On occasion of the UN Day of Vesak 2014 hosted by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), the Information Center of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs interviewed Most Venerable Thich Gia Quang, Vice Chairman of the VBS Executive Council cum Head of VBS’s Information and Communication Sub-Committee of the UN Day of Vesak 2014. The interview’s content is as followed:
Journalist: His Honorable, please share with us the significance of the Vesak celebration in Buddhism?
Most Ven. Thich Gia Quang:
Vesak is the Buddha’s birthday, so Vesak is a very important celebration for Buddhism, which annually held in both Theravada and Mahayana schools.
Recently, people learnt about the Buddha’s birthday by the name of Vesak. In Pali - the old Indian language, Vesak stands for the second month in India’ Hindu calendar, which corresponds the month of May. From 2000, the UN recognized the Day of Vesak - the celebration day for the Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment and passing away, as an international cultural and religious festival within the UN framework.
The purpose of Vesak celebration is to honor the birthday of the Lord Buddha, who has reached great enlightenment, compassion and wisdom and incarnated into the world because of his love for all sentient beings, for peace and happiness of all humans and celestial beings. Vesak celebration is an opportunity for Buddhists in particular, and human beings in general, to show theirs respect and gratitude to the great lord, who has discovered and guided people to follow the path to peace, joy and happiness, and freedom from all human sufferings and pains.
Journalist: His Most Venerable, could you say about the difference between the UN Day of Vesak and Vesak celebration in Vienam?
Most Ven. Thich Gia Quang:
The recognition of Vesak celebration as the UN Day of Vesak is a rare event of the world’s largest organization. This recognition demonstrates the Buddha’s great values of peace, wisdom and humanity. Probably, this recognition of Vesak by the UN is a special decision because Vesak belongs to a religious culture.
On October 28, 1999, representatives from 34 countries submitted a draft resolution for recognition of Vesak celebration (Celebration for the Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment and passing away) to the UN General Assembly. On December 15, 1999, at 54th conference, the UN General Assembly unanimously passed this resolution (Resolution A/54/235), officially recognizing the full moon in the month of May is the day for Vesak festival celebrating the Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment and passing away.
The Resolution by the UN General Assembly stated that “the Buddha’s Teachings and His message of compassion, peace and kindness has transformed millions of people… Recognizing the full moon in the month of May yearly is the most sacred day for Buddhists to commemorate the Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment and passing away”. Therefore, Vesak celebration is the UN international cultural and religious festival. The Vesak celebration is held annually at the UN Headquarters.
Vesak celebration in Vietnam aims at commemorating the Lord Buddha, the one who has reached great enlightenment, compassion and wisdom, and his coming into the world marked a rare event in human history and brought peace and happiness for human beings. Vesak celebration is solemnly held annually by Buddhists and those loving Buddhism, with a wide range of activities including parades, preaching, art performance and charity activities … for showing the deep gratitude to the Lord Buddha.
Journalist: His Most Venerable, could you share with us the preparation by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha for the UN Day of Vesak 2014?
Most Ven. Thich Gia Quang:
According to the master plan developed by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the UN Day of Vesak 2014 will be held in Bai Dinh pagoda, Trang An cultural center, joint by 1,500 international delegates from 90 to 100 countries and 2,000 domestic guests who are state officials from the Party, State and Government’s agencies and Buddhist dignitaries from the Discernment Council, Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, Committees, Institutes and Boards and local chapters under the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. In addition, tens of thousands of Buddhists are expected to gather round Bai Dinh pagoda and watch the event through large screens.
For successful hosing of the UN Day of Vesak 2014, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha set up 19 sub-committees to take care of different organizational aspects, including content, reception, culture, information and communication, decoration, protocols, dharma propagation … Each sub-committee developed its own plan for carrying out specific tasks of the Vesak celebration.
In parallel to the establishment of sub-committees for proceeding preparatory works, the Sangha sent written documents to state ministries and agencies, including the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Health, asking for assistance in the organization of the UN Day of Vesak. And the Sangha received supportive responses from all concerned state ministries and agencies. In addition, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha had a meeting with the People’s Committee of Ninh Binh province – the hosting locality of the event, to request specific assistance in numbers of issues and received considerate supports from the local authority. Especially, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued direct instructions for concerned ministries, agencies to assist the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha successfully hosting the UN Day of Vesak 2014.
Most Ven. Thich Gia Quang, Vice Chairman of the VBS Executive Council cum Head of VBS’s Information and Communication sub-committee for the UN Day of Vesak 2014 speaks at the press meeting on April 29 on the UN Day of Vesak 2014
Journalist: His Most Venerable, could you tell us objectives and goals of the UN Day of Vesak 2014?
Most Ven. Thich Gia Quang:
As we may know, the United Nations has set out 8 millennium goals for the period of 2010-2015, aimed at improving people’s living standards. Vietnam has proactively responded to the UN‘s initiative and achieved considerable progress in numbers of issues that highly appreciated by the international community, such as hunger eradication, poverty reduction, free education, gender equality… Coincidently, these millennium goals are practically relevant to the Buddha’s thought and teaching, therefore the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has worked together with the State for successful achievement of these goals. And, the organization of the UN Day of Vesak 2014 will surely be a good success.
The UN Day of Vesak 2014 in Vietnam confirms the Buddhist role in Vietnam society, demonstrates the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s development strength in world’s Buddhist community. The UN Day of Vesak 2014 in Vietnam would also be an opportunity to introduce the country of Vietnam and its people in general, and Vietnam’s Buddhist culture, tradition and history in particular, making contribution to develop the comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and world countries in the integration process. This event would be also a good chance for Vietnam State to prove its attention to religious freedom and its interest in persuading the world and the UNESCO to recognize the Trang An’s relic complex as a world heritage. The UN Day of Vesak 2014 not only has a great significance domestically but also be an important international event.
Journalist: Thank you very much!
