ཐུགས་རྗེ་ལེགས་འབུལ་ཉིན་མོ།
November 22, 2012 Thursday
Thanksgiving Day is one of the major holidays in the United
States. With Thursday and Friday as holiday, combining this with the weekends,
people plan for a great holiday with the friends and family. Origin of Thanksgiving
Day has a long history dating back to ancient harvest festival in Europe.
Harvest festival is popular in many countries, where people thank the gods and
nature for good and healthy bountiful harvest.
Thanksgiving Day in the United
States is believed to have started in 1621, when some 50 Plymouth Pilgrims had
a feast with native Indians at Plymouth to thank the natives for their help and
in granting corn seeds. The two communities got into peace accord and lived
peacefully around that time. It was then observed impromptu annually after the
harvest. It was during President Lincoln time that the day was made public
holiday and celebrated widely.
Today, the Thanksgiving Day is celebrated by the people to
thank their respective gods, family and friends for all the help and guidance
they had received during the year. It is also an important occasion for the
family members to gather at their country home and celebrate.
Most importantly, it is a day for all to thank and to
remember the native Indians for their sincere help in accommodating and allowing
the early Plymouth Pilgrim settlers in the land. Today the United States accommodates people from all the continents with freedom, democracy and equality as its guiding principle. The Day
also reminds us to be thankful and grateful for all the help and blessing
we have received from our friends and neighbors during the course of our journey in this life.
It would have been a nice tradition still
relevant in this modern busy material century to allow the people to have a
peaceful and joyful family time if only the turkeys are spared of their lives.