Vu Lan Art Exchange - Filial Piety and Nation 2023

Attending the program were former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu, former Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, leaders of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, representatives of ministries, departments and branches.

The art exchange program "Vu Lan - Filial Piety and Nation 2023" aims to honor and promote the morality of drinking water and remembering its source - showing gratitude and repaying gratitude to predecessors, heroic martyrs, heroic Vietnamese mothers, wounded and sick soldiers and those who have contributed to the country.

“We cannot forget the merits of the heroic martyrs. Their noble sacrifices have helped the present and future generations understand: Personal filial piety sometimes needs to be quietly left behind to make way for filial piety to the Fatherland, the people and all living beings,” said Venerable Thich Gia Quang.

With special artistic highlights, the Program brought unique, profound performances filled with love. Within the framework of the Program, the Organizing Committee presented gifts of gratitude to a number of Vietnamese Heroic Mothers; wounded and sick soldiers and people with meritorious services.

Most Venerable Thich Gia Quang - Vice President of the Executive Council, Head of the Central Information and Communications Department of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, Head of the Program Organizing Committee affirmed: Vu Lan is an important holiday of Buddhism, commonly known as the day of pardoning the dead, the day of showing gratitude to parents and ancestors. More broadly, according to Buddhist teachings, the four graces that Buddhists must always remember are: the grace of parents' upbringing and birth; the grace of the nation and society; the grace of the Three Jewels, teachers and all living beings.

Nowadays, Vu Lan festival is not only a sacred religious holiday, but also a human holiday with a particularly profound meaning, guiding each person back to the roots of the nation and their ancestors. Vu Lan festival has become a spiritual tradition of filial piety and gratitude in line with the sacred ancestor worship beliefs of the Vietnamese people, a great festival with a strong humanistic spirit, shining the morality of "drinking water, remembering its source, repaying gratitude" of the Vietnamese people.

Venerable Thich Gia Quang believes that a peaceful society, a prosperous nation, and a happy world must begin with people who respect values ​​and practice morality and filial piety. In the Sutra of Patience, the Buddha taught: "The ultimate goodness is nothing more than filial piety, the ultimate evil is nothing more than unfilial piety." From ancient times until now, filial piety has been considered the golden rule, the jade ruler to judge human moral values.

Today, we are living in the spirit of gratitude, gratitude, and repayment of the Buddhist tradition and the Vietnamese people. The program "Vu Lan - Filial Piety and Nation" in 2023 is a respectful incense offering of the current and future generations to the souls of the deceased, the ancestors who gave birth to, raised, built and protected the country. The program is like a bell ringing to awaken the children to return to reality to listen, to understand, to feel the source of love of their parents, to join hands to care for, share, and help the elderly who are lonely and have no place to rely on, demonstrating the tradition of respecting the elderly and bringing longevity to the Vietnamese people.

Venerable Thich Gia Quang said that “we are all indebted to the heroic martyrs, therefore, we all have the responsibility to repay their kindness. Each person, according to his or her ability, should do specific, practical things with all their heart, striving so that all families who have contributed to the country can have a prosperous and happy life.”

Calling for everyone to join hands and build a peaceful society, full of love and deep gratitude, Venerable Thich Gia Quang also prayed for everyone to live in peace, happiness, enlightenment of love and to maintain filial piety with the spirit of gratitude and repayment of gratitude of Buddhists.

The program is organized with the purpose of promoting the Dharma, promoting the tradition of filial piety of the nation in general and Buddhist filial piety in particular; strongly spreading the good values ​​of filial piety to the Buddhist community, those who love Buddhism at home and abroad.

On the occasion of the 76th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day, the 78th anniversary of the successful August Revolution and National Day September 2, previously, in July 2023, the Program Organizing Committee cooperated with sponsors to present gifts to a number of wounded, sick soldiers and veterans in Thanh Ha district, Hai Duong province.

Before the program took place, in 3 days from August 20 to 22, the Organizing Committee made a pilgrimage to Con Dao, burned incense and commemorated the heroic martyrs at Hang Duong cemetery, Con Dao; presented gifts to wounded soldiers, sick soldiers, and representatives of families with revolutionary contributions in Con Dao district (Ba Ria - Vung Tau).