The ceremony begins with a beautiful procession in which our practitioners from all across Central Florida present their gifts to the Buddha, our teacher, to honor and celebrate his birthday.

Offerings are then formally presented by our Venerables, our Monastic leaders.  They chant traditional prayers to celebrate the day.

Practitioners join the Venerables for tradition chanting.  Chanting is a communal opportunity to recite Buddha’s teaching.  Prompted by written text, we recite Sutra and other sentiments aimed at understanding and embracing the Buddhist way of life 

With the altar arranged as a flower garden, representing Buddha's birthplace, the Garden of Lumbini, our Venerables use a special ladle to pour fragrant water over the statue of the infant Buddha. It symbolizes the cleansing of our body, speech, and thoughts to eradicate anger, greed, and ignorance in order to purify our minds and  cultivate merits and wisdom.