\u201cToday\u2019s world is torn by natural and environmental disasters, but also by man-made horrors such as violence, terrorism and ruthless struggles for power. The presence of Buddhists, wherever they may be, should be a source of peace and conciliation amongst human beings\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n As history has proved, he observed, \u201cVietnamese people have an extraordinary, lasting power to be a catalyst of other forces. This power is characteristic of our nation, and also characteristic of Buddhism. For Buddhism is founded on the principles of Wisdom, Compassion and Courage. If our nation has survived periods of foreign annexation, it is thanks to our tolerance, our capacity to sift and select, our perseverance and will for self development.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In Vietnam today, the Communist Party\u2019s political monopoly excludes Buddhists and other large sectors of the population from participating in Vietnam\u2019s development process, and as a result, the people are pressing for human rights, democracy and religious freedom. For Thich Quang Do, \u201cFreedom of religion is the mother of all freedoms. When the people\u2019s right to freedom of conscience is denied and their right to practice their spiritual beliefs is suppressed, then all other freedoms, such as free speech, press freedom, the right to form associations and to demonstrate become inaccessible\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n In celebration of the Vesak, Thich Quang Do urged the Communist leadership to \u201cpractice the teachings of tolerance and compassion taught by Lord Buddha\u201d and \u201cfocus on protecting the nation\u2019s sovereignty and ensuring the welfare of the whole 90 million population, rather than concentrating wealth and privileges in the hands of a ruling minority of four million Communist Party members.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n He called on the Buddhist Sangha to \u201cdeepen their spiritual practice\u201d, \u201cset aside their personal interests and petty self-centredness\u201d, take \u201cenlightenment and liberation as their ultimate goal, and the salvation of all beings as their sacred mission.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n His Message to all Buddhists was: \u201cOpen your hearts to Lord Buddha so that all pain and torment may be extinguished, and celebrate the Vesak as the Season to harvest Enlightenment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blessed be Lord Sakyamuni Buddha!<\/p>\n For almost three thousand years, the coming of the Vesak has filled the world with ineffable joy and illuminated the earth with the light of the Dharma, just as the full moon\u2019s brightness dissipates the darkness of night.<\/p>\n On behalf of the Bi-Cameral Institutes of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, I extend my warmest greetings to all Buddhist elders, monks, nuns and Buddhists at home and abroad. May the pure and noble spirit of the Most Honoured One will be with us all on this joyful Vesak Day.<\/p>\n Open your hearts to Lord Buddha so that all pain and torment may be extinguished, and celebrate in the Vesak as the Season to harvest Enlightenment.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s world is torn by natural and environmental disasters, but also by man-made horrors such as violence, terrorism and ruthless struggles for power. The presence of Buddhists, wherever they may be, should be a source of peace and conciliation amongst human beings. Since the end of the Cold War until today, people around the world have been waiting in hope for this harmony and concord to come.<\/p>\n The situation in Vietnam for the past forty-one years has prevented Buddhists and Vietnamese people overall from developing their national talents and true Buddha-nature, and from contributing these talents to help raise Vietnam to the level of other civilized nations and build a peaceful and moral society within their own homeland.<\/p>\n In 1970, in his Message \u201cThe Catalytic Way\u201d, the late First Supreme Patriarch Thich Tinh Khiet voiced a painful truth when he said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact is that up to now, the Vietnamese people have never been allowed to speak their minds freely or realize their legitimate wishes. We Vietnamese, who love and cherish our country, should never allow anyone to misuse the people\u2019s name for the sake of their own fame and profit, and pursue their aims of aggression and encroachment on our homeland.