A Harmonious World Begins With the Mind
One Humanity, Many Faiths
Respected Elders, friends,
Recently, some students told me there were many calamities last year. The frequency of occurrence and damage caused were higher than in the past. It is estimated that more disasters will take place this year. Everyone is thinking about how to resolve these disasters. This is a good thing to do. This is the manifestation of love, the manifestation of compassion. If such love and compassion really take effect then we can believe that the mind power discovered by modern scientists has unbelievable power and energy. This was told many times in Buddhist sutras. The Buddha said: All phenomena are created by the mind. The Avatamsaka Sutra says the universe is manifested by the true mind and altered by the consciousness. This is the truth. If this truth is real, then mind power should be able to resolve calamities. We must have good thoughts. We must have positive thoughts. We have seen many religions with the same teachings that stated love can resolve calamities. We need to radiate our love in order to resolve calamities. We hope that all religions can shoulder this responsibility. All religions must get together and cooperate with each other. We hope that they can learn from one another and show God’s and the saint’s love for the world through us, the people who have religion and faith, and express love and compassion with true practice in our daily life. We Buddhists have to show the world the compassion of the Buddha and practice it in our daily living, in our work, and in how we treat people and interact with matters. Furthermore, through the teachings on morality and virtue, the teachings on causality, and the sacred teachings, let us religious followers open our hearts. I love my religion, and I also love all other religions. I learn the sacred texts of my religion
Also, I need to learn the sacred texts of other religions. With further contact with other religions, I have found that all religions are truly one family. The core value of all religions is, without a doubt, always about compassion and benevolence. There is not a single religion that does not take this teaching as its core value. Only through benevolent and universal love, with the help of God and saints, can we resolve the calamities. They will be eliminated only when we are willing to strive for this. If there is a chance to hold another event like we did previously in UNESCO headquarters in Paris, then the influence generated will be even greater. Since there could be many calamities this year, this is what we should do and it is worth doing.
We have to do our best, diligently and sincerely. This is a good thing to do. If all religions can teach people to do good things and help the world to eliminate calamities, although they may only be eased, we believe the scale of the damage will be smaller. This is definitely a reachable goal and the whole world will benefit. There is nothing better than this if we want to benefit the whole world. So, I encourage all of you. You all have such a benevolent heart, such a kind heart. Then you should help. I am getting old. I am willing to do it, but I do not have enough strength. But we still feel happy and praise [the sacred event]. We will still do what we can to help everybody. If we want to realize peace and harmony in society, if we want society to be stable and prosperous, we must begin with education. Prayer is only a temporary, not a permanent solution. Fundamentally, it is about how people transform their minds. It is like Mr. Braden from the U.S. said, if everyone can give up evil for goodness, change their heart from bad to righteousness, that would be the permanent solution. It would be the best solution. So, we must do our best to realize religious education and to exalt religious education, every religion will continuously educate people trough teachings, to broaden our minds to love not just one’s own religion but to also love all religions, and to love people who do not have faith, to love all human beings regardless of any differences. We learn from our own religion and at the same time, we learn from all other religions. We should put aside differences so as to seek commonalities. We believe the teachings of saints and sages are without differences. The so-called differences are actually expediencies for teaching. In ancient times, traveling was not convenient. Communications and the spreading of information were slow. Most people lived and interacted in limited areas, probably less than a 50 km radius of where they lived. People from two neighboring villages would never meet one another. Now technology is advanced and travel is convenient. Information spreads around the world through mass media in seconds. Something that happens in one corner of the world is immediately known [in another]. The Earth has turned into a global village. Since this world has become a global village, no matter what happens in this village, we all have the obligation and responsibility to assist and help. Religions will be a powerful way to help resolve the problems. I remember in the year 2005, when the former prime minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad and I first met, he asked me one question. He said, In your opinion, can the world still have peace? Dr. Mahathir’s manner was grave when he asked this question. He cared about the world’s peace and stability very much. He was a person with compassion. A