Press Statement from Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia on the impending Olympics torch run in Kuala Lumpur
The Buddhist Channel, April 19, 2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- The Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia would like to support the call (New Straits Times report dated 16 April 2008) by the Chief High Priest of Malaysia Rev. K. Dhammaratana Thera that politics should be kept out of the coming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Hence, in conjunction with the arrival of the Olympic torch to Malaysia on 21 April 2008, and as consistently advised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we would like to urge all our Member Organizations, all other Tibetan Buddhist Societies/ Centers in Malaysia and the general public, not to disrupt the Olympic torch relay.
Instead, the Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia would like to urge all our Member Organizations, all other Tibetan Buddhist Societies/ Centers in Malaysia and the general public to show our concern over the recent deeply saddening and tragic events in Tibet and the surrounding regions in China in a peaceful way.
Therefore, we pray that the Beijing Olympics will be a peaceful and most successful Olympic Games in its series and achieves the Olympic Charter goal in contributing towards the building of a healthy, peaceful and better world through sports.
In conjunction with this message, we encourage our Member Organizations and all other Buddhist organizations to embark on a month of prayers culminating with the occasion of the Wesak Day Celebration on 19 May 2008, for the following purposes:
- That there may be continual peace and harmony for all the citizens and residents in Malaysia and all countries in the world.
- That there be peace and harmony, compassion and equality for all the trouble spots in the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, Gaza, Myanmar and Tibet.
