The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Script 257
Sunday
29 December 2002
Today’s script is entitled:
“Report
on World Fellowship of Buddhists 22nd General Conference
- Wisdom
and Compassion: The Way Forward”
We have a deliberate
policy of training the next generation of workers who are happy to
serve The World Fellowship of Buddhists and The World Buddhist
University.
Six of our Members attended The World Fellowship
of Buddhists 22nd General Conference held at the Grand Blue Wave
Hotel, in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, 9 to 13 December 2002.
The
4th Council Meeting of The World Buddhist University and the 13th
General Conference of The World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth were
also held during this conference.
Our delegation was
accompanied by Dr. Ranjith Hettiararchi and Mrs Pushpa Hettiararchi,
Buddhist Foundation (Vic) Australia as unofficial observers.
The
theme of the conference was “Wisdom and Compassion: The Way
Forward”.
His Excellency Phan Wannamethee, President of
The World Fellowship of Buddhists in his message published in the
souvenir program of the Conference announced:
“This
conference invariably symbolizes the unity, solidarity and
brotherhood amongst all the world Buddhists.”
His
Holiness Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, Supreme Patriarch of the Kingdom
of Thailand wrote the following message to the Conference
participants:
“Blessings to all friends in Dhamma and
followers of the Buddha,
On behalf of the Thai Sangha, I am
delighted to see you all, the peace lovers and firm believers in the
true teachings of the Buddha, meeting together in harmony in order to
exchange ideas, find the path and discover new dimensions of Buddhism
based upon the true teachings of the Buddha. In the same way, I am
pleased to see you all developing, strengthening and disseminating
Buddhism everywhere in the world bringing about peace and happiness
among mankind. This is considered to be our foremost duty in
fulfilling the wish of the Buddha which he uttered to the first group
of Monk-disciples before sending them out on a mission to spread the
Dhamma: Walk, Monks, for the welfare, the blessing and the happiness
of Gods and humans.
On the whole, the modern world is
distressed by so many problems both outer problems, i.e. related to
the world or body and inner problems, i.e. the matter of mind and
ethics. Buddhism becomes essential to this modern world more than
ever before because it is indeed only the Dhamma that can assist to
show the way and to enlighten and bring about solutions to the
problems and suffering of the world. For example, only through the
virtues of forbearance and loving-kindness will the affliction and
killing be terminated. Only through the virtues of generosity will
the starvation and hunger be eliminated. Only through the virtues of
delivering kind, wholesome and meritorious instructions will the
stupidity and faith without wisdom be vanquished from the
world.
Today, all of you, aspirers in Dhamma of the Exalted
One are gathered together in harmony. This will indeed facilitate you
to become more illuminated by the light of Dhamma for oneself.
Moreover, this will also help to shine the light of Dhamma into the
minds of humankind in order to brighten up this world with wisdom and
to live together in harmony with peace and happiness.
May this
22nd General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists proceed
with success. May you all be blessed with happiness and prosperity in
the true teaching of the Buddha.”
Our Members practice
the five styles of Cultural Adaptability, Friendliness, Scholarship,
Practicality and Professionalism. The learning objectives for the six
delegates to the World Fellowship of Buddhists Conference were
to:
develop and maintain good will with representatives of
Regional Centres, the World Fellowship of Buddhists and the World
Buddhist University actively contribute to the work of the World
Fellowship of Buddhists standing committees
share with other
conference participants details of our Centre’s projects,
programs and activities
write in a suitable international
style
practice cultural adaptability in an international
setting
build teamwork skills, and
plan, implement and evaluate
our risk management strategies
Some of our delegation Members
have trained in these areas over many years. Three of the delegation
have been involved as Rapporteurs at previous World Fellowship of
Buddhists Conferences in Australia and Thailand.
The outcomes
of the General Conference were highly satisfactory from our
viewpoint.
We can assess the degree to which our Members met
these learning objectives by reviewing the outcomes of the
conference.
We are very happy Pennie White has been selected
as Joint Secretary of the World Fellowship of Buddhists Standing
Committee on Women and that Julie O’Donnell acted as Rapporteur
of the Standing Committee on Women.
