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Vesak reflections

Buddhists all over the world celebrate Vesak today. Vesak, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha, is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar. Lankan Buddhists will join their brethren in other countries in marking Vesak in both material and spiritual terms.

A unique feature in Sri Lanka is that those belonging to other religions actively participate in Vesak festivities. They help their Buddhist relatives and friends in conducting Vesak ceremonies and most of them participate keenly in such events.

Buddhists, in turn, help their non-Buddhist compatriots on their religious occasions.

This embodies the very spirit of Sri Lanka's multi-cultural, multi-racial composition. It is indeed heartening to note that dignitaries from other religions have extended their heartfelt wishes to the Buddhist community on the thrice-blessed day of Vesak. It is also a pleasant coincidence that the Holy Prophet's birthday fell yesterday, the day before Vesak. Muslims in Sri Lanka and elsewhere participated in religious events held in this connection.

There are many places in Sri Lanka where temples, churches, mosques and kovils are located next to each other. This again reminds us that unity in diversity really works.

Unfortunately, there are vicious elements who would stop at nothing to achieve their horrendous aim of driving the different communities and religious groups apart. They raised their ugly heads several times in the recent past, though the majority of peace loving people foiled their attempts at whipping up racial and religious tension. They must not be allowed to disturb racial and religious harmony, which our people have cherished for centuries.

There cannot be any greater need for peaceful co-existence among the masses than at this critical juncture, when a long-lasting solution is being sought to the ethnic conflict. As the international community, the government and other concerned parties strive to get the peace process back on track, no room should be left for troublemakers to perturb religious and communal amity.

In fact, places of worship can play a major role in peace building. Religious dignitaries have a close rapport with the faithful and national festivals like Vesak give them an opportunity to spread the message of compassion towards their fellow beings.

Sadly, compassion seems to be sorely lacking in today's society, judging by the number of murders and other heinous crimes reported daily in the media. The alarming erosion of moral values in society could be attributed mainly to the overriding obsession with the pursuit of money at the expense of everything else, life included.

Educationists have pointed out that building a righteous society should start with inculcating moral values and right attitudes in our children.

Then we can hope for a future generation that respects life. Buddhist temples and other places of worship should be actively involved in this exercise.

The temple, or any other religious institution, should be a focal point in the community. A sound link between the temple, village and the school is vital to instil moral values in children and adults alike. A person who cherishes religious sentiments is unlikely to hurt another person's feelings, let alone commit a dastardly crime.

The Buddha lived 2,500 years ago, but his teachings are valid today as they were then. We have drifted away from his words, but it is not too late to follow them again in order to build a new society.

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