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In an earlier Vesak Message in Buddhist Era 2513 (1969), Patriarch Thich Tinh Khiet made the following analysis:<\/p>\n \u201cAs history has proved, the Vietnamese people have an extraordinary, lasting power to be a catalyst of other forces. This power is characteristic of our nation, and also characteristic of Buddhism. For Buddhism is founded on the principles of Wisdom, Compassion and Courage. If our nation has survived periods of foreign annexation, it is thanks to our tolerance, our capacity to sift and select, our perseverance and will for self development. It is thanks to these precious qualities that Buddhism has more than once helped the nation to bring harmony between diverse schools of Oriental thought that advocated either \u201cturning one\u2019s back on life\u201d or \u201cengaging oneself in life\u2019s affairs\u201d, thereby creating a balance for Vietnamese thinking under the independent era of the Ly and Tran dynasties which spanned over three centuries (1010-1400). (\u2026) In the on-going conflict between world ideologies, Vietnam has been chosen as a testing ground. What began as a clash of ideologies has now escalated into an atrocious, devastating war. When the war ends, it does not mean that the ideological conflict will end with it. On the contrary, this conflict will be more ferocious than before, unless we choose the \u201cCatalytic Way\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n For many decades, the Vietnamese people, in particular the peasants, workers and religious followers of all denominations, have yearned desperately for human rights, democracy and religious freedom. Because they know that as long as these basic elements are not guaranteed, they have no chance of enjoying happiness and a reasonable standard of living, and their country can never match the development of its ASEAN neighbours.<\/p>\n Freedom of religion is the mother of all freedoms. When the people\u2019s right to freedom of conscience is denied and their right to practice their spiritual beliefs is suppressed, then all other freedoms, such as free speech, press freedom, the right to form associations and to demonstrate, become inaccessible.<\/p>\n Since its creation in 1930, over the past 86 years, the Communist Party of Vietnam has held a monopoly of beliefs, expression and the press, especially since it took power over the whole country after the reunification of Vietnam. The more the Party\u2019s doctrines are imposed, the more the people\u2019s religions and views are suppressed. The more the Party\u2019s dictates are absolute, the more the people\u2019s right to life and expression are restricted, and gradually reduced to nothingness.<\/p>\n As we celebrate this Vesak Day and our religion of compassion and peace, we urge the leaders of the Communist Party to reconsider, and practice the teachings of tolerance and compassion taught by Lord Buddha. We urge them to focus on protecting the nation\u2019s sovereignty and ensuring the welfare of the whole 90 million population, rather than concentrating wealth and privileges in the hands of a ruling minority of four million Communist Party members.<\/p>\n Respected Elders, Venerable monks, nuns and lay-followers at home and abroad,<\/p>\n To bring change, progress and peace to our homeland, I call upon each one of you to deepen your spiritual practice, just as the late Supreme Third Patriarch Thich Don Hau encouraged us with his parting words:<\/p>\n \u201cThe history of the spread of Buddhism in Vietnam and around the world has known times of tragedy and shame, but also glorious times of which we can be proud. The times of tragedy where when the Sangha\u2019s essence was obscured, the Sangha were divided amongst themselves and followed different views; when their spiritual practice was in decline, and their perception of the Dharma was narrow and one-sided. On the other hand, the times of glory were those when the Sangha lived in harmony, when they set aside their personal interests and petty self-centredness to progress in their monastic life, taking enlightenment and liberation as their ultimate goal, and the salvation of all beings as their sacred mission.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n May the Most Honoured One protect us all.<\/p>\n Blessed be Sakyamuni Buddha.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARIS, 6th June 2016 \u2013 (IBIB). The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has issued his annual Message on the occasion of the Vesak (Birth of Buddha). In his Message, sent from the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Saigon where he is under effective house arrest, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":375,"featured_media":29258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-ibib"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"http:\/\/queme.org\/app\/uploads\/2017\/05\/2016-0606a.jpg\")
\nOn the Anniversary of the Birth of Buddha, Buddhist Era 2560 (2016)
\nby the Most Venerable THICH QUANG DO
\nFifth Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam<\/strong><\/div>\n
\nFull moon of the Fourth Month, Year of the Monkey, 2016
\nBuddhist Era 2560
\nFifth Supreme Patriarch
\nUnified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
\n(Signature and Seal)<\/em>
\nSramana THICH QUANG DO<\/strong><\/div>\n