Master Hsin Tao Urges Return to Spirituality and Religious Unity at IBC Vesak Celebration 2022
(中央社訊息服務20220517 15:15:12)The mission of religions should be consolidating their strength to enable a ‘Back to the Roots’ for ecology. The goal can be reached by integrating every individual’s innate spirituality into the diversified symbiosis of all things in the universe to reflect an interdependent coexistence. Only such a dynamic and evolving mechanism can afford and warrant sustainability and safety of Planet Earth. Master Hsin Tao, Founding Abbot of Taiwan’s Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJM), made the remark in a global online Vesak celebration event held on May 16.
The adversities mankind suffers have been, to a great extent, brought on by us by inflicting damages onto ecology, said the Master, adding that orthodox beliefs help people stay away from deviances that give rise to troubles on the home front and social complications. Therefore, religions should align with one another for unity, mutual respect, all-embracing inclusion, and unconditional love and compassion for all sentient beings, he urged.
Master Hsin Tao was one of those who attended the live streaming celebration held by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) on the Day of Vesak 2022. The six-hour long event gathered prominent Buddhist masters and leaders from countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, the UK and the US. The dignitaries chanted sutras, sharing views and presentation of precious Buddhist texts and dedicated all the merits to global peace and relief from COVID-19.
Vesak is the most sacred day of the year for Buddhists around the world to celebrate the birth, enlightenment and nirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. The United Nations recognized the Day of Vesak in a resolution in 1999 as its acknowledgment of the contributions of Buddhism to the spirituality of humanity over two and a half millennia. The IBC organized the celebration with support from India’s Ministry of Culture while Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a keynote address at the event. His Holiness the Dalai Lama also presented a written message to endorse the annual celebration.