God has given mankind such wondrous intelligence and ingenuity to explore the moon and many other facets of His creation. What a wonder! Truly awesome! Although there is still so much to explore, mankind's curiosity has been satisfied on many planes.
It isn't only science, however, that dabbles with the moon. Many religions use the cycles of the moon to regulate their calendars and to engage in their religious practices accordingly.
The Buddhists have a piece of that pie too. New moon and full moon times are special days to them. Many go to their temples to meditate and in some Buddhist countries they want those days to be fixed...
"holidays" (from secular work) "to observe full moon day as a religious day to concentrate on peace and happiness by calming down the senses...and to keep away from worldly pleasures in order to have peace of mind for their spiritual development..." (Page 287 in What Buddhists Believe by Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda).
It is noted that in the Old Testament (of the Bible), even before Buddha's time, that God commanded Moses to command the people of Israel to "do no regular work" on full moon and new moon days. Instead, they had "sacred assemblies" (Leviticus 23:1, 3) and festival days. They were times to gather together and worship God and bring sacrifices and offerings to Him.
They were to actively and collectively remember God! Remember all He had done on their behalf for so many years, starting with their rescue from Egypt. Even before that, God had their interests at heart by making a covenant with their forefather Abraham and passing the promise on through Isaac and Jacob to the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus 23).
At new moon times, the Israelites put down their work tools, and took up their offerings. It was the time of a new month, the time to "remember their sins" and make sin offerings to God. They were also times of "rejoicing and gladness" (Numbers 10:10). It was a process of repentance, confession, sin offering, God's acceptance, rejoicing and gladness; monthly reminders.
This is significant for us New Testament folks as Old Testament practices foreshadowed what God was going to do for us with Jesus as our "sin offering". Jesus' death and resurrection secured, for all mankind, a safe and secure salvation from consequences of our sins. Jesus did this once for all, for all mankind, for all sin, for all time and eternity. Those monthly sacrifices are no longer needed but we can still remember Jesus and all He has done for us as often as we wish.
According to Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, the author of the What Buddhists Believe book, research has shown that a full moon really and truly affects, among other things, peoples' minds (Page 287). So to establish festivals, or to have prayer and fasting on those days would help to relax the mind and focus it on something constructive and renewing.
Many religions do worship the moon. Even the Israelites, who had been warned against it time and time again, fell into the trap of moon worship; the moon god (quite likely reminiscent of the Egyptian moon god Apis) taking the form of a golden calf! (Exodus 32) The moon can be glorious to observe, even to the naked eye, but the moon is part of the creation; we are to worship God, the Creator.
Coming back from that tangent...the point, for the Buddhists, has been to utilize the full moon time for contemplation of their actions and how to improve their behavior by recalling and meditating on Buddha, his teachings and to align and improve themselves with those teachings. A further desired result, Sri Dhammananda says, is calmness of mind; and of peace and harmony.
We followers of Jesus Christ would do well to take regular 'time outs' to reflect upon our character and conduct and how we are moving along in the sanctification process. Are we becoming more like Christ? Are we meditating on what Christ has done for us in securing our salvation? On His love and kindness and compassion? Are we reading and meditating upon His Word? Do we have the peace of mind that comes from trusting God and bringing our worries, cares and strife to Him?
Take extended times to study God's Word--"program it" onto your monthly calendar. I'm not advocating it needs to be at new/full moon times; but do go the extra mile over and above your regular daily devotional times.
The principle is there; benefits await, not just to gain further spiritual maturity, but for having God's peace of mind in our minds and hearts in greater abundance and evidence. However, most importantly of all, to strengthen our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father.
Let us live and reflect the brightness of the Son of God, no matter which phase of the moon is revealed on any given night, or whether we can even see the moon or not.
"Because He lives, we can face tomorrow".
~ERC August 2018~
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