KeADILan President's Wesak Day Message

Wesak Day is the commemoration in one day of the Birth, Enlightenment and Death of a great teacher of mankind and the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha.

Buddha's timeless message for mankind is that in order to achieve harmony among human beings and between human beings and our environment, we must strive to liberate our hearts and minds from anger and greed which are the root cause of conflicts and sufferings, both individual and societal.

Buddha himself did not only preach but also set a personal example by giving up all his worldly position, power and wealth as a prince in ancient India and becoming a full-time seeker of the ultimate truth as well as moral teacher for all, irrespective of skin colors, social castes and classes as well as gender.

Buddha's teaching and personal example has set up a very high moral standard for us to judge against our own daily thoughts and behaviors which are so often animated or motivated by anger and greed without us ourselves even being conscious of it. Buddha's teaching is still, if not more, relevant for this modern or post-modern age of globalization which sees the accelerated growth of wealth, knowledge and power in certain areas or segments of the world in the midst of still widespread poverty and backwardness, ignorance and helplessness in other.

The dynamics of market economy are certainly productive of material wealth but at the same time, we must not forget for a moment that it is ultimately greed-motivated and if it is entirely unbridled, it could lead to social-economic inequality and popular resentment as happen in many parts of the world.

It is with this insight and awareness that Parti KeADILan Rakyat establishes as one of its object of struggle to build a humane society based on a just economy for all Malaysians, irrespective of race and religion.

In the context of Malaysia's multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, Buddhists always strive to preserve social peace and harmony in accordance to the teaching of Guamata Buddha. They also participate in the political process as citizens of Malaysia, thus enriching the common or shared experience of nation-building and democracy-enhancing.

Finally, Parti KeADILan Rakyat wishes all Buddhists, especially Malaysian Buddhists, a very spiritually fulfilling Wesak Day.

May the peace and harmony of the great teacher be with us all.

Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
President, Parti KeADILan Rakyat / MP for Permatang Pauh

Parti KeADILan Rakyat
http://www.keadilanrakyat.org/spm/