Bodhi Day is celebrated on December the 8th or the closest Sunday to it. According to the Buddhist religion this is the anniversary of the day Siddhartha achieved enlightenment.

In the 6th Century BC, a 29-year-old prince named Gautama Siddhartha left behind his pampered life, his family, and his possessions to undertake a pilgrimmage in which he hoped to find the path to true enlightenment. With only a few companions to accompany him, he went into the forests of northern India, where he sat down beneath a bodhi tree. On this spot he declared, “Even though the flesh falls from my bones and the bones themselves crack, I will not get up from this seat until I have attained supreme and perfect enlightenment!”

Going into a state of deep meditation, he sat beneath this tree for seven days and nights. On the morning of the eighth day, he was enlightened with the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Afterward, he became known as the Buddha or "the Enlightened One." It was the truths he discovered during his meditations that he began to teach his companions, and these eventually became the basis of Buddhism.

The phrase "Budu Saranai!" is a traditional Buddhist greeting on this day, which means "May the serenity of the Buddha be yours!" The Four Truths Buddha discovered are:

1. Suffering is universal. No one escapes.
2. The cause of suffering is ignorance. Ignorance of self is the greatest ignorance.
3. Ignorance can be overcome.
4. The way to overcome ignorance is the Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path encompasses:

1. Harmonious Views
2. Harmonious Thoughts
3. Harmonious Conduct
4. Harmonious Speech
5. Harmonious Livelihood
6. Harmonious Effort
7. Harmonious Mindfulness
8. Harmonious Meditation

"Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist; use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are." —His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama