April 2012

Third World Buddhist Forum Held in Hong Kong

The third World Buddhist Forum was held April 25-28 at a hotel in Hong Kong. Some 1,300 people from 50 countries and regions around the world attended. They included Rev. Nichiyu Mochida, head priest of the temple Sogenji of the Nichiren sect of Japanese Buddhism and chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Forum for Religious People, and from Rissho Kosei-kai, Rev. Keiichi Akagawa, head of the External Affairs Group (Interfaith).

The forum's theme was "Common Aspirations and Actions towards a Harmonious World." It was sponsored by the Buddhist Association of China, the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, and the China Religious Culture Communication Association.

The participants discussed the role of Buddhists in modern society. In one of the seven subforums, on the theme "Buddhist charity in theory and in practice," Rev. Akagawa reported on Rissho Kosei-kai's relief projects under the motto "United in One Heart" for the victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. The projects he described included volunteer work by Rissho Kosei-kai members across Japan, medical support by doctors and nurses from Kosei General Hospital in Tokyo, and charity concerts by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.

The forums are held every three years to promote dialogue and cultural exchanges among Buddhists in different countries. The first was held April 13-16, 2006, in the cities of Hangzhou and Zhoushan in China's Zhejiang Province. The second forum was held in 2009, with first session March 28-29 in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, and the second from March 31 to April 1 in Taipei.

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