1、The Third World Buddhist Forum has officially opened in Hong Kong. With this years theme being Common Aspirations and Actions towards a Harmonious World, the forum has attracted over 1,000 Buddhist monks, scholars, entrepreneurs, artists and politicians from more than 50 countries and regions.As Liu
2、 Yan reports, while the development of Buddhism seems to be going well in China, plenty of challenges remain.Venerable Kok Kwong, President of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, set the tone for the forum at the opening ceremony.Everyone has a share of responsibility for the construction of a harmo
3、nious society. Fellow Buddhists must fulfill Buddhisms social responsibility as a religion, help achieve world peace and prosperity, and thus ensure a harmonious and stable society. This is a grand mission that history and the era have entrusted to all Buddhists.So how do Buddhists accomplish this m
4、ission? Venerable Kuan Yun, president of the Forums organizing committee, says this is the era of multimedia, and Buddhists should certainly take advantage of that.A survey shows that nowadays, 60 percent of the information out there comes from the Internet, TV and other forms of media. How we use a
5、ll these media to broadcast Buddhist events is something we need to think about. Its a new opportunity.Venerable Kuan Yun also says, although more Chinese are getting richer these days, they are not necessarily feeling happier. For example, Hong Kong is ranked the eleventh richest place on the plane
6、t, but when it comes to the happiness index, it is ranked somewhere between 70 and 80.Thats why I think people need religion. Especially Buddhism, a religion that can really calm you down and make you happy.That has presented another opportunity for the development of Buddhism in China, and can perh
7、aps explain the growing number of big and beautiful Buddhist monasteries we see on a regular basis. However, Venerable Hin Hung, Acting Director of the Centre of Buddhist Studies of Hong Kong University, points out that everything is not hunky dory.The software is not there yet. The people, the lear
8、ning, and the practice of Buddhism. We are still very much behind from Tang Dynasty and Sui Dynasty. Hopefully in 20 years, 30 years, we will have many more very much respected Buddhist monks. We dont have enough of them (now).The Third World Buddhist Forum looks like a good starting point. It is safe to say that the success of the forum will advocate the Chinese policy of religious freedom and lead us one step closer to a harmonious society and world.For CRI, Im Liu Yan in Hong Kong.