Our Members Mrs Anita
Hughes, Ms Pennie White and Ms Julie O’Donnell will continue to
operate the World Fellowship of Buddhists Standing Committee on Women
web site at www.bdcu.org.au/scw
We will continue to uploaded
the newsletter for the Standing Committee on Women free of
charge.
We plan to publish reports on activities in all
countries on this website over the next two years.
Since the
conference we have published photographs of the committee on this
website.
We are happy that Julian Bamford was selected as
Secretary and acted as Rapporteur of the Standing Committee on
Publication, Publicity, Education, Culture and Art. Peter Boswell
assisted in the drafting of this Standing Committee’s
report.
We are happy that Evelin Halls and Rilla Pargeter
assisted Dr. Ranjith Hettiarachi and acted as Rapporteurs for the
Standing Committee on Dharmaduta.
We congratulate Dr. Ranjith
Hettiararchi and Mrs Pushpa Hettiararchi, Buddhist Foundation (Vic)
Australia for their organisation’s acceptance as a Regional
Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists.
The World
Buddhist University Council Meeting was held during the conference.
Our Member Pennie White was pleased to meet with Members of the
Council and to have the opportunity to discuss her Masters research
topic on the Use of Information and Communication Technology by the
World Buddhist University. Pennie is currently studying for her
Masters of Education at Monash University, Melbourne.
An
invitation has been extended for Pennie to attend the World Buddhist
University Symposium in May 2003.
In the week following the
Conference we received an email from Dr. Mrs. Manel P. Lakdivdas
congratulating one of our Members. Dr Lakdivdas wrote:
“I
like you very much for the following reason(s);
1.Full of loving
kindness radiating from you.
2.Being aware of the surrounding and
acting according(ly).
3.I really want to help you in your Phd.
because you’re in Dhamma.”
The Doctor also noted
that according to Buddhism there are 6 types of people in this world.
When you diagnose them and work with them in harmony you will have
samma ditti.
Dr. Lakdivdas wrote that if she comes to
Australia she will visit our Centre to help in Dhamma activities.
We
recorded the events of the Conference in 290 digital photographs
taken by our Members and friends over the six days. You may view
photographs of this Conference online at Buddha Dhyana Dana Review
Volume 12 No. 8 at www.bddronline.net.au and www.bdcu.org.au
The
Most Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Mahathera, Religious
Patron for The World Fellowship of Buddhists and The World Fellowship
of Buddhists Youth General Conferences 2002, gave the Keynote address
at the Buddhist Symposium on the Monday evening prior to the opening
of the Conference. In The Most Venerable’s written message for
the souvenir program of the Conference, he advised that:
“The
efforts to promote Buddhism must not only be shouldered by a few
Monks or Buddhist leaders. Instead, we should mobilise the resources
of each and every Buddhist. We have to develop programs to train
every Buddhist to become a goodwill messenger (Metta-Duta) of
Buddhism. Only in this way, the way of Mass Buddhist Movement, can we
hope to promote the message of the Buddha far and wide in this global
village.”
The Prime Minister of Malaysia, H.E. Dato’
Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad officiated and addressed the conference
at the opening ceremony. In Dr. Mahathir’s written message for
the souvenir program of the Conference, he stated:
“I am
confident the world Buddhist leaders who are here to attend the
conference will continue to uphold and promote the importance of
living in peace and harmony, with mutual understanding amongst people
of different faiths and beliefs.”
The message by The
Right Honourable John Howard M.P., Prime Minister of Australia, was
read by our President Julian Bamford on behalf of the Founder - Chan
Academy Australia and Adviser to the Council of the World Buddhist
University, Mr. John D. Hughes.
“I have great pleasure in
providing this message on the occasion of the 22nd General Conference
of the World Fellowship of Buddhists.
Buddhism is greatly
respected for its teachings of non-violence, compassion, mutual
understanding and harmony. Although there are different Buddhist
traditions with different histories, they are all based on the
original teachings of Lord Buddha. The World Fellowship of Buddhists
seeks to represent the common interest of Buddhists throughout the
world, so that Buddhism can be united as a force for harmony and
peace.
