Every year, on Wesak morning, a Dharma Assembly is held in Than Hsiang Temple and this year, which marks the 2551 Buddha Jayanti - the thrice blessed day of the Birth, Enlightenment and Mahaparinibbana of the Buddha, it was no different. Early on Wesak morning, which happened to coincide with the International Labour Day of 1st May 2007 , the devotees streamed into Than Hsiang Temple as early as 8.00am to participate in the temple's activities.

Everyone gathered at the temple's Main Shrine Hall in the 6 th Floor and at 9.30am , prayers were chanted followed by a "Bathing the Buddha" Ceremony. There were five “stations” for the “Bathing the Buddha” ceremony, with each “station” allowing three persons to perform the ceremony at any one time. In spite of the large crowd, this ceremony was carried out in a spiritually disciplined atmosphere and almost everyone, except for the children, of course, was aware that the significance of "Bathing the Buddha" was a symbolic way to resolve to purify ourselves of our greed, hatred and delusion.

After the ceremony, everyone returned to their floor cushions to listen to the Abbot, Venerable Wei Wu, give a Dharma talk on the significance of Wesak, Bathing the Buddha and what aspirations we should make on this auspicious day. After the Abbot's Dharma talk, the five “Bathing the Buddha” stations were relocated, two at the Multi Purpose Hall in 5 th Floor, and three at the Hall of Great Compassion in the ground floor, so as to allow late comers a chance to perform the “Bathing the Buddha” ceremony.

A free vegetarian lunch was then offered to everyone. Of course the devotees could give donations for the lunch, but the real purpose for providing a free vegetarian lunch was to encourage the devotees to be a vegetarian, if not for a lifetime, at least during Wesak. As an indicator of what this idea meant, this year, 4,000 prepacked lunch boxes (made from recycled paper and not plastic) were given away free. This is the temple's concept of doing dana and encouraging everyone to have and as a way to practice metta by becoming a vegetarian.

Later in the afternoon, at 1.00pm, a Taking the Refuge and Five Precepts Ceremony was conducted, again at the Main Shrine Hall to allow the devotees to reaffirm their confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha and to take the Five Precepts to develope their Sila.
In spite of the large crowd, there was a general sense of spiritual devotion throughout the temple. The temple was colorfully decorated with the five-colour Buddhist flags and other buntings. Various counters were set up to promote the International Buddhist College (IBC) by briefing the public on the latest of its education programmes and recruitment exercise. The Mitra Welfare section also set up their charity sales corner with an assortment of toys and souvenir items for the funding of their activities. Other units that took part in the exhibition included the “Planting of a Thousand Trees with one Heart” project in aid of IBC building fund, and the Buddhist Dharma publications, audio and video CDs for free distribution. A special counter had also been set up for Phor Tay High School to raise fund for the school's relocation and building fund.