--Happy Wesak Day 2012--

--First Day Seroquel XR 300mg~Remeron 60mg--

--新年 2011--

新年指中国及其他汉字文化圈地区的农历一月一日，传统上称为元旦（与中国现行的公历元旦不同）、岁首、正旦，现在一般称为新年、大年，口头上亦称为过年、 度岁、庆新岁；是东亚许多国家和地区庆祝新年的主要节日。越南语称为“Tết Nguyên Đán”（節元旦）、日语称为“正月”（明治维新后改称旧正月）、韩语称为“설날”（此乃固有词，即新年之意）。
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春节和年的概念，最初的含意来自农业，古时人们把谷的生长周期称 为“年”。《说文·禾部》：“年，谷熟也。”在夏商时代产生了夏历，以月亮圆缺的周期为月，一年划分为十二个月，每月以不见月亮的那天为朔，正月朔日的子 时称为岁首，即一年的开始，也叫年，年的名称是从周朝开始的，至了西汉才正式固定下来，一直延续到今天。但古时的正月初一被称为“元旦”，直到中国近代辛 亥革命胜利后，南京临时政府为了顺应农时和便于统计，规定在民间使用夏历，在政府机关、厂矿、学校和团体中实行公历。

1949年9月27日，在中国人民政治协商会议第一届全体会议上，通过了使用世界上通用的公历纪元，把公历的元月一日定为元旦，俗称阳历年；农历正月初一通常都在立春前后，因而把农历正月初一定为“春节”，俗称阴历年。

　　传统意义上的春节是指从腊月初八的腊祭或腊月二十三的祭灶，一直直到正月十五，其中以除夕和正月初一为高潮。在春节这一传统节日期间，我国的汉族和大多数少数民族都有要举行各种庆祝活动，这些活动大多以祭祀神佛、祭奠祖先、除旧布新、迎禧接福、祈求丰年为主要内容。活动形式丰富多彩，带有浓郁的民族特色。

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~http://www.hudong.com/wiki/新年
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~http://baike.baidu.com/view/67771.htm
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~http://www.qicaispace.com/count/newyear/
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~http://baike.soso.com/v173264.htm

--Bung Fai Paya Nak (Naga Fireballs over Mekong River) 2010--

--Hungry Ghost Festival 2010--

The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month (14th in southern China).
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In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in Spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in Autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
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On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian meals) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival
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~http://www.essortment.com/all/hungryghostfes_rjkb.htm
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~http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/ghost.htm
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~http://www.chinese-culture.net/html/hungry_ghost_festival.html

--WESAK 2010--

Vesākha (Pali; Sanskrit: Vaiśākha वैशाख) is an annual holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Sometimes informally called "Buddha's Birthday," it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment (nirvāɳa), and passing away (Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha.

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The exact date of Vesākha varies according to the various lunar calendars used in different traditions. In Theravada countries following the Buddhist calendar, it falls on the full moon Uposatha day (typically the 5th or 6th lunar month). Vesākha Day in China is on the eighth of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar but falls in April or May.

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In 2010 the first full moon day in May is the twenty-seventh. However, Myanmar and Cambodia observe the event this year on April 28, 2010.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak
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--Cambodian New Year~Chol Chnam Thmey 2010--

Cambodian New Year (Khmer: បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី) or Chol Chnam Thmey in the Khmer language, literally "Enter the New Year", is the name of the Cambodian holiday that celebrates the new year. The holiday lasts for three days beginning on New Year's Day, most commonly April 13th but sometimes on the 14th in keeping with the lunar calendar. Khmer living in other countries may change the dates so as to celebrate on the weekend. This time of the year is at the end of the harvesting season. The farmers enjoy the fruits of their harvest and relax before the rainy season begins.
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The numbering is based on the Buddhist calendar. For 2010 it is 2554 BE (Buddhist Era),
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_New_Year

--Burmese New Year~Maha Thingyan 2010--

In Burma there is a three day New Year festival called Maha Thingyan, which is celebrated with prayers, fasting and fun. During the festivities, buildings and temples are washed, and people throw water over each other. This is partly to welcome the heavy rains of the coming monsoon season.
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The Burmese New Year festival is held to celebrate the New Year, by performing meritorious deeds and spraying one another with Thingyan water.
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The Burmese New Year, which is based on the Fixed Zodiac system, falls on or around April 16. Thingyan means change. Cula thingyan (or small change) occurs every month. Maha thingyan (or big change) occurs once a year. The Burmese consider it to occur in Meiktha on or around April 13 and lasting three or four days.
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Thingyan is the traditional Burmese New Year's festival. It lasts for three days and during that time everyone must get wet in order to welcome in the New Year. The Burmese believe that water acts as a soul purifier. Getting wet means that one can start the New Year with a cleansed soul.
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~http://www.fathertimes.net/burmesenewyear.htm

--Thailand New Year~Songkran 2010--

The Songkran festival (Thai: สงกรานต์, from Sanskrit saṅkrānti, "astrological passage") is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. It coincides with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia.
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The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off are taken on the weekdays immediately following. If they fall in the middle of the week, many Thai take off from the previous Friday until the following Monday. Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter 1 April was used until 1940. 1 January is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then.
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Songkran originally was celebrated only in the north of Thailand, and was probably brought there by the Burmese, who adapted it from the Indian Holi festival. It spread across Thailand in the mid 20th century and is now observed even in the far south. However, the most famous Songkran celebrations are still in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_New_Year