person who was against war and against killing. I replied to him, If we can do four things well, the world will be peaceful again. He asked, Which four things? I said, Countries getting along with one another equally and harmoniously. Political parties, different ethnic groups, and different religions treating one another equally and harmoniously. If these four can be done, the world will be at peace. He was silent for a long time. I then said, these four things are very difficult to achieve, very difficult and complicated. But through religion, we can do it. Suddenly, Mr. Mahathir understood what I was saying. On this planet, the number of people who are religious is slightly greater than those who are not. Therefore, people who have faith can take the lead to restore virtuous and moral education, the education of causality, and the education of saints and sages. We should start with ourselves first. If we start practicing these values, people will be touched, especially those who do not believe in any particular religion. With that movement, we can motivate politics, political parties, and different ethnicities to treat one another equally and harmoniously. Then world peace will be restored. Today, calamities happen frequently. We are all alerted and fully aware of the situation. We lived on this planet called Earth. It is like a ship in the universe. We are all on the same ship. Therefore, we have the obligation and responsibility to maintain this ship in good condition, to travel safely and peacefully in space. We hope the residents on earth can live happy and contented lives, governments will be fair and just, societies exist in harmony, and everybody will respect one another sincerely, love and respect one another, take care of one another and help one another. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful world? Can we achieve it? The answer is affirmative. It depends on whether we are willing to do it or not. Where to start? We start from ourselves. If we start from within ourselves, it will work. If we wish someone else to do it first, if we expect others to do it first, then we will fail. We must start from ourselves, start from our family. Begin from my position, from my village, from my own town. When the first one succeeds [in loving, caring, respecting others as a whole], the influence will be great. Why? It is because everyone in the world will see the light of hope. They will gain confidence in true religious teachings and people will believe in true cooperation among religions. Such cooperation can bring to modern society, the greatest contribution of all. I believe this is a sacred work. Therefore, this goal will definitely be blessed by God, saints, and sages from all religions. This work will surely be blessed by all the sacred ones. I give my best wishes for this endeavor, in the hope that it will succeed. Thank you very much.
One Humanity, Many Faiths
Respected Elders, friends,
Recently, some students told me there were many calamities last year. The frequency of occurrence and damage caused were higher than in the past. It is estimated that more disasters will take place this year. Everyone is thinking about how to resolve these disasters. This is a good thing to do. This is the manifestation of love, the manifestation of compassion. If such love and compassion really take effect then we can believe that the mind power discovered by modern scientists has unbelievable power and energy. This was told many times in Buddhist sutras. The Buddha said: All phenomena are created by the mind. The Avatamsaka Sutra says the universe is manifested by the true mind and altered by the consciousness. This is the truth. If this truth is real, then mind power should be able to resolve calamities. We must have good thoughts. We must have positive thoughts. We have seen many religions with the same teachings that stated love can resolve calamities. We need to radiate our love in order to resolve calamities. We hope that all religions can shoulder this responsibility. All religions must get together and cooperate with each other. We hope that they can learn from one another and show God’s and the saint’s love for the world through us, the people who have religion and faith, and express love and compassion with true practice in our daily life. We Buddhists have to show the world the compassion of the Buddha and practice it in our daily living, in our work, and in how we treat people and interact with matters. Furthermore, through the teachings on morality and virtue, the teachings on causality, and the sacred teachings, let us religious followers open our hearts. I love my religion, and I also love all other religions. I learn the sacred texts of my religion
Also, I need to learn the sacred texts of other religions. With further contact with other religions, I have found that all religions are truly one family. The core value of all religions is, without a doubt, always about compassion and benevolence. There is not a single religion that does not take this teaching as its core value. Only through benevolent and universal love, with the help of God and saints, can we resolve the calamities. They will be eliminated only when we are willing to strive for this. If there is a chance to hold another event like we did previously in UNESCO headquarters in Paris, then the influence generated will be even greater. Since there could be many calamities this year, this is what we should do and it is worth doing.
