The calendar
The Thai Buddhist year follows the moon. On the moon days — wan phra — lay people go to the monasteries to hear the Dhamma and keep the precepts, and the great holy days fall on full moons. Dates here are Thailand's, as the Mahanikaya monasteries keep them — Ajahn Chah's among them; Dhammayut monasteries sometimes keep a moon day a day apart.
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
· Holy day
The full moon of the eleventh lunar month ends the three months of the Rains Retreat (vassa). Monks close the retreat with the Pavāraṇā, each inviting the others to point out his faults, and lay people come to the monasteries to make merit.
· Holy day
The morning after the Rains, many monasteries hold a great alms round remembering the Buddha’s descent from the Tāvatiṃsa heaven, where tradition says he spent the Rains teaching his mother.
· Retreat
For the month after the Rains, lay people may offer each monastery the kathina cloth, to be made into a robe that same day — one of the few offerings the Buddha fixed a season for.
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
· Holy day
The full moon of the third lunar month remembers the day 1,250 disciples, all of them fully awakened, came to the Buddha unbidden, and he taught them the heart of the teaching: to do no evil, to cultivate the good, to purify the mind. In the evening, lay people and monks walk three times around the temple by candlelight (wian tian).
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
· Holy day
The full moon of the sixth lunar month, the most important day of the Buddhist year: the Buddha’s birth, his awakening, and his final passing away, which tradition places on this same day of the year. Monasteries hold teachings and a candlelit procession in the evening.
· Holy day
Eight days after Visākha Pūjā, some monasteries remember the cremation of the Buddha’s body at Kusinārā.
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
· Holy day
The full moon of the eighth lunar month remembers the Buddha’s first discourse, to the five ascetics in the Deer Park near Bārāṇasī — the day the Wheel of the Dhamma was set in motion, and the first of his listeners saw the truth for himself.
· Holy day
The day after Āsāḷha Pūjā, monks begin the three months of the Rains Retreat (vassa), staying in one monastery to practise. Lay people bring candles to last the Rains, and cloths for the monks to bathe in the rain.
· Retreat
Three months when monks stay in one place, and many lay people take up a practice for the season — keeping the precepts more closely, giving up a habit, or joining the monastery on moon days.
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,
Moon day — waxing half moon ,
Moon day — full moon ,
Moon day — waning half moon ,
Moon day — new moon ,