One of my disciples wrote to me a few days ago, as his father wanted to ask me a touchy question. If I can answer to his satisfaction, he will take refuge in me , otherwise he would not have any confidence in me. The question is : "Why was the date seventeenth of November (Lunar calendar) chosen as Amitabha Buddha's birthday ?"

Various Buddhist Sutras told us that Amitabha Buddha was an Indian Prince who renounced the world and was later on ordained as Dharmakara (mind of the Law).(So was Sakyamuni Buddha) The name of Amitabha Buddha had been mentioned many times, in the Amitabha Sutra and Sukhavativyuha Sutra by Sakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, we can safely conclude that Amitabha Buddha must have lived long before Sakyamuni Buddha was born.

To-date, we still do not have any concrete evidence to prove that Sakyamuni Buddha was born two thousand five hundred years ago. In fact, it has been a contentious subject at this juncture, as Sakyamuni Buddha's birthday is celebrated on a different date by Buddhists in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, China and Japan.

In short, no one really knows for sure when Sakyamuni Buddha was born.

If we can't even tell the birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha, who was born after Amitabha Buddha, how can we know the birthday of Amitabha Buddha for sure ?

However, there is a record on how Amitabha Buddha's birthday was chosen. A Zen master by the name of Yong Ming Shou (meaning forever bright and long life) in China was acknowledged by many Buddhists to be the reincarnation body of Amitabha Buddha. As Chinese Buddhists believe them to be the same person, Master Yong Ming Shou's birthday is taken as that of Amitabha Buddha.

As you know, there are eighteen Padmakumara (Lotus Lads) residing in the heaven realm. The date, May the eighteenth, has been chosen as the birthday of Padmakumara, since this was the day Padmakumara was born into this Samsara world.

Master Padmasambhava is said to be born out of lotus flower at the Guo Xiao sea. And July the tenth is considered to be his birthday. In other words, a child just appeared on the lotus flower, and the day his father, the king carried him back to the palace was deemed to be his birthday. The birthday can never be accurate, as we do not know how long he had stayed put on the lotus flower. It could have been three days, four days, or even ten days before he was found.

In conclusion, they are quite a lot of records on the birthdays of many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, although the records might not be accurate. It is not necessary to care too much about the accuracy of them - just take the days they came to this world as their birthdays.