Wesak commemorations to go online

Colours of peace: A monk and volunteers hanging flags ahead of Wesak Day at Buddhist Maha Vihara temple in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Although Wesak Day will be a virtual or at-home affair this year, it will be a meaningful one for devotees.

Malaysian Buddhist Association (MBA) honorary secretary Rev Ji Zun said in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, devotees were encouraged to offer prayers at home.

“There may be changes to the opening of our temple here depending on the standard operating procedure (SOP). Our halls can accommodate up to 1,000 people. If we follow the SOP, we will limit this to 50 people at any one time.

“But this is subject to change depending on the SOP and upcoming government announcements.

“As such, we urge devotees to be mindful and encourage them to offer prayers at home, ” she said in an interview yesterday.

Rev Ji Zun said to celebrate Wesak Day, which falls on Wednesday, devotees could recite chants and bathe their Buddha statues at home.

“For the ceremony, devotees can set up a basin of water with three different coloured flowers in front of their Buddha statues at home.

“Then, they can recite the great compassion mantra and heart sutra. After the recitation, they can use the water for bathing, ” she added.

In a joint statement, MBA and the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM) said there will be no Wesak Day procession this year.

The theme for Wesak Day this year is “Concerted Efforts Towards Global Immunisation”.

Apart from bathing the Buddha statues and chanting, both associations said devotees could also braid the five-colour ropes and bracelets, and chant the Diamond Sutra.

YBAM said it was also organising several online programmes in conjunction with the e-Wesak Activity Series with the theme “Light Up! MY Life” ongoing until June 7.

“YBAM encourages all Buddhists to perform online Buddha bathing on Wesak Day to purify one’s mind and recollect the virtues of the Buddha, ” it added.

Interactive functions launched are for e-bathing the Buddha at https://ybam.org.my/ebathingbuddha, e-light offering at https://ybam.org.my/elightoffering and blessing the tree at https://ybam.org.my/blessingtree until June 7.

MBA and YBAM hosted an online session on “How to Perform Home-Based Buddha Bathing” yesterday.

To know more, refer to MBA and YBAM’s official Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/malaysianbuddhistassociation and https://www.facebook.com/YBAMalaysia, or websites at https://www.malaysianbuddhistassociation.org and https://ybam.org.my.