Australia is host to a diversity of faiths encompassing
all the world’s major religions. What unites us as a society is
a commitment to freedom, tolerance and equality. The Buddhist
community in Australia is a valued part of our society and I commend
the community for its contribution to our nation.
I wish
everyone participating a rewarding and successful Conference.
John
Howard
Prime Minister of Australia”
Written messages
from other international leaders included those from the Prime
Ministers of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and
Thailand.
The Chief Minister of Selangor State Government,
Dato’ Seri Mohamad Khir bin Toyo spoke at the Presentation
Dinner on 10 December 2002.
The Minister of Housing and Local
Government, Malaysia, Honourable Dato Seri Ong Ka declared the
conference closed on the evening of 12th December 2002. In his
written message for the souvenir program of the Conference, he
wrote:
“Buddhism today is found in every part of the
world. As the world globalised, there is an increased interaction
amongst the various religions and cultures. Events that happened in
one part of the globe may have significant impacts on the other end
of the globe. As international level organisations, I believe that
The World Fellowship of Buddhists and The World Fellowship of
Buddhist Youth have an important and relevant role to play. As the
other religions are also taking up the challenge to create a better
world, The World Fellowship of Buddhists and World Fellowship of
Buddhist Youth too must always be ready to face this challenge. I
believe that if all religions of the world work together for global
peace, this world will be a better place to live.”
In his
paper for the conference entitled “Our Approaches to Wisdom and
Compassion: Our Way Forward” available online at
www.blessings.net.au, our Teacher John D. Hughes stated:
Where
our Dhamma Centre is at Upwey, Victoria Australia there is enormous
cultural diversity.
71% of Victorians were born in
Australia
43% of Victorians were either born overseas or have at
least one parent born overseas:
20.1% or 927,272 Victorians
born in Australia have at least one parent born overseas
(Source:
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001, Census Data)
Our
Australian business culture like the business of most postindustrial
societies has adopted the language of war.
Some of the key
words we hear in relation to business are ‘competition’,
‘win’, ‘goal’, target’, ‘strategy’,
‘price war’, ‘gang’, ‘secret’ and
‘weapon’.
All such terms imply a winner and a loser,
and promote the desirability of winning at the expense of another.
The endemic nature of this fighting culture is evident in the writing
style or language used in numerous authoritative business
journals.
The theme of the World Fellowship of Buddhists 22nd
General Conference 9 to 13 December 2002 is Wisdom and Compassion :
The Way Forward.
We have developed a strong version of
practical compassion of these influencing ideals as our way
forward.
Firstly, we start by forsaking the use of the English
terminology of business use of war terms in our writing. War is
destructive of materiality. If the language of war enters a culture,
it is difficult to undo it.
At our Chan Academy Australia
persons can practice Chan and Sumi-e painting. Postindustrial
societies run on operationally validated theories. These are
characterised by high operational learning and high conceptual
learning. Dana adds wholesome materiality to the world.
We
recommend our Members not to work on active military projects that
can directly kill persons.
We discourage persons from killing
by avoiding one of Australia’s most popular sports –
fishing. This appeals to most persons because they develop artisan
skills of low conceptual learning but high operational learning. The
word “merit” is not actually a convenient translation of
the word “punna”. Some of our Members specialise in
removing a feeling of guilt from new Members.
Members are
taught to offer the flowers to the Triple Gem without destroying
them.
We have mentioned only a small fraction of the benefits
Members obtain from our garden. In Australia, skilled trade persons
may charge higher hourly rates than general physicians.
With
several years experience in a range of artisan activities, Members
become more aware of the complex nature of running a Dhamma Centre in
a modern Western capitalistic society.
Our Centre reflects
some of the high-end conceptual learning of the business
community.
Members learn to share computer files and work in
teams to produce much of our written output. Each Member has a
personal assistant or two and trains that assistant in the requisite
skills needed. This type of organisation structure allows persons to
experience the satisfaction of high conceptual learning and
completing the job as a team member.
From time to time
Members are encouraged to visit other Dhamma Centres both local and
overseas. We produce experienced Members who in time join the
committees of other local Centres.
