Wat Phra Dhammakaya Newcastle, England, arranged activities in honor of Vesak Day on May 10, 2017. The activities were organized as an exhibition under the theme of “The way toward to happiness according to the Lord Buddha’s style.” The exhibition was divided into three zones. The first zone was the Lord Buddha’s biography which showed the Buddha’s history from his birth, ordination, enlightenment, giving the first sermon, and death. The teachings of the Lord Buddha were displayed in the second zone. The last zone presented famous people who were successful and got happiness from meditation.
Moreover, the temple also opened a basic meditation class for those who wanted to try meditation and experience inner peace. Many residents were interested in it very much. They had called for booking and over 30 locals joined in this class. All of them had good meditation result and got inner peace.
The evening activities began with meditation and spreading loving-kindness at 7:15 p.m. When they were calm and peaceful, the teaching monk kindly lit Vesak Lantern and shared fire for the residents to light their lanterns around the Main Buddhist Chapel. Then, they circumambulated together. Over 40 locals were interested and joined in this circumambulation. Many participants revealed that even though they were not Buddhists, meditation made them happy and the circumambulation with candle was a holy and peaceful ceremony; it was a good experience for them.
