Hanamatsuri (Japanese for spring festival of flowers) is the day on which Buddha's Birthday is celebrated in Japan. The custom is to pour fragrant tea over the statue of baby buddha to commemorate the tea which rained on his birth and caused flowers to spring from the ground.
At Red Clay Sangha we will enjoy a simple ceremony and discussion of the meaning of the birth of buddha. This is a special occurrence as April 8 falls on both a full moon and a Sunday. We also will renew our precepts and commitment to the bodhisattva path.
You need not bring a gift, but if you do, it will be donated to a local hospital for distribution to parents of premature infants.
As usual, we will adjourn for lunch to a local restaurant aferwards.