Hanoi (VNA) – Many foreign Buddhist monks, nuns and believers in Vietnam for the United Nations Day of Vesak celebrations say they have seen Buddhism in “deep practice” in the Asian country.
The Sri Lanka Ramanna Nikaya Sangha General Secretary Venerable Waragoda Pemaratana told a Vietnam News Agency reporter he has learnt a lot about Vietnamese Buddhism from the art and culture programmes held for Vesak celebrations.
“Buddhism is living here,” Venerable Waragoda Pemaratana said.
“If you haven’t got freedom of religion, this event would not have been held in your country.”
Malaysia ’s Chief High Priest Venerable Sri Saranankara Nayaka Maha Thero agreed and said he can see Vietnamese are free to follow Buddhism.
“There are a huge number of Vietnamese Buddhist followers here,” he said.
According to the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha statistics, there are 40,000 dignitaries, monks and nuns and more than 10 million Buddhist followers in Vietnam .
US Healing Springs Sangha follower Michael Devalve said he sees “the deep practice from everything”, not just from the facilities for Vesak celebrations but from its organisation and the government’s commitment to make the event successful.
The Vice Chairman of the VBS Executive Council, Most Venerable Thich Tri Quang, also agreed and echoed the opinion Vietnamese people are free to practise religion.
He said this is seen through Sangha-organised training courses for monks and nuns, as well as for Buddhist followers.
The VBS’s statistics also show the country has 15,000 Buddhist places of worship, four Buddhist institutes, six colleges, 31 high schools and hundreds of primary schools for Buddhism training nationwide.
Some 200 monks and nuns have been trained abroad for PhD and master degrees in Buddhism, and thousands of graduates trained in local Buddhist institutes.
The Vesak celebrations are being held in Vietnam from May 14-17, attracting 3,500 delegates from 75 countries and territories the world over.-Enditem
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