Bodhi Day honors Buddha's 'awakening'
Bodhi Day on Dec. 8 is recognized as the day Buddha attained the enlightenment that led to the founding of the religion in India in the fifth century B.C.E. "He saw a world filled with anxiety, lack of peace, contentment, satisfaction" and decided to meditate on the root cause of human suffering as long as it took to reach an understanding, according to the Rev. Richard Tennes, a minister of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii.