VESAK 2021 MESSAGE FOR THE PHILIPPINES BY BRO BILLY TAN 30-MAY-2021

Good morning to all the Venerables, Distinguished Guests, and Brothers and Sisters in the Dhamma. Sukhi Hotu! I would like to wish everyone in the Philippines a HAPPY VESAK 2021. I am very happy and honored to share this most auspicious occasion with you. Vesak Day celebrates the 3 most important events in Buddhist history – the Birth of Lord Buddha, the Divine Awakening of the Lord Buddha, and the passing into Parinibbana of Lord Buddha. This is indeed a joyous occasion worthy of reverence and celebration; but celebration is meaningless if we donot really understand and embrace the true message of the Buddha. This past 15 months has seen the single most challenging period in the 21st Century. Never has any time in this generation have we all been challenged to witness and experience such great suffering. Every single person on this planet without exception is faced with severe restrictions in personal freedom and livelihood from the Corona Virus Pandemic. Hundreds of million of people around the world have