.

Of a prince…

who saw sickness, aging, and death—

and refused to look away.

He walked into the unknown.

Not to escape suffering,

but to understand it.

He didn’t find God.

He found clarity.

And in that clarity,

he became the Buddha—The Awakened One.

In this day we celebrate him.

With candles. Statues. Rituals.

But he left all of that

to teach us one thing:

Freedom is not outside.

It’s within your breath.

Your thoughts. Your silence.

Vipassana is that silence.

No gurus. No beliefs. No chanting.

Just observation.

Of the mind…

and the thousand ways it runs from pain:

10 days.

No talking. No phones.

Just stillness.

And the courage to watch your mind—

until it no longer controls you.

Buddha Purnima is not about worship.

It’s an invitation to awaken.

To walk the path.

To sit under your own Bodhi tree.

To meet the self you've forgotten.

This year, don’t just bow to Buddha.

Be brave enough to become him.