compiled from the sermon given by the Abbot, the Most Venerable PhraThepyanmahamuni (Luang Por Dhammajayo) on World Meditation Day, 6 August 2005 (B.E 2548)
August 6this World Meditation Day, a day that Buddhists and people from all over the world come together to meditate. It can be said that the most devastating disaster for humanity is ‘war,’ a product of humankind. In the history of civilization, there has never been a time when war was completely eliminated. Thus, ‘peace’ is a state that the citizens of the world have been trying to achieve ever since.
On 6th August 1945, the atomic bomb, the most powerful weapon created in the history of humankind at that time, was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The immense destruction and atrocity resulting from World War II awakened the world to the devastation inflicted by wars. Through a collective effort aimed at maintaining peace in the world, an organization called the United Nations was created.
During a World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (WFBY) summit meeting in 1988, the committee declared the importance and benefits of practicing meditation. Although it is often associated with Buddhism, meditation is a practice that can be performed by anyone from any religion. Therefore, the WFBY declared the 6thof August as World Meditation Day, a day where Buddhists and people throughout the world could come together to meditate as a way to motivate everyone to strive to create true and lasting world peace. World Meditation Day is one of the most outstanding days in our lives.
Today is one of the most outstanding days in everyone’s lives for we have sacrificed our valuable time to pursue the path leading to Nirvana. We have set aside things and traveled close and far, from various parts of Thailand and from other countries in order to come to practice meditation together. We came in hopes of creating peace and happiness in the world. August 6th is known by people from different countries and nationalities as World Meditation Day. The citizens of the world, no matter where they live, have united as one to practice meditation. Today can be declared as World Peace Day since world peace can only be achieved when every single human being experiences happiness from the inside.
True Inner Peace happens when one stills his mind through meditation – bring his mind to complete standstill at the center of the body, at the 7th. Therefore, meditation is the link that will lead to true world peace.
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