Asalha Puja (Dhamma Day)
Commemorating the Buddha's first teaching, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.
Asalha Puja falls on the full moon of the lunar month Asalha, the eighth month of the Buddhist lunar calendar, usually in July and occasionally in early August. The Vassa rains retreat begins the next day.
When Is Asalha Puja (Dhamma Day)?
Asalha Puja falls on the full moon of the lunar month Asalha, the eighth month of the Buddhist lunar calendar, usually in July and occasionally in early August. The Vassa rains retreat begins the next day.
Because the Gregorian date changes from year to year, check a calendar published by the tradition or your local community for this year's date.
Why It Matters
Asalha Puja commemorates the occasion when the Buddha gave his first sermon, the "Discourse on Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion," to his first five disciples in the Deer Park at Sarnath, India. This established the first Buddhist community (Sangha).
How It Is Observed
Temple ceremonies, candle processions (wien tian), listening to the first sermon, offering robes to monks, observing extra precepts. The Vassa (Buddhist Lent) retreat begins the next day.
Sacred Text
“There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects... and that which is devoted to self-affliction... Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata... leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.”
, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11) ↗