Buddhists converge for Wesak Day celebration
KUCHING: Hundreds of Buddhists converged on the Sarawak Buddhist Association here for the Wesak Day celebration on Sunday.
Among those who joined the celebration themed ‘Collective Wisdom Brings Everflowing Blessings’ were 31 Buddhist-related organisations from Kuching, Lundu and Serian, and Buddhist clubs from seven secondary schools here.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian represented Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas to launch the opening ceremony.
“Wesak is a festival to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and the passing of Gautama Buddha. On Wesak, devout Buddhists and followers alike will assemble at their respective temples before dawn for the ceremonial and honourable hoisting of the Buddhist flag.
“And also the singing of hymns in praise of the holy triple gem; namely The Buddha, The Dharma (his teachings) and the Sangha (his disciples),” said Uggah whose text was read out by Dr Sim.
Delivering his welcome remarks earlier, Malaysia Buddhist Association (MBA) Sarawak branch chairman Dato Sri Dr Tay Chin Kin said all religions promoted similar values such as love, care, compassion and honesty. He added that these values meant a lot for social integrity and harmony, from families right up to the community.
Tay pointed out that a nation could advance further and move forward if people played their respective roles to establish a strong framework of mutual understanding, respect and tolerance.
“We can get together to promote social harmony and mutual understanding so as to assist the less fortunate of the society,” he said.
He also called upon the community to watch out for extremists as some quarters had resorted to extremism in the name of religion. Representative of MBA Dharma Master Ven Wu Ci advised the community to avoid evil deeds and do good to purify one’s mind.
She said self-discipline mattered a lot particularly in today’s world where almost everyone had access to the Internet and social media flooded with information.
“Self-discipline means you are able to control and behave yourself without any monitoring. It means that you will do the right thing even without being instructed to.”
Ven added that self-discipline ought to be a practice from inside out considering that positive forces from others could only assist.
“On this auspicious occasion, let me offer this advice - the past is the proof of history, a mirror that reflects and helps one seek improvement as well as leading to a better future,” she said.
The celebration began with the flag-raising ceremony followed by the cutting of the ribbons to mark the opening ceremony, flower offering ceremony and finally ‘Bathing the Buddha’ ceremony.