Vesak Day is to commerate the birth, enlightenment and nirvana of Buddha. Indian Prince, Siddhartha Gautama, then in seeking to understand what is suffering about set off a journey that lead to what is known as Buddhism. I think Vesak Day reminds us that in each of us, there is this deep need to know the meaning of life. There is the philosophical side of us that need to understand our place in this Universe. Is live worth living with so much suffering?

For Prince Siddhartha Gautama, his Hindu influence led him to conclude that suffering had to do with craving that led to samsara, the repeated cycle of life and death. To end suffering, is to get our of this cycle and to end this cycle is to stop all craving. That's the path of salvation. What is at Nirvana then? The earlier understanding was the being of nothingness. I have read somewhere that nirvana was later understood as a place of pure happiness.

What is admirable is his search to understand the world and to offer help to the world. There is a need for all of us to understand the meaning of life so that we do not live meaninglessly or purposefully. In fact Vesak Day reminds us that universally, we are not here by chance. This world is not here by chance. If it was, then meaning is inexistant. Meaning is no longer an issue.

Can contextualised truth be universal truth? One can't help but notice that Buddhism teaching is very much modified Brahim's teaching. His modification of what he has learnt was recieved by many. Is that universal truth or just integrating what he had learnt? Is it Revelation?

What if there is actual Revelation? While Buddha attempted to point the way to end suffering, 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ came and told the people that He is the Way. His was a revelation-based prophecy and not discovery journey. No religious founder had siad that, except Him. That's why He was hated by the people then. Isn't Truth always hated by falsehood?

Prince Siddhartha Gautama gave up comfort to find the Truth and met on contextualised teaching. We have the advantage of receiving the revealed Truth and having the Truth resides in us. Let's not live life meaninglessly then.