Buddhists appreciate Chiara Lubich and Christian Love
Bangkok (AsiaNews) - "I understand the Christian love which Chiara Lubich explained in her personal experience (and) that of the Focolare Movement, especially the universal love of Jesus, full of compassion and who gave his life out of love for all mankind", said Phra-rajprommacharn, a Thai Buddhist monk from Chiang Mai.
Together with 10 others monks, including Phramahabunchoewsirintra, president of the Maha Chulalongkorn Buddhist Academy in Bangkok, Phra-rajprommacharn said such words of admiration at an interreligious conference on Buddhism and Christianity held recently in Castelgandolfo, in the Alban Hills outside Rome (Italy).
The conference, organized by the Focolare Movement, had as its theme: "Buddhist Teaching and Christianity Love".
"It was in being contact with the Focolare Movement", the monk said "that I understood that religion and daily life are inseparable: religion is a way of life."
"The spirit of unity, particularly among religious, is indeed what today's world needs to build up peace. Buddhist and Christians have many values in common. Unfortunately, their religious values and teachings are sometimes lost in our secularised and materialistic society".
The Buddhist monks in attendance were particularly impressed by Chiara Lubich's opening remark, when she said: "The basis or foundation of this symposium should be on reciprocal love. It is on this love for one another that the symposium will bear (its) fruits, as love sees what is positive and seeks what unites (beings together)".
The conference's Buddhists representatives also said they were "very impressed" by their visit to Loppiano, a small town founded by the Focolare movement near Florence where "the spiritual dimension permeates and animates all aspects of social life".
The Japanese Buddhist monks in attendance offered to host next year's symposium. Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, President of Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, attended the conference, which was followed by an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
After the inter-religious conference Chiara Lubich said: "To build up solidarity, fraternity and to use Christian love to touch everybody's heart without prejudice is called the Art of Love".
At the conference there were representatives from the two main schools of Buddhism, Hinayana and Mahayana.
The Focolare Movement, founded in 1943 in Trent (Italy) by Chiara Lubich, has now spread to 182 countries and has 2 million members worldwide, counting faithful from various Christian denominations and others religions among its adherents. (WK)
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