Every Sunday, the Devachan family and guests from foreign countries get together at the Prayer Hall at Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC) to offer prayer, and for meditation and Dhamma discourse. But the Sunday on June 19 was a special one as more than 50 venerable monks from Thailand and above 30 Malaysian devotees along with guests from Germany, Italy, Austria, Japan and Singapore, also joined the Devachan family and offered prayers for world peace and later also did meditation.
After the prayer, Sister Jerry-led group of more than 30 persons from Malaysia, who is on a spiritual journey to Ladakh, offered Sangha Dana (Offering to the monks) as per Buddhist tradition to the venerable monks from Thailand, and also to monks and nuns of Mahabodhi Centre. The Malaysian devotees also offered the monks requisites like robes, winter clothes and other daily needs.
Coincidentally, today was a full-moon day. Moreover, Mahabodhi had planned Sangha Dana to the devotees from Malaysia on this every day few months in advance; and the arrival of the venerable monks from Thailand coincided with the arrangement of the Sangha Dana for the Malaysian devotees, thereby making the occasion a very special one.
Later, after the Sangha Dana, Venerable Sanghsena, founder president of Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC), addressed the devotees from Malaysia.
These venerable monks from Thailand, after seeking blessings at Bodh Gaya monastery in Bihar, started the Dhamma Padh Yatra (Religious Peace Walk) from Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) and reached Ladakh after covering more than 700km on foot. Before the start of this historic peace walk, the venerable Thai monks also received blessings from HH the Dalai Lama, who also provided them with two doctors and an ambulance for a hassle-free journey.
After entering Ladakh, right from Gya-Miru village to Choglamsar, people from Ladakh, as per the instructions of Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), dressed in traditional costumes, accorded a warm welcome to the venerable monks. Students and staff members of Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC), representatives of LBA and its wings, and other eminent figures from the Buddhist community of Ladakh, gave a grand reception to the venerable monks.
