Hello my loving SL steemians,

What's up guys? I believe you are in good healthy and staying home with beloved once in this pandemic period. Before share my thoughts here I would like to special thanks our Sri Lanka steemian @damithudayanga for hosted this really meaningful contest. If you are in Sri Lanka, you can participate this contest using this post. This contest may include several points as he informed. I hope to explain them one by one.

How you celebrated the festival this year?

No matter how busy I am on duty, I have the opportunity to stay home as Vesak Poya Days and the days after are business holidays. However, it is difficult for me to devote much time to making Vesak lanterns designed to decorate the Vesak festival. I make an effort to make a small or design, even with the little time I get.

You may remember how we had to celebrate the last 2019 and 2020 Vesak festivals from home. Due to the deadly bombing in 2019 and the spread of the first wave of Covid19 last year, we went home and did religious work. This year too we had to celebrate Vesak from home. We all offered flowers to our religious leader, the Buddha, and performed religious rites from home. Previously all this work was done by going to the temple which is our religious place of worship. But with the restrictions on travel, all our hopes were dashed this year as well. After the religious ceremonies, Vesak lanterns and Vesak buckets were lit using candles. The electrically connected bulbs were accidentally activated. The whole garden was illuminated by light bulbs and Vesak lanterns. My little daughter was also quite pleased to see them. Her smile took me back to my childhood.

What are the special memories with you?

I have many memories of Vesak in my life. Friends of my village continued to organize a noodle, rice or bread alms hall every Vesak day before 2019. During the last two years, including this year, we have not had the opportunity to organize this alms hall. As a result, the next generation of young people lost the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the organization.

Also, while I was working in Colombo, I had the opportunity to see some of the most famous Vesak pandals in Sri Lanka. Although Vesak pandals have been set up in almost every city in Sri Lanka, I have never seen such a large number of Vesak pandals in Peliyagoda and Thotalanga. Colorful and creative bedding with a variety of color patterns and even artwork and paintings were used for the pandals.

What is your idea about the real meaning of Vesak Poya Day?

Vesak Poya Day is even more special because it is the day of the birth, enlightenment and calamity of our religious leader, the Buddha. Therefore, I accept that the true meaning of Vesak Poya Day is that if we as a living being are to be born on earth one day, we must develop all the virtues and adjust our lives to get rid of the wrong way. And if we came to this earth we would definitely have to go someday. This is the nature of life. So do not make collecting material your only purpose in life. We need to develop relationships by giving others what we can.

Any new discipline you need to practice

Looking at today's society, it seems that they have very little patience and kindness. I acknowledge that time is of the essence for those of us who live in the midst of a busy lifestyle. But we must be able to manage that time well. The main reasons for many of the riots we see today are lack of patience, lack of kindness about another person and addiction to drugs unnecessarily. The youth community in particular is widely involved in this. So the main thing we need to develop is patience. Patience can solve many problems. It will also enable the cessation of drug use, which has a huge negative impact on the present.

Your message for society

As an individual, we have many responsibilities to the society in which we live. Therefore, it is important to always obey the laws of nature. Always learn a good lesson from mistakes and make it a positive experience going forward. When we do our duty and responsibility to our family and society properly, we can take our next generation to a better place. That is what the Vesak Day message has to give you.

Thanks for visiting. Have a pleasant day.