--清明時節雨紛紛，路上行人欲斷魂....--

在人们的印象中，无论东西方、海内外，祭祀先人都是一种很肃穆很庄严的仪式，为的是表达内心深处的怀念，一束鲜花，亦或一把纸钱烧起的一缕飘向天空的青烟，都承载和寄托了一片哀思，人们都会依据当地的习俗用各种方式来表达出这一人类真实的感情。
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还有几天就是中华民族的传统祭祀先人的节日清明节了，清明时节，天气转暖，进入春耕的季节，春耕之前，过去长期处于农耕社会的中国人，都会在此时候想到先祭祀自己的先人，企盼保佑五谷丰登，所谓“清明时节雨纷纷，路上行人欲断魂”这句杜牧的诗在中国是家喻户晓，千百年来，一代又一代的中国人都会特地在这清明的同一天用各种方式祭祀自己的故去的亲人以及祖先或英烈，以这种方式印证了生生不息的中华民族代代相传的顽强生命力；于中国人而言，也许我们都会印象深刻的就是后人们举家上山挂青，倒上白酒，并烧纸钱也就是常说的冥币.

--十五暝 (Chap Goh Meh) 2010--

Chap Goh Meh or Tzap Goh Mei (Chinese: 十五暝; pinyin: shí wǔ míng; literally "fifteen night") represents the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese migrant communities. The term is from the Hokkien dialect and refers to the fifteenth day of the first month, which is the occasion of the first full moon of the New Year.

The occasion is marked by feasting and various festivities, including the consumption of tangyuan. In traditional Chinese culture, it is also celebrated as the Lantern Festival or the Shang Yuan Festival. In Southeast Asia, however, it coincides with the Chinese Valentine's Day. It is also when young unmarried women gather to toss tangerines into the sea, in a hope that their future spouse will pick it up – a custom that originated in Penang, Malaysia. In the past, this was also the only day that unmarried ladies could be seen with their partners.

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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chap_Goh_Meh

~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chap_Goh_Mei

--拜天公 2010--

农历大年初九，是福建人拜天公、大过年的日子，这一天凌晨的拜天公仪式，比大年除夕迎新春、接财神更热闹，更隆重，祭拜仪式过后，大家吃一顿丰富的年餐，以示团圆、吉祥。福建人拜天公，除了感恩外，也祈求天公在新的一年，赐福给全家人，让合家大小平安，步步高升。大年初九凌晨，成千上万的烧猪和鸡、鸭，将是祭拜天公的主要祭品，
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以祈求新春大吉大利。天公诞的祭拜仪式，是从大年初八深夜开始，一直持续到初九凌晨。烧猪，是孝敬天公的重点祭品之一，一些经济不错的家庭，甚至订购大烧猪供拜，而普通的家庭也以小金猪或烧肉祭拜，以祈求天公带来好运。所以，拜天公这一天，烧猪的销量非常可观。当天祭拜天公的大小烧猪，超过数万只之多。而早在大年初八，烧猪店推出的大、小烧猪，非常抢手，销量也可观，大家都赶早买烧猪及其它祭拜用品，为夜晚的祭拜天公作好准备。据乌美2道焱全烧腊中心老板卓照发说，今天大年初八，包括他已接到1000只烧猪的订单，估计可卖出超过1500只大小烧猪，销量不比去年差。 往往在大年初八，就像除夕一样，一清早巴刹就闹哄哄一片，不少人纷纷拥到巴刹购买鸡、鸭、大鱼、大肉和水果，扛着一棵棵的甘蔗回家。
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忙碌烹煮一番后，深夜时辰一到，就摆好丰富祭品，安好天公座，点起香烛祭拜天公。祭拜天公的祭品，包括鸡鸭、鱼虾、甘蔗、水果、香烛、大金、小金、香烛、龙香等等。拜天公时，必须诚心膜拜，一点不能马虎，早年还要燃烧爆竹，彻夜响个不停，一直拜到大年初九凌晨时分，才圆满结束，这时全家人一起享用丰富年餐，才上床睡觉。据卓照发说，从订单来看，今年的小金猪最抢手，大金猪销量也不错，他估计年初八从早到晚，会有更多人到店里买大小烧猪，门市估计可卖出数百只大小烧猪。卓照发说，农历新年的两个烧猪大旺日，是大年除夕与大年初八。除夕是祭拜神明、祖先的日子。大年初九拜天公，都少不了烧猪。到了大年十五的元宵节，烧猪的销量也很可观。
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拜天公源自明朝 传说明朝时一年的农历新年，倭寇在福建沿海一带，杀人放火，抢夺财物，乡民扶老携幼逃命。 乡民在黑夜中逃到一处偏僻郊野时，眼见倭寇就要追上，大家感到万分惊恐，突然前面出现一大片蔗林，乡民便逃入蔗林躲避，避过倭寇，逃过鬼门关。 这天正是大年初九，逃出生天的乡民都认为这是天公救命，于是每年的大年初九凌晨便祭拜天公，以谢救命之恩。而拜甘蔗也具有不忘蔗林藏身救命之恩。 另一传说是，古时有一名孟将军，他到某个地方，只要喝了当地的水，就会讲当地的话，他就以这门本事辨别汉人。可是他到了福建，手下竟然拿了外省的水给他喝，结果他一直不懂讲福建话。他便以为福建人不是汉人，就下令大开杀戒，福建人枉死无数。到了大年初九那天，从外省运来的水喝光了，孟将军才喝到福建的水，会讲起福建话，这时他才知道杀错人，马上下令封刀。而福建人认为这是天公所赐，让他们逃过大劫，便在初九凌晨拜天公谢恩。
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~http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/14463877.html

--According to Buhhda Learning ......--

The Buddha said,

"The kind of seed sown
will produce that kind of fruit.
Those who do good will reap good results.
Those who do evil will reap evil results.
If you carefully plant a good seed,
You will joyfully gather good fruit."

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~http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm