Malaysian Buddhists celebrate Wesak Day

Home Asia Pacific South East Asia Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Visitors came as early as 7am to the Buddhist Maha Vihara here to commemorate Wesak Day on Friday.

<< Devotees at the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Kuala Lumpur performing prayers on Wesak Day.

Devotees presented flowers, lit candles, sought blessings and made offerings to the monks to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.

Ng Chun Hoe, a 54-year-old volunteer of the Friends of the Vihara, said the spirit of giving was very important to him as he was happy seeing people smile and hungry folk fed.

The manager of an insurance company recounted seeing a boy picking up unlit firecrackers during Chinese New Year some 30 years ago.

“The child's family was very poor, he had no toys and barely enough food to eat, so he ended up playing with a dangerous item,” said Ng, adding the episode led him to help the needy ever since.

Tents selling offerings, candles, flowers, balloons, lotus buds, food and beverages as well as booths recruiting volunteers were set up inside and along the road leading to the temple in Brickfields here.

<< The thanka, a giant canvas painting of Sakyamuni Buddha, is unfurled at the Enlightened Heart Buddhist Centre in Tambun.

Over in IPOH, hundreds of devotees unfurled a thanka - a giant canvas painting of Sakyamuni Buddha - at the Enlightened Heart Buddhist Centre in Tambun.

It is a traditional practice to unfurl the thangka in the temple compound to draw power from the sun.

Devotees also ran under the 60m by 12m canvas to receive blessings from Buddha.

Meanwhile, in PETALING JAYA, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang called an end to race politics and ease escalating racial polarisation.

"My wish on Wesak Day is for all leaders, starting with the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak), to walk the talk of their Wesak Day messages.

"I urge Najib to show leadership by example in his call to the people to set aside their differences at all levels of society," he said in a statement here Friday.

He challenged Najib to demonstrate his political will and ease escalation of racial polarisation and for Barisan Nasional component parties to open their membership to other races to make them Malaysian-based and not raced-based.

Lim also wished all Buddhists in Malaysia a happy and enlightening Wesak Day and non-Buddhists a happy holiday.

"The best way to celebrate Wesak Day is to truly and sincerely strive to follow his teachings, reiterate the determination to lead noble lives, develop the mind, practice loving kindness and bring peace and harmony to humanity," he said.

View the original article here

Malaysian Buddhists calls for peaceful elections

Home Asia Pacific South East Asia Malaysia

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia -- Malaysia is facing a crucial general elections (GE) on May 5, 2013. The 13th GE promises to be the most heated to date, with home made bombs exploding at a few campaign sites. No injuries were reported.

Being a large portion of the electorate, leaders of the sizable Buddhist population of the country (about 19% of total population) have urged the parties involved to campaign "in the spirit of upholding Buddha Sakyamuni's compassion and wisdom".

In a joint statement, members of Malaysian Buddhist Consultative Council, Fo Guang Shan, Malaysia and the Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia have called on Malaysian citizens to:

(1) Step forward and fulfill one's duty as a citizen; to vote in earnest and with responsibility to elect a government that will bring advancement, harmony and equity in serving the people of different races and faiths.

(2) Follow Malaysia's founding spirit which emphasise on unity and the mutual prosperity of all ethnic groups. Whichever political party that comes into power, the ruling government must assure that the resources are equally distributed and that racial, religious and educational issues shall not be manipulated by political parties as tools to polarise the people.

(3) Encourage religion which has the effect of purifying the society and our hearts. We seek the ruling government to protect the constitutional rights of freedom of religious beliefs, put to a stop the marginalisation of non-Islamic religious education and accord fair treatment to religious development.

(4) Ensure Malaysia shall maintain its status as a secular country, pursues a policy of separation of religion and state. The ruling government must also ensure that the Federal Court is the highest source of adjudication in all matters.

(5) Ensure that the political parties must be genuine in curbing the malpractices within current electoral system, including money politics, vulgarism and abusive language should not be engaged during campaigns. Politics is everybody's business as political parties and politicians' words and deeds affect the social life of the people. Let's elect an ideal government.

6) Urge the political parties and people throughout the country during the election period to be more action oriented in the decision-making with compassion to curb violence and more wisdom to reduce ignorance.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the Malaysian Network of Engaged Buddhists (MNEB) said that they were "deeply saddened over the high reports of political violence", stating that "a total of 1,056 cases of political violence have been recorded since the dissolution of Parliament on April 3.

MNEB also expressed concerns on recent reports of bombing as "worrying" and "that such incidents may mar the election process, leading to more violence which may have the tendency to destroy peace and harmony".

They have called on the Buddhist community to denounce all acts of violence, taken in the form of  body (physical), speech and thought.

They also urged all those participating in the elections to "let peace and compassion be the force of the country’s social and political transformation".

About 13 million of the country's 27 million strong population is expected to go to the polls this Sunday.

View the original article here

Ajahn Brahm on South Malaysian tour

Home Asia Pacific South East Asia Malaysia

JOHOR BARU, Malaysia -- BRAHMAVAMSO Mahathera, popularly known as Ajahn Brahm among the Buddhist community, will be in Johor Baru from April 29 to May 2.

<< ENLIGHTENING: The well-known monk will speak on a variety of topics and also lead a one-day meditation session

Ajahn Brahm, who was born Peter Betts in London in 1951, will be staying at the Metta Lodge Buddhist Centre at No 26 in Jalan Rengas in Melodies Garden here.

He studied theoretical physics at the Cambridge University in the late 1960s. Upon graduation, he taught in a high school for a year before travelling to Thailand to become a monk.

He will give a talk titled "Why Are We Born?" and "What Is The Purpose Of Our Lives?" at the Metta Lodge on April 29 at 8pm.

On April 30, there will be a breakfast dana (an event where devotees contribute food to monks) at the Metta Lodge at 6.30am, followed by a one-day meditation retreat for 50 people.

The meditation session will start at 9am and end at 5pm. This will be followed by a talk titled "What Happens When We Die?" at the Grand BlueWave Hotel in Johor Baru at 8pm.

On May 1, there will be a talk titled "Meditation for Frustrated Yogis" at 9am. There will be another talk titled "Offerings to the Departed and Hungry Ghosts" at 8pm. Both the talks will be held at the Metta Lodge.

On May 2, Ajahn Brahm will head to the Kota Tinggi Forest Meditation Centre and a lunch dana will be held there.

He is scheduled to be back at the Metta Lodge in the evening.

For details , call 07-332 5500.

View the original article here