Bathing The Buddha Ceremony

On Wesak Day , the children, their parents, Ai Xin Ma Mas, and teachers performed the Bathing the Buddha ceremony. In the ceremony, they use a ladle to pour fragrant water three times over a statue of the infant Buddha. The senior residents of Wan Ching Yuen Centre also join in with the children to perform this ceremony.

While bathing the statue, the children chant the Bathing Buddha Gatha:

“We are now coming to bathe Tathagatas,
For purity, wisdom, dignity, merit, and virtue.
May the five-fold polluted sentient beings be rid of impurities
And all realise the pure entity of Tathagatas.”

Venerable Wei Wu explains to the children that the act of pouring fragrant water over the shoulders of the Buddha serves as a reminder to cleanse the mind from the three poisons of greed, hatred and ignorance. The ceremony symbolizes the washing away of greed, hatred and ignorance and purification of one's heart and mind.