The Young Buddhist Association of Indonesia (YBAI) used this year’s Ullambana observance in Surabaya, East Java, on 16 August to encourage young Buddhists to look beyond ritual and connect with the Buddhist teachings to understand how on gratitude, compassion, and responsibility can be applied in everyday life.
“[We] recognize that younger generations increasingly seek ways to understand Buddhist teachings through approaches that are relevant to the realities of modern life,” the YBA said in a statement shared with BDG. “For this reason, Ullambana 2026 was designed to go beyond ritual observance. [We] encouraged participants to bring the values they learned into their homes, families, workplaces, communities, and social lives.”
The event, “Dedication of Merit & Sanghadana in the Month of Ullambana,” was attended by the senior Buddhist monk Ven. Bhikshu Bhadra Pala Mahasthavira, also known as Suhu Xian Bing, a member of the YBA’s Board of Patrons, and five other members of the sangha.
Rather than presenting Ullambana simply as an annual tradition, YBA adopted an educational approach aimed at helping young people and Buddhist communities rediscover the values contained in the Ksitigarbha Sutra and Ullambana Patra Sutra, and connect those teachings with everyday life.
The YBAI is the leading Buddhist youth organization in Indonesia. Through a deeply held conviction in the Buddha’s message of compassion, growth, and liberation, the association promotes a positive lifestyle among the young in order to cultivate a society founded on wisdom, compassion, and gratitude. The association is involved in establishing Buddhist organizations nationwide, propagating the study of the Dharma among young people, and providing leadership training.
The chairperson of the YBA Ullambana 2026 Organizing Committee, Elvina Falencia, said the program was founded on YBA’s commitment to making the teachings contained in the sutras more accessible and relevant to people today.
“Our motivation is to encourage young people and Buddhists throughout Indonesia to go beyond simply recognizing the names of the Ksitigarbha Sutra or Ullambana Patra Sutra,” said Falencia. “We want more people to understand the values, messages, and meanings contained within them, and then apply those teachings in the way we treat our parents, families, others, and in how we live our daily lives.”
She added that filial gratitude toward parents and ancestors should not end with rituals or ceremonies.
“Filial gratitude is something we live out. While our parents and family members are still with us, we can express it through our attention, time, care, communication, and good deeds,” Falencia explained. “For those who have passed away, we remember their kindness and dedicate our merit to them with gratitude. This is why the spirit of Ullambana remains highly relevant to today’s generation.”
One of the main focuses of this year’s program was the recitation of the complete Ksitigarbha Sutra in Bahasa Indonesia.
The decision to use Bahasa Indonesia stemmed from the YBA’s educational mission to ensure that participants could do more than simply follow the sutra recitation by understanding the meaning of what was being read.
“The teachings associated with Ksitigarbha—including determination, responsibility, filial gratitude, and compassion toward suffering—remain deeply relevant to the challenges of contemporary life,” the YBA emphasized.
The program also featured Dharma talks on the meaning of the sutra in daily life and on the relevance and benefits of honoring one’s parents and ancestors.
“When young people understand the content and context of these teachings, the sutras no longer feel distant from everyday life,” Falencia said. “They contain lessons about responsibility, cause and effect, gratitude, filial devotion, compassion, and how we can make better use of this life.”
The Ullambana program also included Shang Gong, an offering ceremony to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, which was followed by a sanghadana ceremony—the offering of requisites and donations to monastics in accordance with the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
A merit dedication, or Chao Du, ceremony was held, in which participants dedicated the merit from their wholesome actions and recited the names of ancestors and deceased family members.
The YBA also provided an opportunity for prayers and merit dedication for infants who died before or during birth, as well as for those who may have karmic connections with an individual’s life.
Through these practices, the YBA sought to present Ullambana as a moment of reflection on human relationships, gratitude, reconciliation, and personal responsibility for one’s own actions.
Because this year’s Ullambana observance took place a day before Indonesia’s Independence Day, the YBA used the occasion to invite all participants to pray for the nation, with an aspiration for peace, harmony, unity, and mutual care among the people.
Prayers and merit were also dedicated to those who gave their lives in the struggle for Indonesia’s independence.
“As we approach Independence Day, we hope the wholesome deeds we perform together today can also become a prayer for Indonesia,” Falencia remarked. “May our nation always be blessed with peace, harmony, unity, and wisdom. We also remember and dedicate our merit to the heroes who sacrificed so much for this country.”
The YBA community, together with members of the monastic sangha and participants, also dedicated prayers and merit to those affected by the earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara on 15 August.
“We extend our deepest sympathy and prayers to everyone affected,” said Falencia. “May those who passed away receive the dedication of merit. May the bereaved families be given strength, may those who were injured recover soon, and may affected communities be able to rebuild their lives in safety.”
“Our hope is simple,” Falencia concluded. After leaving this event, perhaps someone will call their parents, apologize to someone, appreciate their family more deeply, help another person, or become more mindful of the consequences of their actions. When a teaching can move from understanding into real action, that is where Dharma learning begins to create a meaningful impact.”
Buddhism, practiced by 0.7 per cent of the population according to government data for 2025 (roughly two million people), is the second-oldest spiritual tradition in Indonesia after Hinduism. Muslims represent 87 per cent of the population, Christians 10.4 per cent, and Hindus 1.7 per cent.
According to historical accounts, Buddhism first flourished on the archipelago around the sixth century, which was followed by ascent and decline of a number of powerful Buddhist empires, including the Shailendra dynasty (c. 8th–9th centuries), the Srivijaya empire (c. 7th–12th centuries), and the Mataram empire (c. 8th–11th centuries). Today, the majority of Indonesian Buddhists are affiliated with Mahayana schools of Buddhism, although communities of Theravada and Vajrayana practitioners also exist.
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