Organizer's Message

When I stepped into the National Stadium Bukit Jalil Kuala Lumpur, all the old memories flashed back. It’s the place where approximately 50,000 fellow Buddhists gathered for The Grand Blessing Ceremony of The New Millennium in year 1999. One epic moment can give us a lifetime of memory. I have never expected to be back here 20 years later to promote the same cause and contribute to religion and humanity. I feel truly blessed.

I am taking this opportunity to thank my teacher His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Tinle Lhundup, the Founder of Great Shravasti Center, who is also the Ambassador of Mountain Partnership for taking me to Shravasti (the sacred site of Buddhism in Northern India) in year 2015 and giving me an opportunity to help develop some projects on this sacred site of 2560 years old. Many hundred years have passed, lifestyles and cultures have changed, but pure religions and beliefs about spreading unconditional love, happiness, peace, and their caring causes – does not and will not change.

The International Shravasti Cultural Festival 2020 or ShravastiFest2020 is an event promoting unconditional love and world peace. It consists of 4 main programs:- “Religion’s Roles, Relevance and Activities in Promoting Environmental Sustainability” Forum transcends faiths; World Indigenous Performing Art Festival (WIPAF2020) and ROLFnation - The International Youth Assembly 2020 for all races, nationalities and religions; The Grand Shravasti Blessing Ceremony for World Peace 2020 for fellow Buddhists around the world. We are expecting 50,000 participants from 15 or more countries to join ShravastiFest2020 and hopefully half of them are young people. In conjunction with the event, we enthusiastically plan to make the largest human mandala with 6000 youths, in support of World Peace and UN's International day for Tolerance. We are glad that Guinness World Record has accepted the application for the attempt.

In this event, we share and practice the principles of Lord Buddha’s teachings – nonattachment, equality and loving kindness. Therefore, the organizing committee have decided to break some norms like replacing the launching ceremony with a meditation session, cancelling special seat arrangement (except for handicapped and senior citizens), and also red carpet for VIPs, providing no special reception and treatment to special guests, etc. We have learned the teachings so far, and now it’s the time to put the theory into practice. This is a time we shred off our ego and pride. We volunteer our time and effort to do something good and spread love. It is also a chance we spend time with ourselves, finding inner peace, searching for truth and purpose of life, and be mindful. And, above all else, we need to strive for peace with all fellow beings.

ShrvastiFest2020 is basically a platform for learning and sharing. It is a platform for us to learn good life values from great teachers, professionals and from one another. It’s also a ground to nurture young generations for a better future. A seed, when it meets the right contributory causes and conditions, it will sprout and grow.

ShravastiFest2020 is admission free but pre-registration is requested. In the program of The Shravasti Grand Blessing Ceremony for World Peace, we are raising fund for 6 legitimate and reputable organizations in the area of supporting education, medicine, education, senior care, youth development and heritage preservation. A trustee account will be set up for these beneficiaries. The gross fund collected from the lamp lightings will be distributed evenly to the beneficiaries without deducting the event costs. Third party independent legal and audit team will be engaged to monitor the process.

I am thanking monasteries of different sects, charitable organizations, embassies, and our local authority for supporting this event. Thank you for believing in us and what we do. All of us will gather together with one identity, one love, one mind and one world. We believe that our world can be made stronger, greener, more loving and more peaceful, if we all chose to help one another.

This event is dedicated to Lord Buddha who produced great teachings and all other great people and souls who had made this world a better place for us here and now.

Adelyn Lim
The Organizing Committee