Asalha Puja – July 21, 2024

Asalha Puja falls on the sixth lunar month (typically July), and commemorates Buddha’s first sermon after enlightenment. The festival offers a chance for Buddhists to reflect on the sermon’s four noble truths: there is suffering, suffering is caused by attachment, there is a plane beyond attachment, and the way to that plane is the Noble Eightfold Path. While there are many strains of Buddhism, all strains accept the four noble truths as central doctrine—making Asalha Puja one of the religion’s most important celebrations, this year on July 21.