KUCHING: This year’s Wesak Day celebration will go online again, just like last year.
Malaysia Buddhist Association (MBA) Sarawak Branch chairman Datuk Seri Tay Chin Kin said, “Every year, a joint bathing of the Buddha statue ceremony by our association and all the Buddhist groups will be held to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.
“But with the current outbreak of Covid-19, the Sarawak government has implemented the conditional movement control order (CMCO) with tighter standard operating procedures (SOPs). Thus, we have the ceremony online,” he told New Sarawak Tribune.
He added that everyone could follow the ceremony online via the link at mbaswk.edharma.net.
“In addition, we will also launch the light offering programme and the public can participate in it by making online transactions to our bank account and sending the bank-in slips to us.
“We will do the light offering on the morning of Wesak Day at the main shrine and in front of the Buddha statue. And we will pray for the end of this pandemic in the state and in the country,” he said.
Tay added that the association members would also be going to the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Covid-19 One Stop Centre to distribute tokens of appreciation to the frontliners as well as share with them the joy of Wesak in these challenging times.
“As the pandemic is still raging, as Buddhists, we need to pray the ‘metta’ (Buddhist loving kindness prayer), show wisdom of the Buddha, stay at home, use our time wisely to remember the teachings of Buddha and help stop the spread of the virus.
“It is year 2564 according to the Buddhism calendar and this year’s Wesak Day theme is “Concerted Efforts Towards Global Immunisations”. As such, we urge everyone to do whatever it takes to stop the pandemic – adhere to all SOPs set.
“Besides, all Buddhists should participate in the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme. With 80 percent of herd immunity achieved, we hope the pandemic will come under control and by then, life can return to normal,” he said.
On Wesak Day, Buddhists all over the world commemorate events of significance to Buddhists of all traditions that is the birth, enlightenment and the passing away of Gautama Buddha.
Tan shared that as Buddhism spread from India, it was assimilated into many foreign cultures and was celebrated in many different ways all over the world.
In Malaysia, he said, all Buddhist temples would hold the Buddha statue bathing ceremony and devotees would bring simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss sticks to lay at the feet of Buddha.
“These symbolic offerings are to remind followers that just as the beautiful flowers will wither away after a short while, and the candles and joss-sticks will soon burn out, so too is life subject to decay and destruction.
“While the bathing of Buddha statue symbolises cleansing of ourselves, this is not only a bathing of statue of the Prince Siddharta, but more important is the cleansing of our body and mind, achieving purification, peace, and accumulating of ‘paramitta’ (perfection or culmination of certain virtues).”
