Vesak at Hung Phap Pagoda – Dong Nai

June 3, 2018 (April 20, year of the Dog), monks of Hoang Phap Monastery visited Hung Phap Pagoda, Xuan Hung Commune, Xuan Loc District, Dong Nai Province to hold Buddha vesak (Buddha’s calendar 2562 – Solar calendar 2018).

The ceremony took place in the presence of superior Buddhist monks, venerable monks in Buddhist Sangha Board of Directors of Binh Thuan Province and Xuan Loc District, abbots of monasteries within the area of the district and local Buddhists.

At 9 am, the Vesak ceremony officially began. After the major reasons were stated and the program outline was introduced, every attendant with their deep respect spent one-minute silently commemoratingShakyamuni Buddha for his birth and revelation of the path to escape sorrow out of his compassion for human beings’ ignorance.

Next, there went a ritual in which the children in Buddhist families of Hung Phap Pagoda gave offerings to the Buddha. Junior Venerable Thich Tam An on behalf of the Organizing Committee delivered an opening speech. After that, Senior Venerable Thich Phuoc Khanh addressed ‘Messages to Vietnamese Buddhist monks, nuns and followers from the Founder of Vietnamese Sangha Buddhist Association on the occasion of Vesak (Buddha’s calendar 2562 – Solar calendar 2018)’.

With great mercy, Superior Monk Thich Giac Minh, a representative of Buddhist Sangha Board of Directors of Binh Thuan Province, shared with the mass several features of Buddha’s life in order to remind Buddhist followers of an example for learning and improving in the path of self-cultivation to enlightenment and escape.

At the end of the ceremony, the monks and Buddhists carried out a ritual called ‘Khanh Dan’ and let go of balloons, praying for a peaceful world where all creatures live peacefully and contentedly.

The taken photographs are as follows:

Translated into English by Nguyen Minh Thuy Tien