:: Buddhapadipa Thai Temple

Following his Sunday Dhamma talk on 30.9.07, Phramaha Sangthong Dhammacaro asked me to accompany him to the Peace Pagoda on the banks of the River Thames where he had been invited to join other Buddhist monks in remembrance of the recent killing of the reported 10 or 11 monks in the civil unrest in Rangoon, Myanmar and of the shooting of the Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai (50 yrs) on 27.9.07.

The ceremony was planned to start at 2.30 p.m. and Phramaha Sangthong had given his apologies that he would be late for this event as his Dhamma talk at Buddhapadipa Temple is always between 1.00 – 2.00 p.m. Despite our lateness, we managed to arrive to hear the very last chant of the ceremony by a nun from Amaravati Temple (English Forest Sangha). The occasion was presided over by the Japanese monk in charge of the Peace Pagoda. Phramaha Sangthong was warmly greeted and was able to take his seat amongst the other monks and nuns, which demonstrated that Buddhapadipa Temple was very much united and in solidarity with the other traditions that were present. Many visitors and devotees at Buddhapadipa Temple have expressed shock and sadness at these killings. Through kindly agreeing to be present Phramaha Sangthong was able to show the concern of the Thai and western lay Buddhists from the temple.

The number of people at the demonstration was small. People sat with lit candles and held yellow roses and joined in or listened to the chanting. Some Burmese people wore red bandanas around their foreheads as a sign of mourning.

At the end of the ceremony, the lay people were invited to mount the stairs of the Pagoda to give dana to the peace campaign for Myanmar and to circle the Pagoda and say prayers for peace. I added my voice to these prayers and remembered the words of Phramaha Sangthong’s Dhamma talk as I circumambulated the tower. Phramaha Sangthong had spoken about his sadness that now Buddhists could no longer proudly say that Buddhists had never killed one another. For here for the first time, in our very own time, is an example of Buddhists killing Buddhists. I hoped in my prayers that the first Precept to refrain from taking life would remain strong in the minds of the young Burmese soldiers and that compromise will take place and that peace will prevail.