On Vesak Day, Wat Phra Dhammakaya organises a lifetime ordination ceremony for 17 novices, Vesak candle lighting, and Dhammacakka chanting in homage to the Buddha and encourages people to meditate and submit photos in meditation posture in order to break the Guinness World Records for 1 million photos in meditation posture.
“Vesak Day is an important day in Buddhism. It falls on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month that the Buddha was born, became enlightened, and passed away. The United Nations has also recognized Vesak Day as an international important day of the world. Today, we had a morning meditation session and a lifetime ordination ceremony for 17 novices at the Tipitaka Chapel in the afternoon.” said Venerable Phrakrusamu Sanitwong Wuttiwangso, Director of the Communication Department.
In the evening, there were activities of chanting, meditation, and loving kindness sharing for everyone in the world to be safe from COVID-19 by 100,000 monks in Thailand and from abroad. The event’s highlight was the lighting of LED candles as an homage to the Buddha. The candles were arranged in the images of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and the great decease. This was followed by the monastic community circumambulating the Maha Dhammakaya Cetiya and ended with the Dhammacakka chanting to celebrate the completion of 4,363,000,000 rounds chanted. The Vesak event was organized in strict compliance with the Ministry of Public Health’s Covid 19 Free Setting guidelines. People from around the world joined the virtual Vesak ceremony via Zoom at www.zoom072.com and www.gbnus.com.
Moreover, Wat Phra Dhammakaya has virtual exhibition on the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and the great decease on Metaverse. The users can visit Metta Cetiya and the virtual exhibition of Dhammacakka chanting and join the circumambulation of Cetiya via Metaverse. The candle lighting in homage to the Buddha for the Vesak event of the temple can be assessed at https://meta.dmc.tv on Vesak Day (15 May, 2022) during 6.30 pm – 9.00 pm.
“In addition, Wat Phra Dhammakaya also collaborated with other temples and international Buddhist organizations to organize the International Vesak Ceremony in three countries (Vietnam, Indonesia & Thailand) to commemorate the Buddha’s immense compassion and to bring about the world peace. In Vietnam, Ba Vang Pagoda organized the activities from 7-8 May, 2022 including almsgiving to 500 international Buddhist monks (350 monks within Vietnam and more than 150 from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.), the 50,000 lantern lighting ceremony and the principle Buddha image procession in Quảng Ninh city. In indonesia, the WAISAK NASIONAL LIGHT OF PEACE or a Vesak lantern lighting ceremony will be organized on 16 May 2022 at the sacred cetiya of Borobudur from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. The activities include a flower procession, chanting, meditation, ringing of the Vesak bell, sprinkling sacred water as blessing, Dharma Santi ceremony, and the release of sky lanterns in homage to the Buddha.” said Venerable Prakrusamu Sanitwong.
“We would like to invite you to submit a photo in meditation posture to break the Guinness World Records for “1 million images of meditation posture” as another activity for us to commemorate the Buddha’s compassion and to create the historic achievement in Buddhism by submitting your full body picture in meditation posture with the proper attire. You do not have to identify your name and surname. Please send your photo to http://meditationphoto.com or the LINE open chat at https://bit.ly/1milliongwr from now until the World Meditation Day on 6 August, 2022.” added Venerable Prakrusamu Sanitwong.
