WHO KNEW? BODHI DAY, HANNUKAH AND CHRISTMAS

 The celebration of Christmas, the Buddha's enlightenment, and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah all fall around this time of year.  And while there are significant differences between these three holidays and the religions that they represent, there are also profound similarities. 

Let's call the first the "who knew?" factor.  The instigators of these holidays -- Buddha, the Maccabees and Jesus were not the power leaders of their time.  To the contrary!  The pampered, sheltered prince Siddhartha Gautama was a rebellious disappointment to his powerful father and he wandered aimlessly as an ascetic before he became enlightened.  Who knew that Siddhartha would be able to sit under the Bodhi tree, meditate and find a way to live based on compassion and insight?  The Maccabbees were an oppressed, marginalized group of people in a little corner of Alexander the Great's empire.  Who knew that this rag tag group would lead guerrilla attacks against the largest, most organized army in the world and win?  Jesus was a tiny little baby, so vulnerable because he was a baby and because he was born in a barn of a very young mother and because the authorities wanted him dead.  Who knew this young being would grow up to have such a great impact on people and history around the world?  All three of these revolutions that significantly changed the world started with people WAY outside the "power" base of society.

Another aspect common to all three of the holidays is the role of difficulties, of suffering.  It was recognition of suffering -- from death, sickness and old age -- that caused Buddha to go searching for an answer.  Hanukkah commemorates the end of a terrible subjugation and a long, bitter war.  Jesus was born at a time when his parents were unable to find a comfortable room anywhere and King Herod was out to kill him.  Even we experience loss at this time of the year as leaves; light and warmth leave us.

This recognition that life is difficult is not an academic point: It is central to each of the stories and to each of us personally.  We all have difficulties.

And that leads to another aspect of the three holidays: the role of community.  No sooner did Buddha become enlightened then he went out, found disciples and formed the Sangha or community.  Buddhists around the world say the Triple Gem: “I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Sangha, the community, I take refuge in the Teachings of the Buddha.”  The Maccabbees could not have regained the Temple and their way of life from the Greeks unless they had worked together as a community, as a family.  And Jesus with his disciples started his community by sharing in communion.  Some people find community within their church, synagogue or Temple, others in a less traditional place.

On of the most amazing discoveries about community is that it has physiological -- bodily -- effects on people.  A replicated study done at Stanford University on women with breast cancer showed this dramatically.  Women were divided randomly into two different groups.  They all had cancer at similar stages with similar prognoses, the only difference between the treatment of the groups is that one group met once a week to talk.  That was it -- they talked about their lives, their fears, and their experiences.  That group survived twice as long as the group that didn't have a community of supporters.  Community can be a powerful, healing force.  Maybe that's why these holidays are spent in community with family and friends.

And finally there is one other aspect of the holidays that is common to Bodhi day, Hanukkah and Christmas.  That is what the 2^nd step of all 12 step programs describes in this way:  "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."  For the Jew and the Christian that "Power greater than ourselves" is God.  To Jews it might have been the ragtag Maccabbees that won the war, but it was not they that were miraculously able to keep the flame burning in the Temple far longer than anticipated.  To Christians it was not just the human power of that little child Jesus that made him so special, it was god's power working in him.  Buddha didn't talk about god.  But he did recognize that there is far more beyond our self's narrow bandwidth of needs, wants and controls.

For some, that power greater than ourselves might be expressed in inspired music, which is part of all three religions.  Or perhaps that power greater than ourselves is illustrated by light, which is why candles are part of these traditions, particularly at this time of the year.  Perhaps that power greater than ourselves is recognized in trees, those magnificent plants with roots in the ground and branches in the sky that give us oxygen to breath and take away our refuse.  They remind us that life is like a tree, constantly renewing itself and evergreen.  Maybe that is why all three holidays use the symbol of a tree to represent its message: Buddha meditating under the Bodhi tree, the menorah in the shape of the tree of life and the Christian use of the Christmas tree. 

Who knew that there is a power greater than ourselves that could restore us to life?  The communities of these three wise traditions that celebrate what they know to be true  - they knew!