Interfaith Cooperation for Lasting Peace : หน้า 63/91

C O-OPERATION Interfaith Activities The world of religion today is like a flower garden made beautiful by the diversity of colour and scent. In an age when the life of those in society is becoming increasingly secular and estranged from spiritual truth, those committed to spiritual practice need to respect differences and concentrate on similarities in finding ways for the different religions to co-operate in matters of conscious ethics and spirituality. All religions of the world aim to help people become better. Time spent engaging in both intra-religious and inter-religious dialogue is more than worthwhile, allowing us to understand our own religions better and allowing all religions to take a united stand on matters vital to the urgent need for the world to cultivate ways to lasting peace and harmony. The Dhammakaya Foundation has, over the past few years participated in several forums for inter-religious dialogue and has been active in creating opportunities for unity and cooperation between different tradition. The Dhammakaya Foundation has been in contact with the multi-faith Moral Re-armament movement since 1987 and had a chance to enter dialogue on many aspects of mental culture and its implications for society. The Dhammakaya Foundation also joins the annual Inter-faith Conference on Religion and Peace which addresses several aspect for peaceful world and had many projects including work to help homeless children, reduce arm and encourage harmony. Wat Phra Dhammakaya become a sister temple to Fo Kuang Shan, Taipei in 1994, securing friendly relations and cultural exchange between the Buddhist Theravada and Mahayana traditions. Since 1996, Wat Phra Dhammakaya has strengthened its relationship with the Buddhist Association of China. Several exchange programmes were held regularly especially with Manjusi Temple, Chengdu, China. World Fellowship of Buddhists and World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth: The Dhammakaya Foundation has been a regional centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) and World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (WFBY) since 1986 and has sent a representation to join all General Conference since that date. At the 1998 General Conference in Sydney, the Dhammakaya Foundation representative, Mr. Sommai Konsakoo, was elected as the President