Vesak, the full moon day in the month of May is the most inspiring for millions of Buddhists around the world. Vesak is a major Buddhist festival that commemorates the birth, awakening, and pari-nirvana (nirvana-after-death) of Gautama Buddha. It is a time for inspiration and practice of the Buddha’s teachings.

Vesak 2021 was the day when many people became aware of our small newly started association for the first time.

The following was written by the Buddhist Federation:

Vesak 2021 / 2565 will be released this year on Wednesday 26th of May. Every year since 1982, Buddhist Federation of Norway has commemorated the holiday with a joint celebration in Oslo, in addition to the celebrations that take place in the various temples of our member communities. The corona pandemic has changed this. Last year we had a digital commemoration on our website. This year the situation is still such that there will be no gatherings in the temples and a joint event is still not possible. Of course, we hope that this will be the last year we live under such restrictions, but we must – like everyone else – be patient and adapt to the situation as it is now.

Our member communities have already started with commemorations. On Saturday 22nd of May, the new Sri Lanka Buddhist temple Norway in Hurdalen outside Oslo had a celebration on Zoom as the regulations make a physical gathering impossible. The Vietnamese temple Phước An in Kristiansand also had the commemoration of Vesak on the same day digitally in the form of streaming of ceremonies and the monk’s speech.

On the day itself, of course, there will be many celebrations around the country. But it will only be at the temples with the monks and nuns. To some extent, one can have outdoor activities, but by and large, people must participate digitally. We want to make people aware on Facebook and email about the digital celebrations that one can connect to and also about the Buddhist Federation of Norway’s own celebration which will consist of only one feature this time, namely a speech for Vesak Day by the Norwegian Theravada monk Ajahn Nitho.

We think it is nice that people join the digital celebrations in the temples, but at the same time encourage you to take the time to listen to Ajahn Nitho’s speech this day from Wat Thai Norway. You can hear his speech here.