On 2 August 2026, Wat Phra Dhammakaya organized merit-making activities on World Meditation Day. The morning session included chanting, mass meditation, sustenance offering to the Buddha and food offering to the monastic community. In the afternoon, Most Venerable Phrapromwachirapanyajarn (Pali scholar of level 9), abbot of Wat Ratcha Orasaram Ratchaworawiharn and head of Group 8 for Overseas Dhammaduta Bhikkhus, presided over the 38th congratulatory ceremony for 124 graduates of the 9th Pali level. In 2026, 121 monks and 3 lay women passed the 9th Pali level. Additionally, the trophies and scholarships were presented to 95 outstanding Pali schools across Thailand.
In the afternoon, the essential offering ceremony for 2,000 temples throughout Thailand was held for the 26th consecutive year. This event also included the 188th necessity offering ceremony for 323 southern temples for the 22nd year. There were many senior monks and representatives of international Buddhist organizations from 10 foreign countries/region; for example, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, China (Xishuangbanna in Yunnan), the USA and the EU.
“It’s the 38th year that Wat Phra Dhammakaya organized merit-making activities on World Meditation day. According to the speech of Luang Por Dhammajayo, world peace started from inner peace. As for the Pali language, it is the language of peace because it is used to record the Buddha’s teachings. The congratulatory ceremony for the graduates of Pali level 9 aims to promote the Dhamma studies while the activities on World Meditation Day focus on the meditation practice for the inner peace attainment, which will finally lead to world peace,” said Venerable Phrakhrusamu Sanitwong Wuttiwangso, director of Communication Department and assistant abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
World Meditation Day is observed annually on August 6. On 6 August 1945, the most powerful atomic bomb in human history was dropped in Hiroshima, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The painful events of World War II had created awareness of tremendous danger of war. Consequently, a central organization to maintain peace for the international community, that is, the United Nations was established. At the meeting of the World Fellowship of Young Buddhists in 1988, a discussion on meditation and peace was brought up. As meditation is universal and anyone can practice it and experience peace by themselves, the World Fellowship of Young Buddhists designated August 6 of every year as World Meditation Day in order to encourage people to create peace in their own mind through meditation, which will lead to peaceful communities and ultimately world peace.