We have to do our best, diligently and sincerely. This is a good thing to do. If all religions can teach people to do good things and help the world to eliminate calamities, although they may only be eased, we believe the scale of the damage will be smaller. This is definitely a reachable goal and the whole world will benefit. There is nothing better than this if we want to benefit the whole world. So, I encourage all of you. You all have such a benevolent heart, such a kind heart. Then you should help. I am getting old. I am willing to do it, but I do not have enough strength. But we still feel happy and praise [the sacred event]. We will still do what we can to help everybody. If we want to realize peace and harmony in society, if we want society to be stable and prosperous, we must begin with education. Prayer is only a temporary, not a permanent solution. Fundamentally, it is about how people transform their minds. It is like Mr. Braden from the U.S. said, if everyone can give up evil for goodness, change their heart from bad to righteousness, that would be the permanent solution. It would be the best solution. So, we must do our best to realize religious education and to exalt religious education, every religion will continuously educate people trough teachings, to broaden our minds to love not just one’s own religion but to also love all religions, and to love people who do not have faith, to love all human beings regardless of any differences. We learn from our own religion and at the same time, we learn from all other religions. We should put aside differences so as to seek commonalities. We believe the teachings of saints and sages are without differences. The so-called differences are actually expediencies for teaching. In ancient times, traveling was not convenient. Communications and the spreading of information were slow. Most people lived and interacted in limited areas, probably less than a 50 km radius of where they lived. People from two neighboring villages would never meet one another. Now technology is advanced and travel is convenient. Information spreads around the world through mass media in seconds. Something that happens in one corner of the world is immediately known [in another]. The Earth has turned into a global village. Since this world has become a global village, no matter what happens in this village, we all have the obligation and responsibility to assist and help. Religions will be a powerful way to help resolve the problems. I remember in the year 2005, when the former prime minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad and I first met, he asked me one question. He said, In your opinion, can the world still have peace? Dr. Mahathir’s manner was grave when he asked this question. He cared about the world’s peace and stability very much. He was a person with compassion. A person who was against war and against killing. I replied to him, If we can do four things well, the world will be peaceful again. He asked, Which four things? I said, Countries getting along with one another equally and harmoniously. Political parties, different ethnic groups, and different religions treating one another equally and harmoniously. If these four can be done, the world will be at peace. He was silent for a long time. I then said, these four things are very difficult to achieve, very difficult and complicated. But through religion, we can do it. Suddenly, Mr. Mahathir understood what I was saying. On this planet, the number of people who are religious is slightly greater than those who are not. Therefore, people who have faith can take the lead to restore virtuous and moral education, the education of causality, and the education of saints and sages. We should start with ourselves first. If we start practicing these values, people will be touched, especially those who do not believe in any particular religion. With that movement, we can motivate politics, political parties, and different ethnicities to treat one another equally and harmoniously. Then world peace will be restored. Today, calamities happen frequently. We are all alerted and fully aware of the situation. We lived on this planet called Earth. It is like a ship in the universe. We are all on the same ship. Therefore, we have the obligation and responsibility to maintain this ship in good condition, to travel safely and peacefully in space. We hope the residents on earth can live happy and contented lives, governments will be fair and just, societies exist in harmony, and everybody will respect one another sincerely, love and respect one another, take care of one another and help one another. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful world? Can we achieve it? The answer is affirmative. It depends on whether we are willing to do it or not. Where to start? We start from ourselves. If we start from within ourselves, it will work. If we wish someone else to do it first, if we expect others to do it first, then we will fail. We must start from ourselves, start from our family. Begin from my position, from my village, from my own town. When the first one succeeds [in loving, caring, respecting others as a whole], the influence will be great. Why? It is because everyone in the world will see the light of hope. They will gain confidence in true religious teachings and people will believe in true cooperation among religions. Such cooperation can bring to modern society, the greatest contribution of all. I believe this is a sacred work. Therefore, this goal will definitely be blessed by God, saints, and sages from all religions. This work will surely be blessed by all the sacred ones. I give my best wishes for this endeavor, in the hope that it will succeed. Thank you very much.
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