By Heidi Smith, hsmith@lowellsun.com
Lowell Sun (Lowell, Mass., USA)
LOWELL -- His lips formed the slightest hint of a smile as he lay peacefully in his coffin.
He was a man of few words, but in life, his smile and spiritual presence spoke volumes.
The preserved body of the Venerable Maha Ghosananda, an internationally acclaimed Buddhist monk, lay in a casket at the Trairatanaram Buddhist Temple on Quigley Avenue in North Chelmsford yesterday, during day one of a two-day ceremony in his honor.
For three weeks, delegations of Buddhist monks and thousands of mourners from all over the world have visited the temple to grieve the loss of a man famous for his religious work and international peace endeavors.
"Anybody that knew him at all would say he radiated spiritual quality," said Judith Thompson of Merrimack, N.H. "He didn't like small talk, but he always had a compassionate smile on his face."
Thompson, an independent agent for international peace-building and reconciliation groups, was one of several guest speakers who knew and worked with Maha Ghosananda.
Thompson met Maha Ghosananda in the late 1980s when he arrived in the United States and became a citizen. They set up community structures for Cambodian refugees in the Lowell area. Through The Office for Buddhism and Peace at the United Nations, Maha Ghosananda and Thompson developed cultural programs for children and set up temples for monks who came to the United States.
The monk, who was a friend to the Dalai Lama and the late Pope John Paul II, was born in Takeo, Cambodia. Sources say he was born in 1913 and was 93 at the time of his death.
He played a crucial role in rebuilding Cambodian Buddhism following the brutal reign of the radical Khmer Rouge Communist regime. He ministered to refugees who fled to United Nations camps in Thailand, and orchestrated international peace walks throughout Cambodia and Europe.
His famous Dhammayietra Walks for Peace and Reconciliation in Cambodia led him through minefields and strongholds controlled by various warring factions in Cambodia.
Maha Ghosananda was initiated into the Cambodian Buddhist order in 1943. In 1988, he was elected the supreme Buddhist patriarch of Cambodia.
"He did a lot of work for the Cambodian people and he brought people of all races together in unity and peace in our life," said 16-year-old Reaksmeay Pich of Pelham, a small town in western Massachusetts.
Pich was the last person to be ordained as a monk by Maha Ghosananda before he died.
The Venerable Rinh Kim, a monk in Pelham, shared the final moments with Maha Ghosananda the night he died.
"He only asked for peace and quiet," Kim said. "All of the masters came together to chant for him. When you chant to him he lies and smiles. He loves it."
Maha Ghosananda died peacefully on the night of March 12 at a Northampton hospital, near where he had lived for 27 years.
"We lost the light in the room when he died," said the Venerable Natha Pandito, secretary general of the Maha Ghosananda International Buddhist Monks Inc. "He was like a saint. When you stood in his presence you could feel the compassion radiating."
The U.S.-based Buddhist monk organization, Maha Ghosananda International Buddhist Peace Foundation, will bring his body to Pelham where it can be the focal point of a world peace center built in his honor.
Controversy arose last week when a rival group from Canada insisted on transporting the body back to Cambodia. The group claimed the body should be returned to his native country. Kim said the Canadian group has no basis for its claims.
He was a man of few words, but in life, his smile and spiritual presence spoke volumes.
The preserved body of the Venerable Maha Ghosananda, an internationally acclaimed Buddhist monk, lay in a casket at the Trairatanaram Buddhist Temple on Quigley Avenue in North Chelmsford yesterday, during day one of a two-day ceremony in his honor.
For three weeks, delegations of Buddhist monks and thousands of mourners from all over the world have visited the temple to grieve the loss of a man famous for his religious work and international peace endeavors.
"Anybody that knew him at all would say he radiated spiritual quality," said Judith Thompson of Merrimack, N.H. "He didn't like small talk, but he always had a compassionate smile on his face."
Thompson, an independent agent for international peace-building and reconciliation groups, was one of several guest speakers who knew and worked with Maha Ghosananda.
Thompson met Maha Ghosananda in the late 1980s when he arrived in the United States and became a citizen. They set up community structures for Cambodian refugees in the Lowell area. Through The Office for Buddhism and Peace at the United Nations, Maha Ghosananda and Thompson developed cultural programs for children and set up temples for monks who came to the United States.
The monk, who was a friend to the Dalai Lama and the late Pope John Paul II, was born in Takeo, Cambodia. Sources say he was born in 1913 and was 93 at the time of his death.
He played a crucial role in rebuilding Cambodian Buddhism following the brutal reign of the radical Khmer Rouge Communist regime. He ministered to refugees who fled to United Nations camps in Thailand, and orchestrated international peace walks throughout Cambodia and Europe.
His famous Dhammayietra Walks for Peace and Reconciliation in Cambodia led him through minefields and strongholds controlled by various warring factions in Cambodia.
Maha Ghosananda was initiated into the Cambodian Buddhist order in 1943. In 1988, he was elected the supreme Buddhist patriarch of Cambodia.
"He did a lot of work for the Cambodian people and he brought people of all races together in unity and peace in our life," said 16-year-old Reaksmeay Pich of Pelham, a small town in western Massachusetts.
Pich was the last person to be ordained as a monk by Maha Ghosananda before he died.
The Venerable Rinh Kim, a monk in Pelham, shared the final moments with Maha Ghosananda the night he died.
"He only asked for peace and quiet," Kim said. "All of the masters came together to chant for him. When you chant to him he lies and smiles. He loves it."
Maha Ghosananda died peacefully on the night of March 12 at a Northampton hospital, near where he had lived for 27 years.
"We lost the light in the room when he died," said the Venerable Natha Pandito, secretary general of the Maha Ghosananda International Buddhist Monks Inc. "He was like a saint. When you stood in his presence you could feel the compassion radiating."
The U.S.-based Buddhist monk organization, Maha Ghosananda International Buddhist Peace Foundation, will bring his body to Pelham where it can be the focal point of a world peace center built in his honor.
Controversy arose last week when a rival group from Canada insisted on transporting the body back to Cambodia. The group claimed the body should be returned to his native country. Kim said the Canadian group has no basis for its claims.
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