Vesak 2014 in Victoria, Australia

Congratulations on a Wonderful UN Day of Vesak

Dear Victorian UN Day of Vesak Committee,

To each of you, thank you for your contribution to our Victorian United Nations Day of Vesak Celebration.

I hope you are all well rested after our wonderful Vesak celebration yesterday.

Thank you to all our Sangha Members in attendance for so kindly supporting our Victorian Vesak event. I have received many kind words of thanks, particularly from Members of our Sangha community, who were very happy to be helping on the day or participating as our honoured guests.

On behalf of our organising committee, a very big thank you to Gerald Lim and all those who cooked and helped to create the Sangha Dana Lunch, which I have heard was a great success.

To our team who managed the procession, congratulations for providing safe and well organised conditions for the colourful Vesak Procession led by the floats from Linh Son Temple, through the streets of Melbourne. Thank you to the Victorian Police who provided perfect support and protection for this fabulous procession.

Congratulations to the many temple teams at Melbourne Town Hall, for managing the areas you were responsible for, so well. On behalf of all our committee members our heartfelt thanks and appreciation.

To our Program Team led by Simon Kearney thank you for the on-stage Vesak celebration program and to the many performers including the Yun Yang Choir, Andrew Williams and the joyful children's choir and dancers thank you to you all for your performances.

Let us continue our work together to support our Victorian Buddhist communities celebration of Vesak each year.

Please see some photos below courtesy of Quang Duc Temple.

Kind regards,


Frank Carter
President

Victorian United Nations Day of Vesak Inc.
25/05/2014

This is a free event.

Come participate in this great and important Buddhist Vesak Celebrations.

Event Highlights

(1) Lunch offering to the Sangha

To reflect traditional Vesak celebrations in many Buddhist communities we are providing a lunch offering to the Sangha collectively. This will be done in the Parish Hall of St. Peters Church Eastern Hill (15 Gisborne Street East Melbourne VIC 3002) prior to our Vesak Procession.

We will also be providing an opportunity to do an offering in the form which was customary in the Buddha’s time which is an Alms Round (Pindabata in the Pali language). The public are invited to offer cooked rice (provided at the venue) during the Alms round whilst mains will be in the dining hall.

• Sangha and Participants to meet at 9.30am at the Parish Hall of St Peter Eastern Hill main door at 15 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne

• Alms round / Pindabata along Gisborne Street starts 10.00am (Participation in the Alms round is optional)

• Main lunch offering in St Peter Eastern Hill Main hall starts 11.00am (All meals will be vegetarian)

We have provided a response form for temples and we appreciate your feedback by 9 May 2014 to assist our planning.

>> Download response form for temples here (PDF)

For temples that wish to help cater for the lunch offering, each dish is to cater for 60 people. Please contact Gerald Lim on [email protected] or call 041 333 6543.

We would very much appreciate your participation. For more information, please contact Gerald Lim on [email protected] or call 041 333 6543

(2) Vesak procession

Starts from the Parliament Gardens (489-531 Albert Street - corner of Nicholson & Albert Streets.

Assemble from 12.15pm for 1.00pm start

Lunch packs available - please advice your temple if you wish to receive a lunch pack

We encourage your participation in the parade to make it even better than last year. For more information and to confirm your temples attendance, please contact Steve Lowe at [email protected] and CC also to [email protected] mobile: 0422 357693

(3) Melbourne Town Hall Celebrations

Venue: Melbourne Town Hall, Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria
Time : 1.30pm to 4.30pm

Includes:

- Temple offerings ceremony : NEW !!
- Original musical stage performance
- Multicultural performances
- Buddhist chanting and blessings from various traditions
- meditation instruction
- Dhamma talk

and many other activities

Stalls

There is an opportunity to provide information on your temple or centre at the Melbourne Town Hall. Stalls will be available to distribute information about your centre. Please contact Frank Carter on [email protected]

Volunteers Help Needed

To conduct the UN Vesak event we need the help of over 50 volunteers from our various Buddhist Temples and Communities. If you or any one you know would like to be a volunteer for our Vesak event please contact contact Ted - mobile 0478 082 583 email - [email protected] or Steve - mobile 0411 175 421 email - [email protected]

______________________________________________________________

For the seventh consecutive year in a row, Victoria will observe the United Nations Day of Vesak, marking the start of a month when Buddhist communities globally come together to celebrate Vesak, the birth, passing and enlightenment of the Buddha.

Buddhism spans cultural groups such as Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Loation, Thai, Mongolian, Tibetan, Burmese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Sri Lankan, to name but a few. Buddhism has a strong history in Victoria since the goldrush days in 1848 and continues today with unique representation of many cultural groups and traditions and forms practiced in Melbourne and around the state.

The 2014 Vesak Observance will be presented with a balance of Commemoration and Celebration.

We are honored again to have the support of the City of Melbourne and the Victorian Multicultural Commission, as well as the Victorian Buddhist Community.

This a free event and provides access for disabled persons.

For those interested in being involved as a volunteer, please refer to the "Volunteer Signup" tab on this website.