දූත මණ්ඩල මාධ්‍ය නිවේදන

His Excellency Dr Karan Singh, Member of Parliament, Representative of India on the UNESCO Executive Board,
His Excellency, Mr President of the General Conference,
His Excellency, Mr Viraphand Vacharathit, Permanent Delegate of Thailand to UNESCO,
His Excellency, Mr Dayan Jayatilleka, Permanent Delegate of Sri Lanka to UNESCO,
Permanent Delegates of the Asia-Pacific Group of Permanent Delegations to UNESCO,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

[Closing remarks at the UNESCO international scholarly symposium on “The Contribution of the Buddha’s Teachings to Universality, Humanism and Peace”, in commemoration of the 2600th anniversary of the Buddha’s Enlightenment-Paris, 20th May 2011]

“This effort of ASPAC (the Asia-Pacific group) and UNESCO was an exercise in intervention. We were hoping to intervene against two syndromes. One which [Edward] Said called ‘Orientalism’, and the other, its reverse, which we may term ‘Occidentalism’. The first entails the notion that the West is the preserve of philosophy and the East is the domain of exotic cultures, and that ‘universality’ originated from and flows from West to East. Counter-posed to this Eurocentric vision is its inversion: the Eastern idea of the West as the site of a mechanistic materialism and a tawdry consumerism, whereas the East is the realm of the metaphysical and the spiritual.

The High Commission of Sri Lanka in London organized an alms giving and a Dansela (open house) to celebrate Vesak and the 2600th Sambuddhathva Jayanthi on  20th May 2011 at the High Commission premises.

2600th Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi celebration was held at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Jordan on Wesak Full Moon day with the participation of nearly one thousand devotees. At the beginning of the programme, the Ambassador Dr. Mohottala in his welcome speech recollected the feelings he had on Esala Full Moon day 2006.   It was the first occasion ever a Buddhist monk stepped into the Embassy, for that matter to Jordan, to conduct a religious programme and it was again the first social and religious gathering at the Embassy since assumption of his duties as the Ambassador. Ambassador in his speech further said how happy he was to invite      Ven. Dodampahala Rahula Thero who conducted the very first Dhamma Sermon in this Embassy in 2006, for Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi programme as well.

 

The 2600th Anniversary of Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi was celebrated by the Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, together with the Sri Lankan expatriate community at the official residence of the High Commissioner.

To mark the event, the High Commissioner and the staff organized a “Pirith Chanting Ceremony” followed by an ‘alms giving’ to the Buddhist priests of the three Sri Lankan temples in Ottawa on 16th May and 17th May 2011. Dhamma sermons were conducted by Venerable Panditha Brahmanagama Muditha Thero, Chief Incumbent of the Buddhist Congress of Canada (Hilda Jayewardenaramaya), Venerable Kekanadure Hemalankara Thero of the Theravada Buddhist Centre and Venerable Dr. Walasmulle Siri Sumana Thero, Chief Incumbent of Ottawa Buddhist Vihara.

The Government of Sri Lanka has consistently espoused and been guided by the gentle tenets of Buddhism, which emphasizes Karuna, Metta, Muditha and Upeksha meaning  -kindness, loving compassion, thoughtfulness and equanimity said Kshenuka Senewiratne addressing a large international gathering at the commemoration of the  2600th Anniversary of Sri Sambuddhathva Jayanthi, which  was celebrated at the United Nations in Geneva on the 11th May 2011. This commemorative event was organized by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva, at the United Nations Assembly Hall, which is considered a most prestigious venue. This occasion was also graced by Hon. Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of Disaster Management and Mr. Kassym Jomart Tokayev, United Nations Under-Secretary General and the newly appointed Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, who is the former Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan.

The International Day of Vesak was celebrated at the UN premises in Nairobi with the participation of several Ambassadors and High Commissioners, senior UN officials and other dignitaries on 17 May 2011. The Buddhist Flag was jointly hoisted by H.E. Jayantha Dissanayake,  the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka and  Mr. Thawat Kwanchti Actg. Ambassador of the Royal Thai Embassy, before commencement of the function.  The lighting of the traditional oil lamp  was done with  the participation of all Heads of Missions present and with the senior officials of UN including some members of the Sri Lanka Association.