UBCV Patriarch Thich Quang Do issues Vesak Message

PARIS, 28 May 2010 (IBIB) – The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has sent a Message to Vietnamese Buddhists around the world for the 2554th Vesak celebrations of the Birth of the Buddha. The Message was sent clandestinely from Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) where the 81 year old dissident and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee is under effective house arrest.

In the message, Patriarch Thich Quang Do stresses the role of Buddhism in fostering peace and harmony during eight centuries in India, Central Asia and the Far East. The meeting of Buddhism with Hellenistic culture in the time of Alexander the Great and Emperor Asoka produced not a “clash of civilzations” but a “marriage of civilizations”, said Thich Quang Do, citing the culture of Gandhara as an example of “a vibrant culture of diversity, tolerance and peace”.

He called on Buddhists overseas “to join with concerned people around the world to rebuild the Buddhist culture of tolerance, harmony and peace in today’s world of violence and terror. This is the will of all Buddhists in Vietnam, but for the past thirty five years, we have been denied to right to realize this ideal”.

Whereas the Hanoi government frequently accuses Thich Quang Do and the outlawed UBCV of being “political”, Thich Quang Do, who has spent 28 years in detention for his peaceful appeals for human rights, affirms: “despite restrictions and repression, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam has stood firm and continued to articulate the sincere and legitimate demands of the Vietnamese people. These demands are not merely political. They are the fundamental and heartfelt aspirations of a whole population for essential reforms in every domain, be it culture, religion, economy, society or politics. Today, we face other serious challenges, such as the encroachment by foreign powers on the sovereignty of our sea-ways, our islands, our forests and lands. Buddhism takes no stand against any particular individual or group. But we resolutely oppose authoritarianism, subservience, corruption and immorality, as well as all other erroneous policies that lead to the enslavement and annihilation of our people”.

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Blessed be Lord Sakyamuni Buddha !

On this Day of the Vesak, the world commemorates the coming of Lord Buddha, who brought Peace and Enlightenment to our world of suffering. On behalf of the Bicameral Institutes of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, I send my warmest regards to all respected dignitaries, monks, nuns and Buddhists in Vietnam and around the world. May we place our faith in the Dharma, and work tirelessly to benefit humankind and deliver all beings from evil by spreading Lord Buddha’s Message of Compassion across the globe.

Looking back on history, we see that the clash of civilizations, when it is brought about by violence, inevitably leads to the annihilation and domination of peoples, from the Roman conquests to the Crusades, from the discovery of America to the colonization of Africa.

Yet when Alexander the Great marched with his troops to the banks of the Indus River in the year 325 BCE, the confrontation of Greek culture with Buddhism, especially under the patronage of Asoka the Great, sparked not a clash, but a marriage of civilizations, giving birth in the kingdom of Gandhara to a syncretic, vibrant culture of diversity, tolerance and peace. In this meeting between East and West, Greek artists and sculptors, more accustomed to the complicated plethora of Gods in the Hellenistic Parthenon, found inspiration in the calm serenity of the Buddha and in the Buddhist teachings introduced to them by Emperor Asoka. From this fusion of cultures came the first representations of Buddha in human form. Buddha images stamped on gold, silver and bronze coins, and in the form of statues and frescoes, spread all over the Far East, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam… Although statues are merely exploits of the sculptors’ artistic talents and skills, in the eyes of the faithful, they become living symbols of the Enlightened One whose shining light dissipates the ignorance and suffering of our world.

Throughout eight centuries, an atmosphere of harmony and peaceful co-existence reigned over the peoples along the borders of today’s Afghanistan and Pakistan, stretching from Kabul to Peshawar and Islamabad, encompassing Central Asia and the thousands of islands of Indonesia. Emperor Asoka, after unifying almost all of India for the very first time, sent eight expeditions of missionaries to spread Buddhism and establish an empire of tolerance and peace. Buddhist missionaries also travelled by sea to Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, even as far as Greece. Peace reigned until the early 9th Century, when another religion swept through the region, using violence and destruction to impose its dominance. Buddhism’s tolerant and peaceful influence was forced into decline. The last salvo in this onslaught came in 2001, when the Taliban blasted with dynamite two monumental Buddha statues in the cliffs of Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

Violence may come from weapons and war. But it also stems from cruel and inhumane regimes that suppress their people’s freedom and rights.

In evoking the barbarities we have endured over the past eleven centuries, I wish to launch an appeal to all Buddhists overseas to join with concerned people around the world to rebuild the Buddhist culture of tolerance, harmony and peace in today’s world of violence and terror. This is the will of all Buddhists in Vietnam, but for the past thirty five years, we have been denied to right to realize this ideal.

However, throughout these past thirty five years, despite restrictions and repression, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam has stood firm and continued to articulate the sincere and legitimate demands of the Vietnamese people. These demands are not merely political. They are the fundamental and heartfelt aspirations of a whole population for essential reforms in every domain, be it culture, religion, economy, society or politics. Today, our country faces other grave challenges, such as the encroachment by foreign powers on the sovereignty of our sea-ways, our islands, our forests and lands. Buddhism takes no stand against any particular individual or group. But we resolutely oppose authoritarianism, subservience, corruption and immorality, as well as all other wrong policies that lead to the enslavement and annihilation of our people.

Enlightenment is hard to attain in a body that is sickly or diseased. In the same way, Compassion cannot flourish in a country ruled by tyranny or dictatorship. The body must be strong and healthy to reach the shores of deliverance; a county must be free and democratic to enable Buddhism to truly benefit one and all.

Vietnam has endured one hundred years of colonization, sixty five years of fratricidal war, and several decades of totalitarianism. The time has come for all Vietnamese to act. We cannot stand idle, turn a blind eye or place our responsibilities on other peoples’ shoulders. We must follow Emperor Asoka’s footsteps and build a pathway which transgresses violence, which allows Compassion to blossom and Wisdom to prevail. The very Path that Lord Buddha walked upon just 2554 years ago.

This is the most fitting and meaningful way to remember Lord Buddha and pay homage to him on this sacred Vesak Day.