Members learn to lend a
helping hand to one another in the hard work aspects of tending the
garden. For example, they learn to build dry rock walls from local
rocks donated to the Centre. We can teach the language of work in the
garden to teach cooperation and kindness.
Members buy the
flowers or bring them from their own gardens.
It is wisdom to
arrange a Centre’s garden artisan activity in this manner.
Our
Buddha relics help this ambience.
All Members, male and female
help with building work in the garden. At times, it is hard physical
work working from our plans, so Members physical health improves. As
we continue the training, our understanding and practice deepen.
We
present ourselves as “Chan Academy Australia painting a better
world....”
Being a very active Regional Centre of The
World Fellowship of Buddhists and an Associated Institution of The
World Buddhist University allows our Members to develop
professionalism and maturity of English as a second language within a
global perspective.
We will continue to build the words-smiths
needed for this century and export our research findings.
At
the Closing Ceremony of the Conference, it was announced that Bhutan
will host the 23rd General Conference of the World Fellowship of
Buddhists to be held in 2004. His Excellency Phan Wannamethee
presented the World Fellowship of Buddhists flag to Venerable Yangbi
Lopen Chhimi and Ngawang Phuntsho from the Dratshang Lhentshog
Regional Centre in Bhutan.
We look forward to participating
in the 23rd General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists
in Bhutan in 2004.
We wish to thank the 300,000 members of the
Heavenly Sangha who at the request of our Teachers helped our
delegation at the General Conference. May they be well and happy.
We
thank the Office Bearers and all the Secretariat members for all
their guidance and assistance in training our youthful
participants.
We wish to thank all the Members of the World
Fellowship of Buddhists and World Buddhist University for all their
help and support over the years and wish them to succeed by the merit
they have made, this very life.
May The World Fellowship of
Buddhists and The World Buddhist University be sustained for at least
the next 500 years.
May our Members continue to serve the
World Fellowship of Buddhists and World Buddhist University.
May
all our colleagues at the World Fellowship Buddhists and Regional
Centres around the world be well and happy.
May you be well
and happy.
The authors and editors of this script are John D.
Hughes Dip.App.Chem. T.T.T.C. GDAIE, Anita M. Hughes RN Div1, Julian
Bamford B.A. App. Rec., Evelin Halls Dip.F.L.C., Rilla Pargeter, and
Pennie White B.A., Dip.Ed.
References:
Hughes,
John D. and Anita M. (2002) Our Approaches to Wisdom and Compassion:
Our Way Forward, Paper presented at the World Fellowship of Buddhist
22nd General Conference held at Selangor, Malaysia 9 to 13 December
2002, Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., Melbourne, Australia.
Available at URL www.bddronline.net.au/bddr/bddr12no8.html accessed
on 24 December 2002.
World Fellowship of Buddhists 22nd
General Conference, World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth 13th General
Conference, 9-13 December 2002, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, “Wisdom
and Compassion: The Way Forward”, souvenir program distributed
to participants of the Conference.
Readability
Statistics
Counts
Words: 2872
Characters:
15047
Paragraphs: 104
Sentences: 131
Averages
Sentences
per paragraph: 1.5
Words per Sentence: 19.3
Characters per
word: 5.0
Readability Statistics
Passive Sentences:
10%
Flesch Reading Ease score: 43.7
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
score: 11.9
Readability scores
When Word finishes
checking spelling and grammar, it can display information about the
reading level of the document, including the following readability
scores. Each readability score bases its rating on the average number
of syllables per word and words per sentence.
Flesch Reading
Ease score
Rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the
score, the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard
documents, aim for a score of approximately 60 to 70.
Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level score
Rates text on a U.S. grade-school level. For
example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand
the document. For most standard documents, aim for a score of
approximately 7.0 to 8.0.
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Accordingly, we accept no liability
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member, employee or other person associated with the Chan Academy
Australia (Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.)
This Radio
Script is for Free Distribution. It contains Buddha Dhamma material
and is provided for the purpose of research and study.
Permission
is given to make printouts of this publication for FREE DISTRIBUTION
ONLY. Please keep it in a clean place.
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Dhamma excels all other gifts".
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contact the Centre or better still, come
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© 2002. Copyright. The Buddhist Discussion Centre
(Upwey) Ltd.