Welcome to the first post!
If you do enjoy this summary, cook any of the recipes or watch the movie, I would love to hear what you thought of it!
Happy Vesak Day!
This is a great celebration to start off this newsletter - 7% of the world celebrate it, yet I had no idea what it was!
Monday 16th May is the biggest celebration for Buddhists.
It is Vesak day aka Buddha day! 🎉 ☸️ 🎉 Let’s celebrate his day!
How to celebrate:
Traditions vary depending on the country, but:
Get to the template at 5am
hoist the flag
wash the statues of Buddha
praying
bringing offerings of flowers and joss/incense sticks
displaying incredible lanterns and lights
Some places will also release a huge amount of insects and animals from cages - which is now starting to be banned because it f*cks up the eco-system!
The more you know!
What to listen to
What to eat
All food on Vesak Day is vegetarian - Buddhists believe all animals are human spirits reincarnate!
Starter🥜
Fresh spring rolls - this is a delicious yet simple and fun to make recipe. You can get the rice paper in your typical supermarket now. Simply chop up some of your favourite crunchy vegetables. Get a plate, lay a sheet in warm water and it’ll transform into a sticky flexible wrap. Don’t forget your peanut satay sauce!
Main🍛
Peanut and Sweet Potato Curry - this is delicious. The coconut milk and peanuts make it! Honestly one you won’t want to miss!
What to watch
Funnily enough, Hollywood doesn’t have much to offer on Vesak day, but I do have a brilliant movie suggestion for you…
7 Years in Tibet
Brad Pitt and David Thewlis (Remus Lupin from Harry Potter) tells the true story of Germans escaping a POW camp during WW2 and living in Tibet.
✅ stunning shots
✅ heart-warming story
✅ unpredictable!
Here is the movie link on Amazon.
…and here’s the trailer - but honestly it doesn’t do it justice. Just watch the movie.
Something else
If Brad Pitt isn’t your cup of tea, here are some great Youtube videos to learn more about Vesak Day and Buddhism
An intro to Vesak day by some Australian children!
A deeper ‘Vice-style’ documentary from Sri Lanka
Please let me know if you enjoyed this newsletter - I’m super keen to hear what you think about the recipe and the movies.
Feel free to send it on to others, give feedback or just suggest what festivals I should cover next!