One spring, many Eastside traditions

It’s like coming out of a tunnel – the transition from winter to spring. The earth becomes warmer and brighter. Animals are born. Cherry blossoms emerge; white, pink and red; blades of grass sprout daintily from the ground.

The sacredness of April is appreciated by many people in one way or another.

Themes of new life and the spring season pervade not only secular culture, through chocolate Easter bunnies and plastic eggs, but various religions as well.

Hanamatsuri

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For Eastsiders, particularly Japanese Americans, who commute to Betsuin Jodo Shinsu Buddhist temple in South Seattle, spring marks a significant birthday.

Celebrated earlier this month on April 8, Hanamatsuri, or “Flower Festival,” commemorates the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, who would eventually become a great teacher and an enlightened being – a Buddha. It is he who opened the door for all people to be released from suffering and sorrow.

Flowers’ beauty and impermanence are reminders of the absolute preciousness and value of each and every day, said Betsuin Rinban Don Castro.

By embracing the fact that life is fleeting and difficult, in addition to life’s triumphs and joys, one may find peace.This is what Buddha stood for, he said.

Ram Navami

Another important religious leader was also born in April.

Eastside Hindus at the Bothell Hindu Temple and Cultural Center celebrated Ram Navami, the birth of Sri Ram (Lord Rama), April 12 this year.

The handsome, blue-skinned Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu and the hero of “The Ramayana,” the Sanskrit epic of 24,000 stanzas.

“He was a protector of all that stands for good; we celebrate victory of good over evil,” said Nitya Niranjan, temple board member.

Easter

Good over evil is also a theme of Easter April 24 – which commemorates the savior Jesus Christ’s resurrection, said Rev. Karen Haig, priest associate at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Medina.

The nighttime Easter vigil is when Jesus is said to have passed from death to life, she said. It’s one of the most, if not the most, profound services of the year.

Baptism around Easter-time is another important celebration of life for Episcopalians. In the sacrament of baptism, Episcopalians “die to our old life, and are born into a new life, into a community, a life lived for the sake of a better world,” Haig said.

Congregation members of Bellevue’s East Shore Unitarian Church will also be celebrating Easter this spring, among other traditions, both in ritual as well as in their private lives, said Rev. Peter J. Luton, senior minister.

“We marked the equinox in March and have been using April as a time to reflect on Easter, Passover and earth-centered traditions,” he said.

Pesach

Easter is not just a religious holiday. It’s also a time for all families, secular and religious, to spend time with one another.

One secular Easter symbol, the egg, does not merely appear as a  pink, shiny plastic capsule to be filled with treats, knickknacks and goodies.

A hard-boiled egg (beitzah) is one of many symbolic foods found on a Seder Table at Pesach, or Passover (April 18-26 this year).

“Eggs, parsley, lettuce, lamb, these are all symbolic foods for passover, as well as springtime foods,” said Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg of Bellevue’s Temple B’Nai Torah.

In the Rabbinic Era, these were the foods eaten on Passover night, because they were in season: the lambs were being born and parsley and lettuce were ready for harvesting, she said.

While springtime is a Passover theme, the most important part of the holiday is teaching the next generation about the Jews’ freedom from years of enslavement in Egypt, she said

Passover remains a relevant and important holiday because there’s still so much work to be done to improve the world, Kinberg said.

“Whether it’s the trafficking of women and children or slavery, it’s about ‘Tikkun olam’ healing or repairing the world. At Passover, it’s our opportunity to do this, and to reinvigorate ourselves,” she said.

Spring

Now is a time of growth – both for nature and for human beings, said Rev. Luton. Human beings have always searched to find meaning in their lives, he said. Different traditions answer these questions in different ways,”but the human spirit is always stretching toward community, toward God, toward love,” he said.

“That’s the human response to the natural world. It sits well in the springtime.”

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Photo credit:

Cross image: “Church and cherry blossoms.” is copyright (c) 2006 OiMax. Buddha image: “Amida Buddha.” is copyright (c) 2007 Jim Epler. Hindu image: “Sri Sri Sita Ram Lakshman and Hanumanji” is copyright (c) 2006 Os Rúpias. Passover image: “March 30: Chad’s grandparents’ Seder plate.” is copyright (c) 2010 Gwen Harlow. All are made available under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 license on Flickr.