The International Buddhist Forum will be held in Buryatia this summer. Our republic is organizing it for the second year in a row. What program of the event is planned this time?
The first international Buddhist forum brought together more than 600 people. Of these, every fourth is a foreign guest. The event was attended by representatives of 13 countries. This is precisely one of the most important results of the meeting.
Geshe Yonten, Chairman of the Central Spiritual Administration of Buddhists: If we are talking about spiritual results, let’s say that we have established additional contacts. The three main Buddhist centers of our country are Kalmykia, Buryatia, and Tyva, and the clergy of these three republics have further strengthened and improved contacts with Buddhist sanghas and communities of other countries.
This time the main topic of the forum is the anniversary of the Pandito Hambo Lama Institute in Russia. Exactly 260 years ago, Catherine the Great officially approved this position through her decrees, thereby recognizing Buddhism as one of the main religions at the state level. And the organizers hope that more and more countries will follow the philosophy of Buddhism following the forum.
Irina Dorzhieva, Deputy Head of the Administration of the Head of the Republic of Buryatia and the Government of the Republic of Buryatia: The participants and the forum organizers in general adopted a general resolution when summing up the results. In which they addressed all people, Buddhists, leaders of countries and faiths with a proposal to join forces to build a safe, just and prosperous world on our planet. I think that this is the most important challenge of our time, which not only the Buddhist community, but the whole world should think about and unite, truly efforts to achieve such peace on Earth.
Also within the framework of the forum, there will be a festival of martial arts and an exhibition of masterpieces of Buddhist Buryat art, which will be brought to the republic from the Hermitage. The second international forum was called “Traditional Buddhism and the challenges of modern times.” It will be held in Ulan-Ude from August 12 to 14.
