Celebrating Vesak in Malaysia (video)

Ven. Mahinda (Malaysia), May 6, 2020; CC Liu, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Significance of Vesak

(Malaysia Buddhist Festival) This Vesak 2020 message is given by Bhante Mahinda, who talks about its significance and meaning. Other than the usual making of merit, what else can we do during lockdown on this great day for Buddhists all over the world? This video is courtesy of the Australian Buddhist Mission, Inc. (ABM), of which Bhante Mahinda is the spiritual director

ABOUT

Ven. Mahinda was ordained in 1976 as a Buddhist monk in the Sri Lankan Theravada tradition under the tutelage of the late Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Thera, a well-known Sri Lankan monk residing in Malaysia for more than 50 years. After his ordination, Bhante undertook a Buddhist studies program at the Paramadhamma Buddhist Institute in Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1982. He was trained in meditation by several well-known masters in Sri Lanka, India, Burma, and Thailand. He was also inspired by Mahayana masters from China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, as well as by Vajrayana masters from Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and India. Bhante has taught mindfulness and metta meditation for more than 30 years in 20 countries. His participation in inter-religious conferences and Dharma propagation has taken him to more than 30 countries. Currently, he is the abbot of the Aloka Meditation Centre in Australia (AMC); founder, spiritual director of the Australian Buddhist Mission Inc. (ABM); Buddhist chaplain at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS); trustee of the University Buddhist Education Foundation (UBEF); and Training Committee member and training course presenter of the Australian Association of Buddhist Counsellors and Psychotherapists (AABCAP). He is the founder and spiritual director of the Aloka Foundation, Malaysia; religious patron of the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM); religious advisor to the Buddhist Missionary Society, Malaysia and a number of other Buddhist organizations in East and West Malaysia and Singapore.