Source: Worcester Examiner
The New England Buddhist Vihara & Meditation Center (NEBV&MC) in Framingham ushered in 2009 with a blessing ceremony called ‘Ata Visi Buddha Pooja’ held on January 1st.
It was a bitterly cold day, but a large crowd mostly of Sri Lankan descent gathered to celebrate the New Year in a special way; “One of the most powerful ways of blessing everybody for good health, prosperity, and peace according to Buddhist tradition is to give homage and recite chants remembering 28 Buddhas and their good virtues”, states the chief Abbott of the NEBV&MC, Venerable Aluthgama Dhammajothi.
The Buddhist vihara or temple was established in 2003 by Bhante Dhammajothi and members of the Boston Sri Lankan community. Although it appeared to be an inconceivable goal at the outset given the limited number of Sri Lankan families in the Boston area, the temple initiative began to attract more people from all ethnicities within a couple of years. Founder members spent an enormous amount of time and effort to get it off the ground by organizing various fund-raising events.