Thailand-based organization Middle Way Meditation Institute organized for 15,185 paper lanterns to be released on a university campus in the Philippines on Friday.
The event was held to celebrate “World Peace Through Meditation” and called for an end to international conflicts.
The event broke the record of 12,740 paper lanterns released in a single event, which was set by Romania in June 2012, according to the BBC.
The words “World Peace Through Meditation” were written on all of the lanterns, according to the Daily Mail, in order to raise awareness of international conflicts and encourage peace.
The participants consisted mostly of youths, who were taught the basics of meditation to prepare for the event. Dr. Emiliano Bernardo III, who organized the event, said that if all people achieve inner peace then there would be no major conflicts, since most conflicts can be traced from a lack of inner peace of the individual.
Buddhist, Christian, and Muslim leaders were also present as the approximately 10,000 people lit and released their lanterns.
The lanterns were released from a football field at the University of the Philippines Visayas.