Buddha’s 2,548th birthday celebrated across nation
HA NOI — A ceremony marking the Buddha’s 2548th birth day, organised by a Vietnamese Buddhism council and attended by a large number of Buddhist clerics and followers, was held on Wednesday morning at Ha Noi’s Quan Su pagoda.
President Tran Duc Luong, leaders of the Fatherland Front Central Committee, representatives of the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs, and members of Asian diplomatic corps were present at the function.
The Most Venerable Thich Thanh Tu, vice president of the Viet Nam Buddhist Shanga’s Dharma Executive Council, which organised the event, read a congratulatory message from the VBS’s Patriarch that called on Vietnamese Buddhists at home and abroad to join the nation in construction and development.
He underscored the need for all Buddhists to understand and promote the "Dharma-Nation-Socialism" principle and observe the Buddha’s teaching of dedicating oneself to compassion and ensuring the happiness and prosperity of every human being.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Tran Duc Luong conveyed his greetings to the leaders of the VBS along with Buddhist clerics and believers in Viet Nam and abroad.
He said he appreciated their contributions to the cause of national liberation in the past and socio-economic development at present.
Reiterating the Party’s and State’s policy of religious freedom, the president called on Buddhist clergymen and followers to take part in building national unity and making further contributions to the country’s strength, happiness and prosperity.
Services and religious processions marking the occasion were held on Wednesday in HCM City, Hai Phong, the former imperial city of Hue, the Cuu Long (Mekong) River delta city of Can Tho, and other parts of the country.
They were followed by charity activities, including fund-raising campaigns in support of poor and sick people, orphans and abandoned children, lonely elders, and HIV/AIDS infected people. — VNS
