Vienna's Buddhist Community Celebrates the Vesak Festival
Today, the Vesak festival is celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. It commemorates the birth, enlightenment and complete extinction of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama and thus his exit from the cycle of rebirth. We wish all devout Buddhists a happy festival!
The Vesak festival is celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons, Hermitianta Prasetya Putra from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, CC BY 2.0
"Vesak", the Day of the Full Moon in the month of May, is the most sacred day to millions of Buddhists around the world. The Vesakh festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment and complete extinction of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, and thus his exit from the cycle of rebirth.
Vesak Day celebrates the birth of the historical Buddha in 623 BC, his enlightenment and the day of his death in his eightieth year - all events that took place on that very day of the year.
Numerous events around the world celebrate this special day of the year. Vienna is no exception. At the invitation of the Austrian Buddhist Religious Community, the Buddhist faith community, which has several thousand members in Austria, celebrates a joint Vesak festival on 29 May.
The holiday was also honoured by the UN General Assembly, which recognised Vesak Day internationally in its Resolution 54/115 of 1999.
Warm wishes to all those celebrating Vesak!
— United Nations (@UN) May 16, 2022
Learn more as people around the world celebrate the Day of the Full Moon: https://t.co/7xyParl9We
#Vesak celebration at UNHQ in NYC in 2018 pic.twitter.com/QX3uKMjvcA
This is to acknowledge the contribution that Buddhism, one of the world's oldest religions, has made and continues to make to the spirituality of humanity for more than two and a half millennia.
Best wishes to Buddhists all over the world on Vesak, when we honour the birth, enlightenment and passing of Lord Buddha.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 16, 2022
On this #VesakDay, let’s resolve to build lives of peace and dignity for all on a healthy planet.
Background of Vesak Day
The festival originated in the Theravada Buddhist tradition and is now celebrated by Buddhists around the world as the most important common holiday. It also serves as a conscious search for the commonalities and shared roots of the different Buddhist traditions around the world.
Especially in the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia, Vesak is celebrated as the biggest festival of the year. In addition to the usual full moon fast and puja ceremonies, it is often the custom to release animals - especially birds previously captured for this purpose - to express one's efforts to work for the benefit of all beings.
The Buddha's teachings and his message of compassion, peace and goodwill have moved millions of people. Millions of people around the world follow the Buddha's teachings and commemorate the Buddha's birth, attainment of enlightenment and passing away on Vesak Day.