Wesak Day is celebrated throughout the world to commemorate and honor the Birthday of Lord Buddha, the Enlightened One. It is the most auspicious day in the Buddhist calendar, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.

On 27 April 2012, Than Hsiang Temple organized Bathing the Buddha Ceremony for kindergarten and Wan Ching Yuen. At 9 a.m. in the morning, more than 100 kindergarten children and teachers attended the Bathing the Buddha Ceremony at the Great Compassion Hall. Venerable Wu Guo led them in chanting and delivered a talk afterwards. In her talk, Venerable Wu Guo explained the origin of Wesak and the significance of Bathing the Buddha to the children and the teachers.

Wesak, now a.k.a. Buddha Day is traditionally celebrated by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and South East Asian countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia. Sometimes informally called "Buddha's Birthday", it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment , and passing away of Gautama Buddha. Here in Malaysia there are many activities organized by temples including Buddha statue bathing ceremonies and float processions during Wesak celebration.

Than Hsiang Kindergarten held a simple ceremony for imparting the Ten Good Deeds to parents, teachers, children of Before and After School Care and 6-year-old children of Than Hsiang Kindergarten at 9am on 27 March 2012.

The ceremony was held in two stages. First, Venerable Zhen Ti imparted the Ten Good Deeds to teachers, parents and Ai Xin Ma Ma. Then, witnessed by Venerable Zhen Ti, Fu Yek Ming, headmistress of Than Hsiang Kindergarten imparted the Ten Good Deeds to the children.

Story by Lim Peng Theam / Photos by H.S. Seow

Than Hsiang Foundation - Annual Report 2011

I. Cultivation Activities

In the celebration of a prosperous Chinese New Year, Than Hsiang Jing Yuan in Sungai Petani organized 3 Chinese New Year activities, namely Chinese New Year Lamp-lighting, Chinese New Year Eve Chanting and Chinese New Year Day Noon Offering on the 22nd and 23rd of January 2012.

Story by Seow Heng Sun
Photos by Neoh Chee Jin & Ooi Chee Choon

The aixin family of Than Hsiang Sunday Dharma School (SDS) organized a half-day retreat on 31-07-2011 to enrich self-cultivation among its members. Our group of 33 comprising of teachers, aixin parents and children gathered and left for Guan Yin Si located at Mount Erskine before dawn at 6.30am as we wanted to prostrate our way up to the temple. Upon reaching the foothill of the temple, we quickly assembled into two rows and chanted the cleansing verses before we embarked on our 3-steps-1-prostration journey up to the temple.

Taking refuge means relying wholeheartedly on the Three Jewels of The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to inspire and guide us toward a constructive and beneficial direction in our lives. On 3 July 2011, a Refuge Ceremony was conducted in The Great Compassion Hall (Da Bei Dian) for some 46 National Service students where 12 students formally took refuge. During the refuge ceremony, in addition to taking refuge in the Three Jewels, 4 of them voluntarily took the five precepts.