The Fourth World Youth Buddhist Symposium was held in Hong Kong again. More than 620 scholars, faculty, and students attended and shared in this spiritual feast—they were from over 200 universities including Harvard University, University of Oxford, Boston University, University of Virginia, University of Sydney, National University of Singapore, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Peking University.
At the Interfaith Dialogue, the symposium invited scholars of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and Comparative Religions. They elaborated on their own respective doctrines and theories on the collective crises of humankind such as environmental protection. In the session of WeSpeak, 27 persons gave speeches on the three subthemes; in the session of Free Talk, the symposium supplied a platform for the teachers and students to freely express their opinions; on the Hot Topic Discussion such as "Tackling Smog", "The Most Difficult Season to Get Employed", "Should We Help Old People Up When They Fall", the young students had a lively debates, which pushed the symposium to a new high.
In the morning, the participants meditated and read the sutras under Dharma teachers' guidance. Khenpo Sodargye Rinpoche also guided them to meditate, gave them pith instructions on looking at the nature of mind and provided guidance suitable for their practice at different stages. Many participants experienced the bliss of meditation.
The Symposium gave out the following awards: Award of Best Essays on Social Responsibility, WeSpeak Award, Award of Best Essays on The Ideal Planet, Award for the debate contest on Hot Topic Discussion, and Award of Outstanding Contribution to the Traditional Culture.
|
||||
Prev:The Fifth World Youth Buddhist Symposium | Next:The Third World Youth Buddhist Symposium | |||