The Promotion of World Peace through Inter-Faith Dialogue & the Unity of Faiths

A Lecture by Master Jun Hong Lu (World Renowned Chinese Buddhist Leader)

Rome; April 1st, 2014

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Biography

Master Jun Hong Lu is President, Director and Founder of the highly regarded 2OR Australia Oriental Radio and a renowned leader of the Chines Community in Australia and well known internationally for his work in promoting traditional Chines Culture and helping people through Buddhist Teachings.

Master Jun Hong Lu has been host of many well-known radio programs and he has reached over 18 million people through his chines web site and he is the founder of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. Master Jun Hong Lu is the President of the Australian Chinese Buddhist Research Centre, Vice President of the Australia Chinese People China Peaceful Reunification Association as well as President of community groups in the Australian Chinese Community.


Master Jun Hong Lu is greatly awarded for his contributions to the world and his efforts in strengthening and developing cultural exchanges between the east and west. He was in 2012 awarded the British Community Honours Award at the House of Lords, UK and the World Peace Award (Buddhism) from the Unity of Faiths. The same year he was invited to hold a public talk at the Harvard University, a talk that drew people from all over the world.

“The Promotion of World Peace through Inter-Faith Dialogue & the Unity of Faiths”

A Lecture by Master Jun Hong Lu (World Renowned Chinese Buddhist Leader)

Poster Image
Poster Image
 

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank ICD for giving me this opportunity for giving me this opportunity to share my view about how religion can help promote world peace.

Buddhism is the treasury of the eastern culture. Like all religions, Buddhism provides spiritual security and the care for all living beings. It is also a very important part of the traditional Chinese culture. Buddhists believe that all human beings are compassionate by nature. We are capable of feelings and feeling that of others. For example when a child sees birds flying in the rain he asks his mother: will those birds get wet? When he sees homeless people on the street he would ask his father: would you please give these people some money? These examples shows that in our core we are still kind and pure when we are young.

How to maintain such kindness and purity is the most important task for us. The fast development of the modern society creates a lot of materials on the one hand, but on the other hand causes many problems, such as the competition for social status and material goals.

It is important to note at that different religions share common values. The Buddhist Sawa in Buddhism and Jesus in Catholicism or Christianity are both prime examples of the inspiration of people throughout history. They devoted themselves to the wellbeing of others and show the pain and the suffering of others. With the loving kindness and compassion they were always willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others.

In the modern age we also have many role models, like Nelson Mandela. Though he is no longer with us he is still widely respected by all. Like Pope Francis who washed the feet of ordinary people we find expressions of compassion and also in their actions. In their ideal they embrace the same as Guan Jing Po Sawa (23:50), which is kind and compassionate to all.

Many people suffer from mental disorders and this has become a serious issue around the world. Around 400 million people suffer from many different types of mental disorders. Today ideals of religion can help improve our mental wellbeing. They can be used to cast away our hatred and delusion. 

Buddhists believe that greed, hatred and delusion are the cause of the greatest damage to our minds. When an individual is consumed by desire they would become obsessed with objects. They would not have this when they are not filled by hatred. They will not take actions to harm others. On the contrary, if an individual has a little or no desire he would have fewer troubles and would have a long and pleasurable live. Naturally they would have a healthier state of mind and be free from the xenophobia and depression.

Experience shows that people with a lot of worries are also the people with a lot of desires. Those who have a lot of personal desires also experience a lot of worries. This creates a vicious circle.

Many people might not understand how lucky we really are. I want to stress this fact. If you are able to wake up in the morning and find you are still alive and well, then you should be grateful. You are luckier than 1 million people who lose their lives every week around the world. You should also consider yourself lucky when choosing shoes to buy, as there are about 60 million people in the world unable to walk. Buddhism teaches us to have fewer desires and to be grateful for what we have. If we take time to consider those who suffered during times of hardship. Then we should know that we have every reason to cherish and be thankful for everything. Therefore it is very important to make our minds pure and to change the way we view the world. We must learn to be more intelligent, more selfless and to let go of our ego. If we can treat everyone with compassion, if we can apply the message of Buddhism in our daily live, then, I believe, this world would truly be filled with love and peace.

We all know that our planet is badly damaged. We should treat wars and conflicts as we treat cancer cells in our body. We have to take action to prevent them from spreading harm throughout our body.

Buddhism teaches us the law of the cause. In fact, today around the world we see that the wars, earthquakes and forest fires are killing people every day. According to Buddhism it is because we have created negative conditions for our planet in the past and now we undergo the retribution for our actions. But lets not give up. Our time to act is now. We should urge you people to solve problems with a peaceful message, for conflict can only be resolved by loving kindness, not by hatred. This is how ideas from Buddhism can help. 

Buddhists often say nothing is prominent, as we did not bring anything with us when we were born and we cannot take anything with us when we die. This ideal helps us cast away our greed. For example, if someone behaves negative to us we should understand this is the result of our own actions in the past. It is possible that we may have also hurt this person in the past.

Now the time has come for us to undergo retribution. Thinking this way helps us rid ourselves of hatred. So we can react to events in a more peaceful manner.
 

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