Ideal Vesak gift for Sri Lanka

Saturday, 17 May 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

It was indeed great news to hear during the Vesak season that the film ‘Sri Siddartha Gautama’ had won so many awards at the Buddhist film

festival held in Vietnam as part of UN Vesak Day celebrations. Congratulations Navin Gunaratne and the team for the excellent job in presenting such a valuable Dhamma gift to the world. The film merited such global recognition. Navin was personally present to receive the award for the Best Film. It was a well-deserved reward for what was really a one-man effort in getting such a huge project going. Though it took five years to complete the job, looking back at the tremendous effort he had to put in to the planning of such an epic movie, one can understand why it took such a long time. He co-scripted the film, was production designer and producer. The judges would not have had much difficulty in selecting Gagan Malik, the Indian actor who grabbed the hearts of everyone by his superb performance as Prince Siddhartha as the Best Actor. It was a feather in the cap for Director Saman Weeraman who won the Best Director’s award and for Prvaeen Jayaratne who bagged the Best Editor award. The international recognised sitarist Pradeep Ratnayake must surely be a happy man in being chosen as the Best Music Director. Awaiting international release, ‘Sri Siddartha Gautama’ has won plaudits in a number of countries where there had been private screenings. These awards along with the film being chosen Best Film at the Delhi International Festival early this year should be plus factors for a wider global release. UN Vesak Day Meanwhile, Vietnam was the chosen venue for the United Nations Vesak Day this year. In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recognising Vesak Day as a day of triple celebrations marking the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha, showing that it’s also an international religious and cultural celebration for world peace. The celebrations were held over a five-day period at the Bai Dinh Pagoda in the northern NinhBinh Province. ‘Buddhist Perspective towards Achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals’ was the selected theme for this year’s celebrations. More than 10,000 Buddhists, dignitaries, scholars and guests from 95 countries and territories attended the opening of celebrations. In his Vesak message UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon urged the people to pledge to work together for the common good, and for the betterment of all humankind. He said that on Vesak Day, which marks the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha, the United Nations joins millions of people — Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike — in reflecting on his life and teachings. “The Buddha’s message of peace, compassion and love for all living beings tells us to open our hearts and embrace all members of our human family, especially those in need. These timeless teachings can help guide governments and the international community. They can inspire our efforts to address many of the broader challenges confronting our world — in peace and security, in development and in the protection of our environment,” the message said. He stressed that the people have to rise above narrow self-interest and think and act as members of one global community.