Welcoming the Year of the Ox
Throughout Asia, and in Buddhist communities worldwide, the start of the new year is celebrated based on a lunar calendar. The Lunar New Year for 2021 is Friday, February 12th, which begins the 15 Days of Buddha's Miracles.
The Buddhist Society of Pittsburgh welcomes the arrival of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Ox. The Chinese zodiac sign of the Ox signifies such noble traits as diligence, honesty, and gentleness. As practitioners of the Dharma, we celebrate these ox-like traits as they invite us to renew our commitment to realizing compassion and wisdom, both personally and in the world we share.
Throughout 2020 and the finally passing Lunar Year of the Rat, we have witnessed and experienced more personal and public sickness than many of us in the privileged world or privileged circumstances are accustomed to, and turmoil continues to afflict all sentient beings on the planet. In uncertainty and instability, the pain, hurt, and anger many people have been carrying in silence for too long have found expression in the public square. As practitioners of the Dharma, we recognize that these afflictions too, like the ox itself, ask us to renew our commitment to realizing compassion and wisdom.
In compassion and wisdom, as this new year begins, may our practice contribute to realizing a world that honors the dignity of every life and addresses the inequities and harms suffered by so many. May we help one another to acknowledge and embrace every individual, not in spite of perceived differences of identity, race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, ethnicity, language, religion, education, heritage, or politics, but in celebration of them.
As we step into the lunar new year, may we keep in mind the Buddha’s teaching that all things in life are constantly changing. As we walk together into new possibilities, let us practice with loving kindness to transform the suffering of this world. In the spirit of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, let us be peace in every step, walking beside one another mindfully, in the spirit of fellowship, helping one another to find common ground and open spaces.
May this new Year of the Ox be a time of peace and goodwill in which we awaken to the truth of each person’s humanity and the woundedness that comes along with it. May we work to heal the personal and social divides we have allowed to fester, and through our practice contribute what we can to freeing beings from suffering and from creating suffering, whether in ourselves, in our lives at home, in our life as a nation or as a planet. May this Year of the Ox be one in which we celebrate working diligently and gently side-by-side to make the world a more equitable, fair, and understanding place for all of us.
The Buddhist Society of Pittsburgh welcomes the arrival of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Ox. The Chinese zodiac sign of the Ox signifies such noble traits as diligence, honesty, and gentleness. As practitioners of the Dharma, we celebrate these ox-like traits as they invite us to renew our commitment to realizing compassion and wisdom, both personally and in the world we share.
Throughout 2020 and the finally passing Lunar Year of the Rat, we have witnessed and experienced more personal and public sickness than many of us in the privileged world or privileged circumstances are accustomed to, and turmoil continues to afflict all sentient beings on the planet. In uncertainty and instability, the pain, hurt, and anger many people have been carrying in silence for too long have found expression in the public square. As practitioners of the Dharma, we recognize that these afflictions too, like the ox itself, ask us to renew our commitment to realizing compassion and wisdom.
In compassion and wisdom, as this new year begins, may our practice contribute to realizing a world that honors the dignity of every life and addresses the inequities and harms suffered by so many. May we help one another to acknowledge and embrace every individual, not in spite of perceived differences of identity, race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, ethnicity, language, religion, education, heritage, or politics, but in celebration of them.
As we step into the lunar new year, may we keep in mind the Buddha’s teaching that all things in life are constantly changing. As we walk together into new possibilities, let us practice with loving kindness to transform the suffering of this world. In the spirit of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, let us be peace in every step, walking beside one another mindfully, in the spirit of fellowship, helping one another to find common ground and open spaces.
May this new Year of the Ox be a time of peace and goodwill in which we awaken to the truth of each person’s humanity and the woundedness that comes along with it. May we work to heal the personal and social divides we have allowed to fester, and through our practice contribute what we can to freeing beings from suffering and from creating suffering, whether in ourselves, in our lives at home, in our life as a nation or as a planet. May this Year of the Ox be one in which we celebrate working diligently and gently side-by-side to make the world a more equitable, fair, and understanding place for all of us.