Page 26 - Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

During Ven. Taixu's (太虚法师) it was of no surprise if he did not receive
visit to Sri Lanka in November 1939, he good response from the Mahayana
suggested to Dr. G. P. Malalasekera to Chinese. Of course, another issue was
jointly establish a world Buddhist that both Mahayana and Theravada
organisation. Both of them were very could not agree on a common date for
agreeable to the idea. After WWII, Dr. G. Wesak.
P. Malalasekera began to organise the
25
World Fellowship of Buddhists . He sent
invitations to Buddhist leaderst to attend
the inaugural conference scheduled in
1950 as early as 1948 (Fig. 15). Malayan
Buddhist delegates attended the 1950
26
conference . This is clear evidence that
Buddhist leaders in Malaya and
Singapore, had by then been involved in
the global Buddhist movement.

On the other hand, while Wesak
day was of great importance to the
Theravada Buddhists, it received lesser
attention among the Mahayana Chinese
Buddhists since it was but one of the
many Bodhisatva or Buddha birthdays to
be celebrated all year round. At that
time, all countries that had Wesak as a
public holiday such as Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Burmah were all
Theravada countries. China and Japan
th
never had Wesak or the 8 day of the
fourth lunar month as a public holiday.
Even a politically conscious monk like
27
Ven. Taixu , also did not call for Wesak or
th
the 8 day of the fourth lunar month be
Fig.15：Work to establish the World
made a public holiday. Hence, when Fellowship of Budhdists began in early 1948.
Ven. Gunaratana first made the proposal,

25. When the inaugural conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists was held in Kandy in 1950, Ven.
Taixu had already passed away. His disciple Ven. Fa Hang （法航法师） attended the conference.

26. Among the ten Malayan Buddhist delegates were Khoo Soo Jin , Lim Teong Aik, Khoo Leong Hun, and
monks from Ang Hock Si, Kek Lok Si, and Kuan Im Teng. See Chinese literature (Ven. Kai Di: Monks Journey
to the South): 开谛法师，南海云水游（附录篇）上. 177页。

27. Ven. Taixu (1890-1947) (太虚法师) was a member of Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). He was involved
in the revolution against the Qing dynasty. On the first year of the Republic (1912), he met Sun Yat Sen in
Nanjing, reguested help from Sun to form the Chinese Buddhist Association, but he did not ask for Wesak to be
made a public holiday. Perhaps a public holiday was of no great importance to an agricultural society at that
time.

Chapter 2: The Sri Lankan Connection Page25