Buddhist forum talks of ways to usher in world peace
At a meeting with the venerable Buddhist monk Jingkong, Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad once asked him if there would be peace in the world.
The monk replied that peace could be achieved if all countries, parties, ethnicities and religions were treated equally.
Jingkong called it an “extremely tough” job and said that it would be much easier to begin the process by spreading equality among all religions, because many people in the world have faith.
The anecdote was recounted by Shi Wu-shin, a Buddhist monk from Taiwan, at the Sixth World Youth Buddhist Symposium, held in Thailand’s Chiang Mai city in mid-July.
Themed the “way of peace,” this year’s conference was a major platform that drew prominent practitioners of almost all major religions from different parts of the world.
It also attracted nearly 900 attendees, mostly young believers in Buddhism from 24 countries, including scholars and students of leading universities such as Oxford.
Gathering in this scenic city in the country’s north, the participants had one major purpose: to explore, from a religious perspective, how peace can be found in the face of extremism and other issues.
“We wish that our messages are heard by the outside world,” Kam Yiu-kuen, president of the Buddhist Studies Group in Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said at the seminar’s opening.
He is also the vice-president of the World Youth Buddhist Society, a Hong Kong-based body.
Kam, who has participated in almost all symposiums held by his organization, said he has seen the themes evolve from pure religious topics to social issues like healthcare and sustainable development.
In addition to the spiritual value that they bring to people, religions can play a role in influencing world peace.
Jingkong, who has lived in Singapore for a long time, promotes harmony among religious groups, Shi said at the symposium. Jingkong helped the Muslim community in Singapore raise funds to build a school.
“Altruism is the ultimate goal of Buddhism,” Khenpo Sodargye, president of the World Youth Buddhist Society and a famous Tibetan Buddhist scholar, said in his speech to stress the significance of cross-religious exchanges.
Khenpo Sodargye, from the mountainous Garze county in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, has traveled the globe to talk about dharma, the cosmic philosophy in Buddhism that is applied to the teachings of Buddha. It is a form of spiritual education to which he has dedicated his life.
He said having a “peaceful heart” is important for people in an era of materialism.
His first trip abroad was to the United States in 1993. Since then, he has been invited to speak all over the world, mainly to university students and teachers.
“The lack of spiritual education has led to problems of unfairness and insecurity, and some solutions can be found in Buddhism. This is the broad theme of my talks,” he told China Daily.
All religions, he says, share the same ideology of not hurting others.
This view was earlier shared by imam Abdul Kader of Garden City Mosque of Toowoomba, Australia.
“The Quran encourages peaceful dialogue and invites all to build the ‘common ground’,” he told his audience at the symposium.
Islam, Christianity and Judaism all have common values such as love and peace, he said.