This was the 2nd time Than Hsiang Taiji Group had organised a 1-Day Tour. This year we were going to Lumut, Sitiawan and Taiping in Perak.

Buddha Day (officially known as Wesak or Vesak) falls on full moon in May. Informally known as Birthday of the Buddha, it is celebrated by Buddhists all over the world to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Shakyamuni Buddha who lived 26 centuries ago. Than Hsiang Temple organized a series of activities from 13th May to 21st May to mark this auspicious occasion.

Since its inception in 1985, Than Hsiang under the skillful leadership of Venerable Wei Wu in addition of a concerted effort from faithful devotees and vigorous supports of kind donors , has progressed by leaps and bounds in the development of education, charity and spiritual cultivation. The establishment of Than Hsiang has benefited not only the spiritually inclined but also the general public. It is not easy for a non-profit organization like Than Hsiang to chalk up such a remarkable achievement in thirty years.

Objective
1. To commemorate the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.
2. To strengthen the co-operation among Buddhist scholars in AEC and neighbouring countries and provide a platform for the sharing of academic ideas.
3. To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Than Hsiang Buddhist Welfare Association, Malaysia.

Venerable Wei Wu and members of Than Hsiang send their deepest condoleneces to the family members of the late YB Karpal Singh. His demise is a great loss to the nation. We highly appreciates him as a politician with principle who serves the nation and its people. He held a very clear and firm stand on Malaysia being a secular state and resisted strongly any attempt by others to use religion to claim political milage. He is a exemplarily politician and we hope that current and future politicians in Malaysia will follow his fine example.

The Than Hsiang Mitra Welfare Association, in collaboration with International Buddhist College conducted a 6-day course on Buddhist Psychotherapy from 14 Dec to 29 Dec 2013.

Mitra had the honor to invite Dr Wasantha to be our teacher for this course.

My personal impressions after attending the course are as follows:

News of the bombing of the Mahabodhi temple at Bodhgaya on July 7, 2013 came as a great shock to Buddhists far and near. Bodhgaya is the holy site where the Buddha gained Enlightenment and has become a holy pilgrimage centre for Buddhist from all over the world. It is also of international importance as it is declared a World Heritage Site by United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation. Till today we still do not know why and who targeted the Mahabodhi temple for this violent act.

Bangkok (19 May, 2013) -- The Mahamakut Buddhist University (MBU) awarded Venerable Wei Wu, the founder and council chairman of IBC, the Honourary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Buddhist Studies.

Venerable Pannyavaro , the founder of Buddhanet devotes his life to the meditational aspects of the Buddha's teachings. We were indeed fortunate and blessed to have him conduct a 1-day workshop on Satipatthana-Vipassana and Loving-Kindness meditation techniques during his short stay at Than Hsiang Temple on his visit to Malaysia recently.

To start at the beginning-

9.00 – 9.30am: Arrival of Venerable Pannyavaro and 14 participants.