Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha and his five disciples
This widely spread Buddhist saying captures the essence of Dharma day: a day to celebrate the first teachings of Buddha. The word Dharma translates to ‘truth’ or to ‘the way to enlightenment.’ This date, every full moon of July, marks the day in Siddhartha’s life when he, right after his enlightenment, sought out his five original disciples and begun teaching them what he had learned.
This day is also known as Dharmachakra, or the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, which implies that Dharma day was the day the Buddhist fate begun to form and spread. In ancient times, the Dharma day also used to mark the beginning of rainy season…
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Magha is the third lunar month of the old Indian calendar.
It usually falls somewhere toward the end of February or end of March. Magha Puja Day is considered one of the most important Buddhist celebrations. It commemorates the day on which Buddha recited the “Ovadha Patimokkha” (the Fundamental Teaching) to his disciples. The origins of this festival tell the story of a spontaneous gathering of 1250 fully enlightened monks, who came from separate parts of the countryside,. They had all quite independently decided to go and visit the Buddha and assembled on the full moon day of Magha in the Bamboo Grove at Rajagaha where the Buddha was living. All of these monks were disciples of the Buddha – having been ordained by him. It wa at this time that the Buddha declared that he would pass away in three months time.
This is a Mahayana Buddhist festival which in India is known as 
Parinirvana. (Celebrated by some Buddhists on 15th Febraury). This festival marks the death of Buddha and celebrates when, at the age of 80, he finally attained nirvana (enlightenment) and was released from the cycle of death and rebirth: freedom from physical existence and its sufferings. Mahayana or Theravada Buddhists meditate or visit temples or monasteries, and the day is treated as a social occasion. Nirvana Day celebrations vary throughout the world but usually include food preparation and the exchange of gifts such as money, household goods, or clothing.
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Hello, I'm Deborah Swallow and, for the last fifteen years, I've worked in over thirty countries addressing the complexities of people working internationally across multiple cultures, so individuals and organisations alike can gain an authentic competitive edge and win in international markets. 