Attend the Vesak Celebration at the Ekayana Arama Monastery, Menag invites the Jinakkan Ego for Harmony

JAKARTA - The Minister of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, Nasaruddin Umar, invites all religious people to control their egos in order to realize peace, both in personal life and at the global level.

According to him, various conflicts that occur in the world are rooted in uncontrolled egos.

Therefore, the values of religious teachings need to be understood as a means to dampen ego and build harmony.

"If we manage to tame our ego, not only personal and family problems are solved, but also community, national, state, even world problems," said Nasaruddin Umar when attending the celebration of Vesak Day 2570 at the Ekayana Arama Indonesia Buddhist Center, Duri Kepa, West Jakarta, Sunday, May 31.

It is known that the celebration of Vesak at the Ekayana Arama Monastery was attended by about 9,500 Buddhists and 28 monks and nuns of the Indonesian Sangha Agung.

The series of activities began with the procession of pindapata and puja bakti Waisak.

Meanwhile, Bhante Nyana Gupta emphasized that Vesak is not just an annual celebration, but a momentum to bring Buddhist values into daily life.

"We emphasize the importance of love as one aspect of Buddhist practice that can bring peace. The presence of Buddha should also be present in everyone," said Bhante Nyana Gupta.

He explained that this year's Vesak celebration lasted for almost a month through various social and spiritual activities, ranging from sharing to the community, deepening Dharma, to activities for the younger generation.

Carrying the theme "Spreading Love, Growing World Peace" with the sub-theme "Waisak reminds us how to let go of ego", this celebration becomes a momentum to strengthen the values of virtue, tolerance, and fraternity among religious people in Indonesia.

"We are inspired by Muslim friends, we also practice it in one month, yes. And other activities yes, as a deepening of Dharma, yes. Youth activities, yes, and later it will be closed specifically with Vesak for teenagers, yes. Well, like that," he concluded.