Coming up on the 12th February 2025 is Māgha Pūjā Day, or Sangha Day.
Māgha Pūjā, often called Sangha Day, is a celebration of remarkable synchronicity and spiritual resonance. Imagine this: one thousand followers of the Buddha, along with 250 awakened disciples of his principal students—Mahākāśyapa (Sanskrit; Pali: Mahākassapa), Śāriputra (Sanskrit; Pali: Sāriputta), and Maudgalyāyana (Sanskrit; Pali: Moggallāna) —gathered together spontaneously. The gathering happened spontaneously under the luminous glow of the full moon in the third lunar month, Magha, in a grove near the city of Rajagaha. These 1,250 individuals were all awakened beings personally ordained by the Buddha himself, forming a direct lineage to his wisdom. “Pūjā” refers to practice, or ritual.
On this extraordinary day, the Buddha delivered the Ovāda-pāṭimokkha Gāthā, a timeless teaching urging monks to walk the path of righteousness. This gathering is regarded as the spiritual cornerstone of the sangha, the community of practitioners, and thus, the occasion is known as Sangha Day.
The verses are recited in many ceremonies in Theravada Buddhism and include the following lines:
“Not doing anything evil,
—Mahāpadāna Sutta, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism
Undertaking what is wholesome,
Purifying one’s mind,
This is the teaching of the buddhas.”
Māgha Pūjā is known as Sangha day as it signifies the sangha’s auspicious beginning.
For laypeople, Māgha Pūjā is a time to reflect deeply on the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. It is a time to purify one’s life, literally and figuratively: cleaning the house, abstaining from unwholesome actions, and recommitting to a life of precepts and earnest practice.
The festival is beautifully marked by the lighting of lanterns, their glow a symbol of hope, renewal, and the aspiration to brighten the world with our actions. Unsurprisingly, Māgha Pūjā is also called the Lantern Festival—a perfect metaphor for illuminating both the inner and outer worlds.
Māgha Pūjā is known as the Fourfold Assembly because:
1. it took place on the full moon;
2. the monks gathered without being summoned;
3. all 1,250 monks were arhats, or fully enlightened beings;
4. each had been ordained by the Buddha.
