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The model of a pagoda being built in the
Famen Temple is shown at a press conference in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu
Province, on March 29, 2009. The Famen Temple in China's northwestern
Shaanxi Province will finish building a pagoda in May to house a special
relic, a fragment of Buddha's finger bone, and a grand ceremony would be
held in May to mark the enshrinement of the sarira, or remains, according
to the press conference.(Xinhua/Han Yuqing)
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WUXI, Jiangsu, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Participants
hailed the importance of dialogues in the development of the Buddhism as the
Second World Buddhist Forum wrapped up its first part on Sunday in Wuxi City of
east China's Jiangsu Province.
The jointly-held forum, which will continue in Taipei
on Tuesday, is installed with eight sub-forums in Wuxi where more than 1,700
participants from nearly 50 countries and regions can have dialogues on a series
of topics, such as Buddhism and Education, Buddhism and Science and Buddhism and
International Exchanges.
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The performance of "Song of
Auspiciousness" is staged at the Buddhist Palace in Lingshan Mountain in
Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 29, 2009, marking the end of
the first phase of the Second World Buddhist Forum (WBF). The second phase
of the forum will take place in Taipei from March 31 to April 1.
(Xinhua/Han Yuqing)
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"In today's world, having dialogues is crucial to the
development of Buddhism," said Master Hsing Yun, founder of the Taiwan-based Fo
Guang Shan Monastery, who is present at the forum with a theme of "a harmonious
world, a synergy of conditions."
Chinese government has clarified that building a
harmonious world requires an active role played by various civilizations and
religions.
"Such an attitude of the government has provided room
for dialogues and development of the religions," said Professor Wang Yukai with
China's National School of Administration.
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The performance of "Song of
Auspiciousness" is staged at the Buddhist Palace in Lingshan Mountain in
Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 29, 2009, marking the end of
the first phase of the Second World Buddhist Forum (WBF). The second phase
of the forum will take place in Taipei from March 31 to April 1.
(Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
"An effective dialogue is not necessarily about
seeking consensus amid differences," said Lou Yulie, head of the Institution for
Religion Studies of Beijing University and also a renowned Buddhism expert. "It
is about finding out differences while maintaining the distinctiveness and
showing respects to each other."
The Buddhism, imported to the country 2,000 years
ago, is no stranger to dialogues with the home-grown Taoism and Confucianism.
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The performance of "Song of
Auspiciousness" is staged at the Buddhist Palace in Lingshan Mountain in
Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 29, 2009, marking the end of
the first phase of the Second World Buddhist Forum (WBF). The second phase
of the forum will take place in Taipei from March 31 to April 1.
(Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Photo Gallery>>> |
"The dialogues among the three religions in China
have been carried out with the guidance of principles such as 'agree to
disagree' and 'examine oneself before accusing others'," said Professor Dong
Qun, a Buddhism expert with the South East University in the eastern Jiangsu
Province.
At the Second World Buddhism Forum, many Buddhists
and experts have reached consensus that only through dialogues can the Buddhism
find its own position in today's world and play its due role.
"Differences may exist between the Buddhism in the
west and the Buddhism in the east, " said Frank Ulm, a German Buddhist. "But
that's why we are here for-- to find out the difference and have dialogues."
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A delegate looks at a porcelain
exhibition on Chinese Buddhism during the Second World Buddhist Forum
(WBF) in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 29, 2009. The
Second World Buddhist Forum opened at Lingshan Mountain Saturday with more
than 1,700 Buddhist monks and scholars from about 50 countries and regions
gathering to discuss how Buddhism can contribute to building a harmonious
world. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Photo Gallery>>> |
Ulm said he felt that the Chinese Buddhists at the
forum are always ready to listen and are pleased to find out differences.
"Only by finding out differences and then thinking
about them can we better develop our own sect of Buddhism," he added.
"The Buddhism is inclusive, rather than exclusive,"
said Master Omaple Sobhita Thero, a Sri Lanka monk at the forum "The
inclusiveness, which enables dialogues, is the very advantage of the Buddhism."
More Westerners have become interested in the
Buddhism which was born in the Orient, said Master Hui Feng, born in New Zealand
and now a monk in Hong Kong. "The Chinese Buddhists should be ready to have more
dialogues."
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