New Year’s Message for the Year 2021 (B.E. 2565)

- Build a new era of hope based on a developed sense of community-

New Year’s Day 2021 has dawned, heralding the Year of White Ox which symbolizes perseverance and diligence.

I pray that all Koreans, Buddhists or not, successfully achieve everything they wish for with the energy of White Ox on this auspicious New Year’s Day.

The year 2020 was hard on everyone.

Lives were lost, and economies suffered due to the worldwide pandemic, and the social distancing put a damper on people’s kind intentions to share with their neighbors.

But the people of Korea are comforting each other with compassion and finding ways to overcome the current crisis through a sense of community, solidarity, and unity.

More and more crises threaten society, which is facing the accelerating pace of change.

Conflicts escalate, and discords deepen.

Let’s be united in the face of a crisis; be proactive with change; saturate the society with warmth and kindness by embracing the dissensions and hostilities with tolerance and inclusion.

Let the year 2021 be the beginning of a new era of hope, born of the mature and wise sense of community.

May the year 2021 be a happy one when people share hope and bliss to uplift our tired and downtrodden neighbors.

Wonhaeng,
The president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism
The 1st Day of B.E. 2565