宗博季刊第69期

今 年九月三、四日，我們在紐約的聯合 國總部召開第十屆「邁向地球家：回 佛對談」國際會議，會議中探討了包含「和 平與人權」、「貧窮與社會不平等」、「生 態療癒與地球權利」等議題。記得2002年 ──911事件發生後的第二年，我們即在紐 約召開第一場回佛對談，希望藉此建立一個 宗教對話的平台，促進不同信仰間的相互理 解、相互尊重與和諧共榮。 第十場的回佛對談之所以會以「邁向地 球家」做為研討主題，主要是為了邀請所有 地球公民共同關心天地萬物與一切眾生都賴 以為「家」的地球。我們知道自己住在地球 上，卻忽略了它是一個所有人類共同的家， 更令人擔憂的是，幾乎每一個國家都為了自 身利益，不停地往地球的「核心」挖掘資 源，探勘能源、礦產等。長此以往，地球到 底能夠承受到什麼時候？在大家不斷地剝 離、奪取之下，地球這個生命體將失去平衡 而毀壞！ 在全球化的時代，從最基本的人權、貧 窮與社會的不平等，乃至於生態環保、地球 權利等各個層面，都是我們必須關心的議 題，而透過宗教間的交流與對話，加強宗教 之間的了解與友誼，將有助於大家共同找出 真正問題的癥結點，攜手同心共同解決難 題，圓滿靈性生命的原初意義，跨越種族、 國家與信仰，相互珍愛，共同拯救我們美麗 的地球家園。 創辦人的話 18 創辦人 的話 Save our Beautiful Home—the Earth AWord From the Founder 拯救美麗的地球家園 On September 3rd and 4th of this year we convened the tenth international "Towards a Global Family : A Buddhist Muslim Dialogue" international conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The topics discussed included "Peace and Human Rights", "Poverty and Social Inequality" and "Ecological Healing and Earth Rights". I recall that in 2002, the year after the 911 incident, we held the first Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue in New York. Our intention was to build a platform for religious dialogue which would help to strengthen mutual understanding, respect and harmony amongst religions. "Towards a Global Family" was the theme adopted for the tenth Buddhist- Muslim Dialogue. The intention was to encourage all people to jointly care for the Earth, the "home" that all life depends on. Although we all know that we live on the Earth, we tend to forget that this planet is our common home. What's really worrying is the fact that nearly all countries today continue to act out of short-sighted self- interest, endlessly seeking to extract ever- more resources from the Earth. But how long can the Earth continue to sustain such an assault? If this continues for much longer the Earth will surely be put out of balance. In the era of globalization we must all take an active interest in such topics as bas i c human r ight s, pover ty, soc i a l inequality and environmental protection. In addition to building mutual understanding a n d f r i e n d s h i p amo n g r e l i g i o n s , interreligious exchange and dialogue can help us to discern the root of the problem and work together to find solutions. Moreover, the insight we gain through such dialogue strengthens our understanding of the spiritual life, brings mutual appreciation, builds bridges between people of different races, nationalities and beliefs, and—most importantly—can help us save our beautiful home—the Earth.