The Saga Dawa Düchen is a festival commemorating the decisive and culminating moments of the Buddha's life: his Great Awakening (Mahabodhi), in which the previous bodhisattva-mahasattva, royal prince and then wandering forest hermit (shramana) Siddhartha Gautama of the Shakya lineage attained the full realization of his Buddhahood, i.e., "became Buddha", the Great Teacher of this age. And the second is the consummation of this work, when, after the entire Dharma has been perfectly expounded and transmitted by the Awakened Teacher, the purpose of his remaining in this world is fulfilled and the Buddha passes into "complete nirvana" (parinirvana), leaving the physical body to the elements of which it was composed.

Both of these events, which frame and shape the whole of the Buddha's form and the Teacher's action, took place on the same day of the annual cycle, the full moon of the month of Vaisakha according to the ancient Indian calendar. Their annual commemoration and its solemn observance is therefore the holiest festival of the Buddhists.
In the perspective of East Asian and specifically Tibetan time keeping, the anniversary of these two events is set on the full moon of the fourth month (saga dawa, Tib.) of the Tibetan lunar calendar. In Tibet, it is also called the "Festival of Lights and Beneficent Merit" - the gompa includes the ceremonial recitation of the Dharma and blessing of the Sangha and the ceremonial offering of lights and traditional pure offerings. People journey to the sacred Mount Kailas (Tib. Gang-Rinpoche), which is the earthly representation of the cosmic mountain - the axis of the world of Meru, to meditatively circumambulate it to connect with the energy it mediates, together erecting a new "darchen" (Tib.), a tall wooden pole, a "pillar of mantras and wishes" to which people attach their "lungty", "prayer flags" offering these mantras and wishes to the winds and elements...
The two celebrated supreme deeds of the Buddha as the supreme imagination sum up the whole Dharma:
After renouncing the kingdom and retiring into homelessness, the Buddha-to-be lived the life of a wandering hermit (shramana), first exploring the most rigorous practices of yoga and asceticism to discover and show that even their perfect execution was not enough to provide an answer to the suffering of sentient beings, to the longing for true, complete liberation. This realization led him to the "Bodhi Tree", a sacred fig tree shading the "Diamond Throne", the place of the Buddhas of the ancient ages (now Bodhgaya in India), sunken and hidden in the midst of the forests. Here he sat and took a vow not to rise from meditation until he had attained full insight, Awakening (bodhi). In a long immersion in the relaxed, balanced nature of his own mind, he attained this Awakening - and became its perfect, ideal representation. With his Awakening, the Buddha overcomes Mara - the ruler of the conditioned world, bringing suffering - who jealously tries to hold back all sentient beings in the cycle of suffering. The weapons of the summoned army of all Mara's demons are transformed before the Buddha into a rain of passing petals, all the beauties of illusion become old at once. Mara himself then falls into the despair he otherwise loves to arouse in others and cries out for some omnipotent power to testify that this former prince and now monk no longer belongs to his world.  The earth itself will speak, "I bear witness." The question has been answered. The gods and men then claimed him and accepted him as their Teacher.
For forty-five years Buddha Shakyamuni (muni - sage, possessor of power, hermit - of the Shakya family) taught. After he had perfectly and completely expounded and transmitted the Dharma, he decided to leave. Although he was revered by the king, he deliberately chose a remote place (now Kushinagara, India) for his departure to complete nirvana (parinirvana). When asked not to leave and still stay, he replied that he could prolong the life of this body, but there would have to be more disciples capable of fully understanding and realizing the Dharma communicated. In this way, however, the time has come and the Dharma communicated will be the refuge and perfect guide for all his followers.

"Everything composite is subject to decay. Therefore, strive steadfastly!"

The elements of the world received the elements of the Buddha's physical body with the same harmonious signs with which nature once welcomed the new-born prince, the Bodhisattva. The ashes and pearl-like remains left over from the fire were divided by the people of the world - rulers and chiefs - and scattered in eight directions to build stupas over them.
Both of these acts form the Buddha's image and manifest or show his supreme and complete realization of Buddhahood, Buddha-nature. They are the beginning and consummation of his role as the Teacher of "this world of suffering."

Author Bernard Hvolka