Interview:

“And we are technically supposed to celebrate the buddha’s death and birthday.  Like go to the temple.  It’s in August I think? It’s called V-E-S-A-K.”

What do you do at the temples?

“You worship the priest and do meditation.  Then usually you eat snacks.  Probably not anymore because I think only the kids get snacks.”

What is your take on this tradition?

“I haven’t celebrated this for years.”

“I think there’s a tradition where you light lanterns.”

Background:

While my informant has forgotten his views on the holiday, he did note he enjoyed partaking in the traditions of his family.  The holiday Vesak is known as the holiday that celebrates the three stages of the Buddha’s life, death, birth and reaching of enlightenment.  Often this celebration involves lighting lanterns at the temples.  Some of the places releasing the paper lanterns into the air.  The three methods of celebrating Vesek were to first bring happiness to others, then praying to the Buddha and celebrating days of observance.

Analysis:

I noticed that the paper lantern celebration with sending them off to the sky was similar to the paper lanterns sent up as wishes in Taiwan.  It is also interesting to see the religion celebrating a festival to offer charity to those less fortunate.

Interview:

What type of holidays do you celebrate?

“We do Christian and Buddhist things at the same time, we go to church on Christmas, then do New Year Sri Lankan stuff.”

What do you usually do for Christmas?

“Stay for the service.  Then go home.”

Do you do anything else?

“We usually have dinner on Christmas.  Usually with family.

Sometimes we go for midnight mass.”

From whom did you get this tradition from?

“Found out from parents.  It’s a way of learning about my grandparents on my mom’s side of the family.  I think my mom isn’t really Christian either.  I think my mom is agnostic too, but she just takes the traditions as well.”

Background:

The informant himself being agnostic, still celebrates holidays as a means to get closer to his parents.   He also stated that he is most likely going to inherit the traditions similar to how his mom has from her parents.

Analysis:

While the particular practice of celebrating Christmas was not particularly different from most other families, what stood out to me was the common way in which traditions get passed down.  Rather than it being necessary because of the religion, it becomes a means is a means to have connections to parents and family members.  I found similarities in his story as what happens in my family, where my family goes to temples in Taiwan to pray for good luck to accompany relatives.