Buddha"s Attainment of Enlightenment Anniversary in Cambodia

As we may know, Cambodia is a Buddhist country and most\r\nof the Cambodians have an affinity with the Theravada Buddhism. Therefore, in\r\norder to gain the popularity and make it suitable the circumstances of Hoang\r\nPhap Pagoda’s branch in Cambodia. From now on it will celebrate the Lotus\r\nLantern Festival in honor of the Buddha's attainment of enlightenment annually\r\ninstead of celebrating the Amitabha's Buddha birthday anniversary.

The Lotus Lantern Festival in honor of the Buddha's\r\nattainment of enlightenment is held on the night of the lunar December 8th\r\nannually in memory of the moment the Prince Siddhartha - an ordinary man\r\nwinning his inner battle and overcoming all the sufferings of bondage to\r\nsamsara to become Buddha ShakyAmuni by his own effort.

His footprints in ancient time

Left us many memories.

Step by step to the past

It recalls us the Buddha.

From the idea above, despite only being in the stage of\r\npreparation for construction with many difficulties: there is no main hall,\r\nresidence of Sangha or lecture hall to form a general picture of a temple, the\r\nmonks of the Hoang Phap Pagoda’s branch in Cambodia are determined to revive\r\nBuddhism here and a small temporary temple was built. Now, overseas Vietnamese\r\nin Cambodia has a spiritual refuge where they, the expatriates, can practice\r\nand share the feelings thereby helping to lessen the feelings of nostalgia.

Reportedly, this is also the first Lotus Lantern Festival in\r\nhonor of the Buddha's attainment of enlightenment held by overseas Vietnamese\r\nin Cambodia. In solemn atmosphere, for the first time in the country of\r\nCambodia, the images of "passing the light" were reproduced by more\r\nthan 1,000 Buddhists in the Monastery. Tonight, in a quiet space all things\r\nwere supposed to be covered with darkness. However, in fact, it was quite\r\ndifferent. In immortal faith and super

light of wisdom, everybody seemed to be enlightened by the\r\nlight of wisdom and love and together

stepped on the road to the shore of Enlightenment. In the\r\nconvivial atmosphere, the singers Doan Minh Ngoc, Mai Duong Quoc Hung and Thuy\r\nTrang had donated the Buddhas of the ten directions and entertained the\r\nparticipants with the songs in the festival.

In the ceremony, on behalf of the monks, Senior Venerable\r\nThich Chan Tinh delivered a dharma lecture to the Buddhists. Through the life\r\nof the Buddha, he taught the Buddhists some profound lessons about the values\r\nof human life. Also, in the lecture, he wanted everyone to follow the example\r\nof the Buddha, live a virtuous and good life so that they could bring joy to\r\nthemselves and the society.

The festival in honor of the prince Siddhartha's attainment\r\nof enlightenment ended successfully in the serene and solemn, religious but\r\njoyful atmosphere.

After the ceremony, the local monks and the monks from the\r\nHoang Phap Pagoda gave charity gifts to the Cambodian - Vietnamese\r\ndisadvantaged as well as a number of poor families in Cambodia and neighboring\r\nareas. The money used to purchase the gifts came from Dieu Tuyen’s Buddhist\r\ngroups in Western Australia and some Buddhists of the Hoang Phap Pagoda. (The\r\ngroup contributed 31 million 500 thousand VND)

These are some recorded photos: