From May 7 to 10, 2006 (B.E. 2549), the 3rd United Nations Day of Vesak celebration convened at two venues: Buddhamonthon in Nakhon Pathom Province and the ESCAP Hall, United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. This distinguished gathering witnessed a remarkable expansion in international participation, with representatives from forty-six countries and regions — more than double the attendance of the previous year. Mahachula-longkornrajavidyalaya University continued its stewardship as the principal host institution, receiving substantial support from the Royal Thai Government and auspicious blessings from the venerable Supreme Sangha Council.

The 2006 Vesak Day celebration articulated several profound themes of global significance: the advancement of world peace, the fostering of harmonious cooperation among all schools of Buddhist thought, the promotion of sustainable development principles, and the integration of the sufficiency- economy philosophy propounded by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Of particular historical importance, this celebration coincided with the auspicious occasion of the 60th anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accession to the throne — a milestone of immense cultural and spiritual significance for the Thai nation.

To disseminate the universal message of peace firmly rooted in the Buddha’s profound teachings of wisdom and compassion, the assembled dignitaries reached unanimous consensus on the following resolutions in their Joint Communiqué:

• to further increase and enhance cooperation between all schools of Buddhism to promote unity and solidarity among Buddhists,
• to promote socially engaged actions to create dharmic societies through the emphasis of the central role of inner peace development, and by addressing the motivations that drive feelings/thought, speech and action that creates discord,
• to set up more Buddhist meditation centres throughout the world and for that purpose to nurture more meditation teachers,
• to promote the creation of consistent and easily usable educational materials for children, adolescents and adults through the establishment of an e-library as the central repository of Buddhist content in electronic medium, initially as a partnership between Buddha Dharma Education and BuddhaNet and Mahachulalongkorn- rajavidyalaya University,
• to compile and publish an informed work on Buddhism to be freely distributed to hotels worldwide as part of the effort to disseminate Buddhism and, in order to facilitate that, to form a sub-committee of the Joint International Organizing Committee to carry on the work,
• to create an international body to deal with public relations for Buddhism, to urge all parties, the United Nations, UNESCO and concerned governments and agencies to preserve both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Buddhists,
• to promote practices that transform the inner being, manifesting themselves in qualities of self-discipline, volunteerism, simplicity and skillful consumption as well as proactive efforts contributing to social activism and partnering in the development of new economic paradigms,
• to encourage a holistic approach to sustainable development, based on the Buddhist central teaching of the Middle Way, which is exemplified in the philosophy of “Sufficiency Economy” put forward by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej,
• to acknowledge the urgency of improving gender status in order to bring to an end the detriment to individuals, communities and ecology of inequitable and unbalanced development, and to redirect our efforts towards sustainable development based on the inter-dependent integration of economic and ecological concerns and towards peace and security,
• to record the success of the First World Buddhist Forum held in April in Zhou Shan, China, the convening of which was supported in the 2005 International Buddhist Conference on the United Nations Day of Vesak in Bangkok, Thailand, and to affirm that Falungong is not in accordance with the fundamental teachings of Buddhism,
• to encourage other countries and districts to hold International Buddhist Conferences, and to hold the Fourth International Buddhist Conference on the United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations in Thailand in 2007 (B.E. 2550) in honor of the 80th Birthday Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and
• to continue to entrust Mahachulalongkornvrajavidyalaya University with responsibility for coordinating the International Secretariat of the Joint International Organizing Committee in order to facilitate necessary follow-up actions and for the Fourth International Buddhist Conference on the United Nations Day of Vesak.