Vesak 2014: Thousands of People Attending the United Nations Day of Vesak in Vietnam
This morning, May 8, 2014, in the main meeting hall of Bai Dinh Temple, Gia Vien commune, Gia Sinh district, Ninh Binh province, the Vesak 2014 has been solemnly happening at Bai Dinh Temple, Ninh Binh province.
The ceremony has the pleasure of the participation of Most Venerable Thich Duc Nghiep, Deputy Patriarch of the Sangha Council of Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), Most Ven. Thich Thien Nhon, Standing Vice President and Secretary General of VBS, Most Ven. Thich Thanh Nhieu, the President of organizing committee of Vesak 2014 in Vietnam, Most Ven. Thich Chon Thien, Standing vice-President of Executive Council of VBS, Most Ven. Thich Tri Quang, Vice-President of Executive Council of VBS, and more than 3500 representatives present in the main hall in which there are more than 1100 international representatives of 95 nations and more than 2400 representatives in Vietnam. The ceremony also consists of the Venerable and Most Venerable members of the Sangha Council and of the VBS, and the representatives who are members of the Departments of the Central and Provincial and municipal Buddhist Sangha, the representatives of the communities, Buddhist organizations of Vietnam in abroad, the representatives who are special guests and thousands of Monks, Nuns and Buddhists from Hanoi and other cities and provinces who are in attendance.
From the ruling Party and the Government, there is the presence of Vietnam National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, president of Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thien Nhan, former general secretary Le Kha Phieu, former Vietnam National Assembly Nguyen Van An, Head of Vietnam Religious Department Professor Dr. Pham Dung, ruling party members, members of the Government, and Heads of the States. Among the international guests, there is the presence of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Disanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne, Ms Pratibha Mehta; resident coordinator of the United Nations in Vietnam, Dr. Katherine Muller Marin; Head Office of UNESCO in Vietnam, and Supreme Patriarchs of many countries.
At 8:30, the ceremonial department asked the Venerables and Most Venerables, Members of the ruling Party, Government, guests, ambassadors, and representatives to the main meeting hall.
At 9:00, the chorus started for greeting the delegates by singing the Dharma songs to welcome the moment of the Buddha’s birth and rising of world peace.
At 9:35, Most Ven. Thich Thanh Nhieu, the president of the organizing committee of Vesak 2014, gave the opening speech. He emphasized: “We have this great present day, first of all, due to the acceptance of the ICDV international organizing committee; in the lead is Most Ven. Brahmapandit because it was confirmed in the declaration in Bangkok-ThaiLan 2013, agreed to Vietnam Buddhist Sangha to be the host of the United Nations Day of Vesak 2014 in Vietnam. This is the special concern of international community towards the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in taking the responsibility of the spirit of Buddhism, a religion of compassion, wisdom and peace, creating the interrelationship in the house of Buddhism all over the five continents, and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha is a member who has expressed the high spirituality in the international Buddhist community and in the regions in the period of integrity and global development.”
At 9:45, the President of the organizing committee of Thailand, Most Ven. Dr. Brahmapundit made the address for the opening ceremony. He stressed on the millennium goals on the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha as well as Buddhism in the world with respect to the need to achieve benefits for the people in the world.
At 9:55, Most Ven. Thich Duc Nghiep delivered the message of the Supreme Patriarch of VBS Thich Pho Tue: “If we want to build a world of peace, happiness, freedom, civilization, green, cleanliness and beauty, the international Buddhist community including the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha needs to widen compassion, wisdom and grave, participating directly to the United Nations in order to implement the concrete UN millennium development goals. To be precisely, Buddhism can contribute six main goals such as eliminating poverty, eliminating the diseases, removing illiteracy, eradicating war, creating equality in genders and giving empowerment of woman in society, and creating a green, beautiful, modern and civilized environment.”
At 10:05, Most Ven. Thich Chon Thien gave the welcome address from the Standing Executive Council Committee of VBS: “We commemorate the Festival of Vesak, consisting of the Birth, the Enlightenment, and the Passing Away of the Buddha on the full moon moth of April which expresses a sense of perfection and universe of many spheres: Compassion, wisdom, peace, education, culture, humanity of humankind that the Buddha gave us and humankind 25 hundred centuries ago. It is this reason, the Buddha is not only the founder of Buddhism but also an educationist, culturist, peace maker, moralist, socialist; and Buddhism is a compassionate, insightful, peaceful and civilized religion of the humankind. Therefore, the United Nations recognized this Vesak as an international religious festival with a deep colour of cultural, ethical, peaceful festival of humankind.”
At 10:15, the President of Vietnam National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung gave a speech to welcome the delegates. He said that, the ceremony is being organized to give honor of the profound values of the Sakyamuni Buddha in the spirit of equality, harmony, and interconnectedness, which has been transmitted for more than 2500 years. Through this event, we hope that we will tie our hands to the relationships and friendships in the world, pushing back poverty, suffering, and leading the people to a peaceful and happy life. The United Nations Day of Vesak is being organised in Vietnam for the second time in a religion which is always going together with the country in every aspect of the people’s lives, in harmony with society, in guiding the people to a perfect condition. Hopefully, this great ceremony is once again organised successfully in our country.
At 10:20, Ms Pratibha Mehta, the resident moderator of the United Nations in Vietnam, on behalf of the General Secretary Ban Ki Moon delivered the message of the Vesak: “I particularly welcome the theme of your celebrations in Vietnam and your desire to explore the Buddhist perspective towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, While the Buddha’s teachings are eternal, the Buddhist perspective is also valuable now as we accelerate our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and steer the world onto a more sustainable and equitable path of development. ”.
At 10:30, Dr. Katherine Muller Marin on behalf of the General Director of UNESCO H.E. Irina Bokova addressed the message of the Vesak: "The teachings of Buddha on universality, compassion and peace resonate strongly with UNESCO’s mandate to strengthen moral and intellectual solidarity and our shared vision of a more just and more peaceful life for every woman and man. These values are age-old, but they have never been more relevant to face the challenges of our time.”
The other messages are the message of Supreme Patriarch of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the message of the President of the Chinese Buddhist Association, the message of the Buddhist Fellowship of Laos. Especially, the speech of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka HE.D.M Jayaratne, the message of the President of India, the Kingdom of Tooro.
At 11:25, the ritual of the Buddha washing was carried at the quarter of Sakyamuni Buddha’s shrine. The Venerables of the VBS, and Heads of the States, members of the Party, the Government carried out the ritual of the Buddha washing according to the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition. Pigeons and balloons as the symbol of peace and prosperity have been released to the sky by the Venerables as a wish for the prosperity of the VBS and Vietnam, for the development and praying for the peace of the world and for the people in their happy and prosperous lives.
The opening ceremony of the Vesak 2014 has been ended in a brilliant success, in the absolute enjoyment of all participants.
Tieu Binh - Ngo Dung
