"Sophie! I'm here!" Yuri shouted over to her friend. "There you are! What took you so long?" Sophie asked, looking down at her sled sadly.

Yuri looked sorry. "I'm really sorry, I was helping my mom and dad! We were decorating for Nirvana Day!" Yuri said apologetically. "Nirvana Day? What's Nirvana day?" Sophie asked. 

"Oh, well, my parents follow Buddhism. It's kind of like yours, that follow Christianity." Yuri started. "Really? What's that? What's it like?" Sophie asked. 

"Well, people who follow Buddhism follow The Buddha, but he wasn't a God."

"No? Then who?" Sophie wondered. "The Buddha was a person just like me and you. His name was Siddhartha Gautama." Yuri answered. "What did he do that made people follow him?" Sophie asked. 

"Well, he got "enlightened" after a lot of years studying. That means he understood things very deeply in life, things we don't even know about yet! At least that's what my dad said..." Yuri explained. "That makes sense," Sophie understood, "but that's it?" 

"No, no! He told people not to worship him, actually, and you worship Gods. He helped others make good choices in their lives, like not being selfish." Yuri said.

"And what's 'Nirvana'? Why are you celebrating? Is it a birthday?" Sophie asked.

"Nirvana is when you get rid of suffering out of your life. Then when you die, the cycle of life and death stops, so you can stay happy and not suffer. 

Buddhists believe in reincarnation! That means when you die, your soul will come back in another form!" Yuri told Sophie.

"We aren't necessarily celebrating, but remembering the day that The Buddha reached Nirvana and was able to end his cycle of reincarnation." Yuri finished.

"What do you do?" Sophie asked.

"We go to a temple and read about the last things The Buddha said and did in something called the Nirvana Sutra. People bring gifts and we eat together, and we talk about when we will reach Nirvana ourselves!"