Mahayana New Year January 1

Compared to other forms of faith such as Theravada, Mahayana Buddhists believe that enlightenment can be achieved during an individual's celibate or current life. Furthermore, not only monks and nuns have the opportunity to achieve it, but also ordinary Buddhists. The goal for everyone is to become bodhisattvas through service and to help others attain nirvana as well.

Honoring and praying to their deities, especially Buddha, is the most important activity of the New Year. On New Year's Day, every Buddhist goes to a nearby temple to light candles, which is considered to bring happiness and good luck for the coming year. Buddha statues are also bathed as a mark of respect. Religious songs are also offered to the deities.

Most Buddhists also meditate and reflect on their life situations in the past years trying to identify some of the mistakes and bad decisions they have made in the past. Doing things right is often a New Year's resolution. Buddhists believe that buying new items, cleaning and redecorating the house, and giving gifts can bring good luck. Sweets are never absent during feasts and of course, fireworks at midnight.

After which, the fire ceremony is observed. Buddhists strongly believe in karma or the positive and negative consequences of an individual's actions. For Buddhists, negative karmas are considered as fires in life and accumulate over time. In the fire ceremony, an individual writes on a piece of paper symbolizing the abandonment of karma. Then, the paper is thrown into the fire, which ultimately signifies the reduction of accumulated negative karma.