การประชุมใหญ่

It was the first time for the People’s Republic of China to host the WFB General Conference and Baoji was chosen as venue of the conference because it was said to be among the first cities to embrace Buddhism when the religion was introduced to China before spreading to and flourished in other parts of China and served as the beacon of Buddhism throughout Asia.  Furthermore, it is the city where the Buddha’s finger relic is enshrined.

As we are all aware of calamities caused by human action and nature, the theme was to express that we, Buddhists, are very concerned of living beings.  Dana (or Charity) is a key Buddhist virtue which is both a source of great merit in overcoming selfishness and attachment.  Most important, a true charity in Buddhism means giving without expecting anything in return.

At the conference, there was a celebration of 150th Birth Anniversary in Commemoration of Anagarika Dharmapala in remembrance as the pioneer of the Buddhist revival in India and the first Buddhist missionary to visit Europe and America which made the Buddhism spread beyond Asia.