Taking place tomorrow (12.07.2022), Guru Purnima is a festival celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists in countries including India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Here's everything you need to know about the festival, whether you're celebrating or not.
What is Guru Purnima?
Guru Purnima is a festival dedicated to all the teachers out there, or gurus. It's a day to recognize the contribution that educators make every day, the selfless passing on of knowledge. 'Guru' is the Sanskrit word for 'teacher' or 'mentor', and Purnima is the Sanskrit word for 'full moon'.
Where does it come from?
The celebration has its roots in the Vedic Age, between 1500 and 600 BC. This was the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age in the history of India. In the Buddhist faith, Guru Purnima is the day that Gautama Buddha delivered his first speech to his first five disciples.
When is it?
The festival is observed every year on the full moon in the month of Ashadha, in accordance with the Hindu calendar. Ashadha is a month in the Hindu calendar that relates to June and July in the Gregorian calendar and is the fourth month of the year, beginning on 22 June and finishing on 22 July. It begins at 4:00am on July 2022, and ends at 12:06am on July 14, 2022.
How do people celebrate?
Every year people pay homage to their teachers, mentors, and gurus in many different ways. Prayer offerings, fasting, chanting mantras, spiritual rituals are all ways people observe this auspicious time. Some monasteries and ashrams hold special ceremonies like prayer recitals.
According to India Today the following are the Guru Purnima 2022 wishes and quotes:
- "The enemy is a very good teacher." - Dalai Lama
- You were a light for me in the dark, You were an inspiration and an aspiration, Support me always, I will succeed in all ways, Happy Guru Purnima!
- "I bow at his feet constantly, and pray to him, the guru, the true guru has shown me the way." - Guru Nanak
- Stick to the way you are now, Follow the paths shown by your Guru, The shine will come to you, You will be the star of your life, Happy Guru Purnima!
- When one finds the true Guru, one conquers half the world. Thanks for taking me as your disciple! Happy Guru Purnima!.
- A bow to the great teachers on this auspicious day of the birth of the great sage Vyasa, a symbol of Guru-Shishya tradition who gave His first sermon on this day at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India. Happy Guru Purnima!
- "He alone teaches who has something to give, for teaching is not talking, teaching is not imparting doctrines, it is communicating." - Swami Vivekananda
- "Find the teacher, serve him as a child, open your heart to his influence, see in him God manifested." - Swami Vivekananda
- "Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru none can cross over to the other shore." - Guru Nanak
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