Lord Buddha’s Birth Celebrations Held In Vancouver

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By Acharya S.P.Dwivedi

VANCOUVER – The Buddhist festival -Vesak-the birthday of Lord Buddha was organized by BC Buddhist Festival Committee on June 10,2018 at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. Actually, this yearly  festival was started in the year 2015 at UBC where, in a day program, more than 3000 people participated and since then this yearly event has been continued.

Festival promotes Buddhism through dharma teachings, song, dance, arts, vegetarian food and conference. Conference titled “Religion and World Peace”- peace, goodwill, and greater sense of wellbeing to the broader community.

It aimed to bring together 54 monasteries from 17 nationalities to celebrate the sacred day that marks the Buddha’s Birth Day-One Buddha Many Traditions. Festival began  at 9.30 AM with prayer and parade. Morning ceremony covered  Buddha Bathing, Pilgrimage & Worship to Buddha Relics and Wishing Tree.  The afternoon ceremony  showcased Dharma teaching which was offered  by Vajrayana Tradition, Theravada Tradition and Mahayana Tradition. The colorful and incredible cultural performances were given by Tibetan, Thai, Sri Lanka, Lao, Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese groups.

There were booths which provided   art exhibits, Dharma merchandise, veggie food and meditation. Lama Tse Wong and his friend of  Surrey Buddha Society gave away more than 500  Buddhism related  books free to people.

The organizing Society declared that the  45% of  all the proceeds from the festival will go to Children Hospital. More than 5000 people attended the festival. The festal was a huge success.