ANNOUNCEMENT

     Quan Âm Festival – A Day of Pilgrimage and Prayer, organized by the Vietnam Buddhist Center (VNBC) each year at the end of March, has become an annual traditional religious, cultural, and spiritual activity of Buddhists far and near.  It is an opportunity for us to be thankful to the Loving Mother Quan Âm for Her blessings which protect us from dangers. May we take refuge in Her when we are faced with unforeseen dangers, adversities, and disasters.
   In the cultural and spiritual environment of this year’s Festival, we will have the auspicious opportunity to admire and venerate the Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace.  This jeweled sculpture is presently the largest and most serene Buddha statue in the world which is carved from a rare boulder of translucent jade.  In 2009, more than four millions people have had the good fortune to come and revere the jeweled statue, to pray for World Peace, for the well being of all sentient beings in this world of suffering.
    The Quan Âm Festival in 2010 will be a historical milestone. It marks the 20 years (1990 – 2010) of the establishment and the development of the VNBC in Houston , Texas, U.S.A.  In memory of many who have departed; of beings which were destroyed during this development, of Vietnamese compatriots as well as the many others  who lost their lives in the mountains, in the jungles, in the rivers, at sea, or in the air during the war or while seeking freedom, of people who met a sudden or wrongful death including unborn babies, VNBC will organize a Grand Requiem for Liberation of Unjust Suffering and the Hungry Ghosts.
   All of the above three events will take place continuously from Friday, 03/26/2010 to Sunday, 04/04/2010 (please see attached general program).
     VNBC respectfully invites the Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, and Buddhist lay practitioners from all over the world to come and join us in this Festival. We will admire and revere the Jeweled Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace. We will pray together for the success of the Grand Requiem so that all beings, deceased or alive, may derive great benefit from it.
Houston, December 12, 2009
Respectfully,

VIETNAM BUDHIST CENTE