August 6th is designated by the United Nations as World Meditation Day. This year, Wat Phra Dhammakaya celebrated World Meditation Day on July 31 to Offer of Requisites to More Than 3,000 Temples and over 3,000,000 Baht of Pali Scholarships.
For the past three decades, His Most Venerable Phrathepyanmahamuni (Luangpor Dhammajayo), Abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, has carried out his dedicated mission in promoting Buddhism—both scriptural studies and meditation practice—by making available educational scholarships to Buddhist institutions throughout the country. He believes world peace is achievable when people of the world have found inner peace, and that inner peace can be achieved through meditation and Dhamma practice. For this reason, he has organized World Meditation Day every year to give people of the world opportunity to meditate collectively and simultaneously to bring forth a peaceful energy through Dhamma and to extend loving kindness to all.
On that day, Most Venerable PhraWisudhiwongsajarn, Member of Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand, Monastic Head of Northern Region, Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, presided over the Congratulatory Ceremony. 44 monks and novices received ceremonial fans, triple robes, and educational scholarships. Ms. Sirinuj Busaro, an upasika who has passed the Pali Level Nine exam, received a ceremonial fan and shawl along with educational scholarship.
Plagues of honor and four educational scholarships, each amounting to 50,000 baht, presented to top regional Pali teaching institutes: Wat Molilokaram, Bangkok, Wat Nongwang, Khonkaen, Wat Jongkham, Lampang, and Wat Hatyai Sitaram, Songkhla.
Plagues of honor and three educational scholarships, each amounting to 50,000 baht, will be presented to top provincial Pali teaching institutes: Wat Chanasongkhram, Wat Trimitwitayaram, and Wat Arunrajwararam.
Numerous educational tools and ninety-eight educational scholarships of 20,000 baht each, totaling more than 3,999,000 baht, presented to Pali teaching institutes where ten monks or more have passed the exams.
Also, During Buddhist Lent of this year, Wat Phra Dhammakaya is initiating a continuous, cumulative chanting of as many as one million rounds of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta verse, the first teaching of the Buddha given to five ascetics, which formed the first community of Buddhist monks, the Sangha, by participants around the world.
