Vassa

Vassa (Pali: vassa-, Sanskrit: varṣa-, both "rain"; Burmese: ဝါတွင်း, [wàdwíɴ]; Khmer: វស្សា or ព្រះវស្សា; Lao: ພັນສາ [pʰán sǎː], sometimes ວັດສາ [wāt sǎː]; Thai: พรรษา phansa or วรรษา watsa) is the three-month annual retreat observed by Theravada practitioners. Taking place during the wet season, Vassa lasts for three lunar months, usually from July (the Burmese month of Waso, ဝါဆို) to October (the Burmese month of Thadingyut သီတင်းကျွတ်).

In English, Vassa is often glossed as Rains Retreat or Buddhist Lent, the latter by analogy to the Christian Lent (which Vassa predates by at least five centuries).

For the duration of Vassa, monastics remain in one place, typically a monasteries or temple grounds. In some monasteries, monks dedicate the Vassa to intensive meditation. Some Buddhist lay people choose to observe Vassa by adopting more ascetic practices, such as giving up meat, alcohol, or smoking. While Vassa is sometimes casually called "Buddhist Lent", others object to this terminology. Commonly, the number of years a monk has spent in monastic life is expressed by counting the number of vassas he has observed.

Vassa (film)

Vassa (Russian: Васса) is a 1983 Soviet drama film directed by Gleb Panfilov. It is based on Maxim Gorky's 1910 play Vassa Zheleznova. Vassa won the Golden Prize at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival. The film was also selected as the Soviet entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 56th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

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