Vesak – Buddha's birthday celebrations
Monday, 19 May 2008
Australia’s nearly 420 000 Buddhists had been instrumental in promoting community harmony, the Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services, Laurie Ferguson, said on Buddha’s birthday today.
‘The qualities of compassion, peace, goodwill and service to humanity that are embodied in the Buddhist faith are of great value to all Australians as we continue to grow as a nation,’ Mr Ferguson said at the beginning of celebrations for Vesak, the holiest day in the Buddhist calendar.
‘By nurturing these qualities, the Buddhist community is making a crucial contribution to our national well-being.
‘Buddhism is the largest and one of the fastest growing non-Christian religions in Australia with followers now forming more than 2 per cent of our population.
‘All three of the main traditions of Buddhism – Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana – are now represented in Australia,’ he added.
In the 1800s, Buddhist Chinese worked the Victorian goldfields, Buddhist Sinhalese migrants from Sri Lanka worked in Queensland’s sugar plantations and Sri Lankan pearlers formed a permanent Buddhist community on Thursday Island. In the 1870s, many Japanese Shinto Buddhists settled in northern Australia to work in the pearling industry.
The number of Buddhists in Australia remained small until the 1950s, but at the time of the 2006 Census, nearly 420 000 Australians identified as Buddhist. Of these, more than 84 000 registered non-Asian ancestry.
Celebrations of Vesak take different forms, including adorning temples with lamps to symbolise Buddha’s enlightenment, festivals of food and dances, religious observances and meditations.
‘My best wishes to the Buddhist community for a happy Vesak Day,’ Mr Ferguson said.
Media contact: Khaldoun Hajaj 02 6277 4920 or 0404 078 692
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/parlsec/media/media-releases/2008/lf08039.htm
Last update: 13 August 2008 at 17:14 AEST