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Glimpses
Of Buddha Purnima Celebrations At Brindavan (Whitefield)
"With the blessings ofBhagawan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba, the Buddhist devotees celebrated the Fourth
Visakh, Buddha Pumima Day, in Bhagawan's Divine Presence at
Whitefield on May 9 and 101998. The event was hosted by Thailand
with the coordination of Sathya Sai International Buddhist
Secretariat, which is chaired by Sister Nandini Samarasinghe from
Sri Lanka. A large number of Buddhist devotees participated in the
event. They were from Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia,
Nepal, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Bahrain,
South Africa, Germany and Thailand.
Sai Ramesh Hall and surrounding
premises were decorated with yellow flags, Buddhist symbols, the
five-coloured Buddhist flags as well as beautiful lightings
depicting the artistic traditions of Thai styles. An exquisitely
beautiful altar of Lord Buddha was put up on the stage in Sai
Ramesh Hall by Thai devotees. This special altar showed the
significance of Buddha. It had Lord Buddha's statue in the centre,
behind which were three golden leaves, signifying his birth,
enlightenment and death. Against this altar was a magnificently
beautiful religious Thai screen.
On the 9th morning, a seminar on Inner Peace and the Teachings of
Lord Buddha was held in Sai Ramesh Hall. Five speakers from Nepal
expounded on various aspects of Buddhism. A large number of
Buddhist devotees participated in this seminar. In the afternoon,
devotees from Buddhist countries were blessed to lead the Bhajan
and they sang with all their hearts to 'Buddha" Sai.'
On the May 10th morning, Bhagawan was greeted by a procession and
drum music played by a group of children from Northern Thailand as
He emerged from 'Trayee Brindavan" in all His glory. The Thai
dancers were in their traditional costumes with their special
tribal long drums. The dancers and rhythmic heatings of the drums
conveyed the greetings of the devotees to Bhagawan and welcomed
Him to the festival in Sai Ramesh Hall. Behind Swami, two Bhikkus
(Buddhist priests) walked side by side and then came a group of
white-clad Buddhist devotees. After the conclusion of the dance,
Bhagawan was greeted by the prayer: 'Buddham Sharanam Gachchami.',
sung by Thai devotees. Bhagawan then moved to the stage and sat on
a special chair brought from Thailand. This wooden chair was
specially carved and made so that when Bhagawan sat in that chair,
He looked like a king on the throne. It gave immense joy to the
assembled devotees to have Darshan of Bhagawan in that throne-like
chair. Then Thai-led Bhajans were sung while Bhagawan sat on the
'throne' for a while and then moved among huge throng assembled in
the hall giving Darshan. After Bhajan, Prasadam was distributed to
devotees.
At ten o'clock, a Buddhist ceremony celebrating the Buddha Purnima
Day was conducted by seven Buddhist monks, five from Thailand and
two from Sri Lanka. The monks chanted prayers to mark the event
and to bless the participants. Food then was offered to the monks.
At lunch a special Thai menu was served in the overseas canteen
for participants.
In the afternoon, Bhagawan arrived at four o'clock for the
afternoon programme, taking His place behind the desk from where
He would give His discourse. Bhagawan was then greeted with
devotional songs in English and Thai. The songs gave praise to
Lord Buddha and to Lord Sai and ended in the prayer: 'Buddham
Sharanam Gachchaami, Dharmam Sharanam Gachchaami, Sangham Sharanam
Gachchaami.' The singing came to an end at 4:15 p.m. when Mr.
Hira from Japan introduced the four speakers of the afternoon. He
also introduced the distinguished guests such as the grand
daughter-in-law of King Rama IV of Thailand, a member from the
first family of Sri Lanka. Mr. Hira emphasized that amongst the
five important missions, for which Bhagawan had incarnated, one of
them was unity of faiths. He said, 'Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
is the only Avatar in the history of mankind who has taken upon
Himself this stupendous task of restoring, reviving and
re-establishing all major religions of the world. At the 1997
Buddha Purnima, Bhagawan mentioned that lack of unity and
discipline was the main cause for the decline of Buddhism. But
there are 4,000 sects of Buddhism. It is with these sacred and
holy intentions that Sri Sathya Sai Organization has undertaken
the program me of unity of faiths, in which not only Buddhist or
Christians but also all religions can find satisfaction and
fulfillment. Buddha Pumima is the direct proof of Sai's
universality. It is this universality of Sai, which is
accelerating the unity of all faiths. He has the vision that the
21st century will be the century of Sathya Sai or golden century
when the world will be one at His Lotus Feet.' The other speakers
moved the gathering by their speeches and Sister Puntip Nitising,
chairperson of the organization committee of the event, gave vote
of thanks to everyone concerned and especially to Bhagawan who had
allowed Buddhist devotees to celebrate this event in His Divine
presence. After this Bhagawan blessed the audience with His Divine
discourse.
When Aarati was performed, Bhagawan lighted another candle to be
used for 'Vien Tien' ceremony. Vien Tien is a traditional Thai
ceremony of circling around any significant holy symbol of
Buddhism, i.e. Buddha image, Pagota or Dharma-Chakra (wheel
ofDharma) for commemorating and paying respect to the Buddha,
Dharma and Sangha. The main candle, lighted by Bhagawan, was
shared by all. Participants then lined up to form rows and moved
behind the monks as a procession to circle around at a specially
made and beautifully decorated Dharma-chakra for three rounds.
Carrying a candle, participants sang 'Buddham Sharanam
Gachchaami', The ceremony ended with the prayer 'Loka Samasta
Sukhino Bhavantu' for peace in the world. It was a spectacular and
moving ceremony put up by Thailand and joined in by other Buddhist
countries. At night, there were many coloured lights twinkling on
Dharma-Chakra, buildings, trees, expressing the joy of the
occasion."
Source: Sanathana Sarathi 6/98, pp. 156 & 157
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