Cambodian
Society
in the United Kingdom
REGISTERED UNDER THE CHARITY ACT 1960 No 292074
REGISTERED UNDER THE CHARITY ACT 1960 No 292074
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♦ To all events and activities organized and held by Casunik, we, the organizer will not be held liable nor will we be held resposible for any loss or damages for personal belongings or personal injury during any events held by us. Therefore, we ask each of our member, friend and guest to be responsible for your own personal belongings, the safety of your child(ren), yourself and your friend(s). ♦ It is inappropriate for any individuals including Casunik members and friends alike to trade or commercially exchange goods during religious ceremonies at any religious temples organized by us. Therefore we urge all our members and friends to act appropriately whilst attending these occasions or ceremonies. ♦ Please observe, understand and comply to our "Dress Code" when attending ceremonies being held at the monasteries or venues of events where monks being present. If inappropriately dressed, we reserve the right to ask you to leave the premises. |
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Happy New Year! May they have Long Life, Beauty, Good Health, Strength and Wisdom! The actual date for the Cambodian New Year is 13th April 2000. According to the ancient tradition, the New Year celebrations last for 3 days. The first day is the beginning of the celebration, the second is the Middle Day (Blind Date) and the third one is the Day when the name of the New Year (i.e. year of the Dragon) effectively starts. This year, CASUNIK celebrated the traditional Cambodian New Year on Sunday 9th April 2000 at the Vietnam – Laos- Cambodia (VLC) Community Centre, Whiston Road, Hackney, London. About 200 people have joined in the celebration, which went smoothly in the atmosphere of joy and happiness. The programme comprised 2 parts: 1 – Buddhist Ceremonies
2 – Traditional Celebration
Ajahn Sumedho gave a brief Dhamma Talk (sermon), the essence of which is as follows. He praised the Cambodian Buddhists in the United Kingdom for their efforts to maintain their tradition and Buddhism, by actively supporting the Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries, and organising the Cambodian traditional festivities. He said that Buddhism, unlike other organised religions, has no doctrine. Instead, Buddhism teaches people to be awaken to the truth as it is. All conditioned things are impermanent and subject to continuous changes. Human beings are born, grown up, decaying, becoming ill and finally die. After all, our life is very short; even if one is to live to a hundred years old – life is still very short. Not only being best, also inanimate things keep changing, decaying and then disappear likewise. The pali stanza for Pangsukaul stated “ all conditioned things are impermanent arising, passing away, arising passing away “. We have to thoroughly contemplate this until it is clearly understood and practise it in our daily life to come out of suffering. Otherwise, when death arrives, we have no refuge. Relatives and friends can only help by making merits on our behalf and sometimes performing some rites and rituals like burning names as we have just had done earlier. To conclude the ceremony, the sangha chanted “Joyanto” to give blessings to all people in the hall. After the traditional celebration, we also have the opportunity to hear a brief report by Drs Ferdinand and Gilian CRUZ (husband and wife) who have been working for more than 3 years at the Sihanouk Hospital, Centre of Hope, in Phnom Penh. According to the speakers, the Centre of Hope is the only hospital in Phnom Penh which is providing, free of charge, a good standard of care to the very poor and needy people in Phnom Penh and from the remote countryside. Visakha Puja This year, Visakha Puja will be celebrated on Sunday 14th May 2000 at Amaravati Monastery and on Sunday 21st May 2000 at Chithurst Monastery. All are welcome to join in the ceremony according to their faith and ability.
INVITATION The Executive Committee of the CASUNIK wishes to invite all members and friends to the celebration of Khmer New Year on Sunday 9th April 2000 at:
VLC COMMUNITY CENTRE Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Community Centre 151 Whiston Road Haggerston Hackney London E2 8BN
All Members, friends and guests are advised to bring cooked food (some vegetarian dishes, Please) to cater for the bikkhus,guests and themselves. For those who would not be able to bring food, please send the contribution cheque or postal order made payable to CASUNIK and send to the address below, preferably 2 weeks prior to the date of the event, to enable CASUNIK to arrange the necessary catering, as appropriate.
CASUNIK Car Parking: From 9.00 am to 1.30 pm Chargeable at the local rates. Last year was a successful one with strong supports shown from all members, friends and guests around the UK. Our best wishes this year to all our members and friends, both locally and globally, for a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
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