January 22, 2012 in the Asian tradition - under the lunar calendar - is also considered January 1st, or the first day of the new year.

Most traditions hold some type of celebration during new years day. The Asian tradition is by far no exception.

Most people are acutely aware of the excitement, sights and sounds of the Chinese New Year. People see large dragons dancing about, fireworks of all types being set off, and lucky money being passed around amongst other festivities. It seems the Chinese and other Asian countries in the area put much more focus on the New Year than the West. And rightly so. They believe that the way you bring in the new year can determine the fate of the whole year! There are many other superstitions and beliefs I am not aware of, their origins are also sometimes mysterious to Western outsiders such as myself.

Buddhism is very Eastern. Originating in India with the original Buddha who was a prince there before he chose to leave his kingdom behind to find the answer to old age, sickness and death. It spread more eastward first, towards China, Vietnam, and Japan before going back West to Europe and just recently America. So many Eastern countries have incorporated Buddhism into their traditions and vice versa. So Buddhism plays a major role in the Asian New Year, and Dong Hung Temple (Buddhist Education Center of America) is no exception.

The morning of January 22nd there was a service as there is every Sunday. Chanting, prayers and some talk of the Dharma ensued. Then a special "cung Tat nien" ceremony for the New Years occurred. It is tradition to remember and revere our ancestors during the first day of the New Year. Buddhist lay followers offer their merit, food, flowers, drinks and more during this ceremony. After that there was more preparing for the festivities coming later in the evening. All the lay followers had lunch and some of them stayed around to help the Venerable Monks and Nuns of Dong Hung finish preparing for the celebration.

Around 8:40PM the celebration officially began with a Dragon dance provided by Jow Ga Kung Fu. The students and teachers from Jow Ga excited the crowd with a very entertaining and precise Dragon dance. Immediately after the Dragon dance, Jow Ga Kung Fu performed a Lion Dance. Which, as I've heard it, according to Chinese tradition is supposed to scare away evil spirits. They had three lions with fire crackers exploding, drums beating and cymbals clashing. It was definitely a sight to see. People all over were clamoring to get close to the lions so they could feed them lucky money in little red envelopes. After the excitement of the Dragon and Lion dances there was singing by some Vietnamese lay followers and Gia Huy a famous Vietnamese singer from California. He sings not only songs about love and girls, but he also sings about the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha! To end the night, after lots of singing and celebrating, there was a ceremony with chanting and a short Dharma talk for all the lay followers. Followed by passing out of oranges and lucky money.

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• 05/09/2012 14:52 - Buddha's Birthday Celebration 2636th
• 04/17/2012 18:09 - VESAK ANNOUNCEMENT
• 04/06/2012 21:10 - Interfaith Celebration at ODU
• 03/22/2012 14:27 - Financial donations for making parking lot
• 02/06/2012 23:14 - Panel Discussion on Sacred Outside Spaces

• 01/18/2012 23:41 - Bringing Education To Life
• 01/16/2012 22:00 - Dong Hung Temple Minutes of Progress 2011
• 01/16/2012 21:58 - New Year's Announcement
• 12/03/2011 13:25 - Invitation letter
• 11/26/2011 15:34 - Guest speaker for an adult class

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