Sydney lights up with the Buddha’s Enlightenment

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Udomson BK

More than 1700 devotees of Buddhism at the Sydney Townhall to mark the 2600th anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment, referred to as Vesak Day, on Sunday, May 29. Holding a candlelight, each participant reached out to the victims of the world’s natural disasters by dedicating the event to them.

Sydney basked in the glory of this chanting which echoed through the city and its precinct while the light from the 1700 candles illumined many hearts as well as the city. 

This international Buddhist conference called “Commemorating the 2600th Anniversary of the Buddha’s Enlightenment” was organized by the Buddhist Federation of Australia. It aimed to bring all Buddhists in Australiato recognize the Vesak as a important day for Buddhism. This success was achieved through collaboration with other government agencies, the Buddhist foundation and other associated organization, such as the United Nations, government and Buddhist temples from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Tibet, Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand. The City of Sydney kindly offered the venue for the event. Councilor Robert Kok represented the council to welcome all participants.

Vesak Day has been recognized as a United Nations Day of international observance since 1999 and is celebrated by the UN and its member countries in May each year. In Australia, the Sydney Town Hall has become the venue for the event since 2007.

 

Director of  the UN Information Centre forAustralia,New Zealandand South Pacific,  Christopher Woodthorpe addressed the event as a representative of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Member of Parliament, Laurie Ferguson, represented Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard while Councillor Irene Doutney represented Senator-elect Lee Rhiannon.

Victor Michael Dominello, NSW MP, Minister for Citizenship & Communities, represented Federal opposition leader Tony Abbott and NSW Premier Barry O’ Farrell.

Most Venerabal Phrakrupaladnayokvorawatana, President of the Buddhist Federation of Australia, which hosted the conference said the observance aimed to bring everyone’s mind to recognize the Buddha and become peaceful. This peace would then lead to kindness and generosity, two vital components to make the world a better and livable environment.

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Newsletter Wat Buddhavongsayaram Volume 3, Issue 3, 26 March 2011

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Udomson BK

February has been another great month for the development of the Albury Buddhist Temple  (Wat Buddhavongsayaram) including many firsts.

 

This month has seen the creation of t-shirts for our members to wear proudly and make the decision about what to wear to temple a lot easier. This was preceded by the very first ‘Facebook Group Vote’ to decide on the design, slogan and format of the shirts. Thanks to our member Ben for his time and effort in their creation and all those who voted for and purchased shirts. I look forward to seeing the finished product soon.

Speaking of our Facebook group, this month saw the 170th member join “Wat Buddhavongsayaram” Facebook Group and it has become an ever increasing forum, not only for the temple’s activities, events, photos and reminders but also news from the Buddhist community at large. We look forward to our Facebook community continuing to grow.

The 18th February 2011 marked a significant day on the Buddhist calendar, the celebration of Magha Puja. This is a ceremony held to commemorate an important event in the life of the Buddha that consisted of 4 amazing occurrences ; 1250 monks ordained by the Buddha attained enlightenment and assembled on the day of the full moon during an auspicious month to pay respects to the Buddha without being called together. The ceremony is a night time event by candlelight and I was privileged enough to attend the ceremony at Sydney’s Wat Dhammakaya which was quite amazing. Photos have been posted on the Facebook page for all those interested in seeing this beautiful event.

Another first came in the form of our Robe Offering ceremony which was attended by many of our wonderful temple members and lead by some very special visitors from Wat Dhammakaya in Sydney. Thank you to these generous ladies for travelling so far to participate and showing us the ritual of Robe Offerings. We appreciate their continued support and invite them to return soon.

And finally our very first Buddhist Intensive Course was held at the temple. To all those that attended I hope you found the course beneficial and educational and thanks to our member Jason for providing the fabulous posters to advertise this event. If you were unable to attend the Intensive Course you are welcome to come along every Sunday to join us in our meditation and lunch offering 10.00-11.30.

Seeing you there.

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