Nepal: Lumbini, the Buddha's lamp in Seoul for peace between the two Koreas

The 'perpetual lamp' was handed over to 80 South Korean monks last Friday. It should reach Korea on 1 May to mark the birthday of Siddhartha Gautama. Christians, Muslims and Buddhists are praying to stop the winds of war blowing over the peninsula.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - Nepali President Ram Baran Yadav and the Buddhist community of Lumbini are behind a peace lamp designed to appease the winds of war in Korea. Last Friday, he handed the Akhanda Deep or 'perpetual lamp' over to a delegation of 80 South Korean Buddhist monks. "We hope," Yadav said, "that this little light will help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, so that peace will prevail."

Sambo Hejen, representative of the delegation and a monk from the monastery of Dosunsa, which is located north of Seoul, said that in recent weeks of fear, the leaders of various faiths launched initiatives to ease tensions between North and South Korea.

"Christians, Muslims and Buddhists all over the world," he said, "are praying for the grave situation on the peninsula."

For Hegen, the journey of the lamp of the Buddha is another message of hope and reconciliation.

After it left Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, the lamp stopped in Kathmandu before setting off for South Korea, which it should reach on 1 May for the feast of Jayanti, the day marking the birth of Siddhartha Gautama.

"In the Buddhist religion, peace is a core value," said Kapil Lama, a Buddhist monk involved in Citizens' Committee in Lumbini coordinating relations between Korea and Nepal.

In South Korea, about 15 per cent of the population is Buddhist. According to the monk, they will welcome with joy the Buddha's message of peace and hope represented by the lamp and will take it to their brothers in North Korea.

Kalpit Parajuli

Source: www.asianews.it