DDMBA Spreads Dharma Seeds to Young Cambodians for Peace Building
With the aim of helping Cambodian youths walk out of the shadow of their nation's miserable history, the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association delegation took part in the five-day Cambodia Young Leaders Summit in Sien Reap City, northern Cambodia, from 15 to 19 November 2007.
The delegation included Venerable Chang Ji, Venerable Chang Wu, Li-Chun Her and Zhen-Qiao Wang. The summit was hosted by The Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW) of the United States and sponsored by Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association (DDMBA). In addition to DDM, 45 young professional Cambodians, Cambodian Buddhist Monastics, Thai Buddhist Monastics, religious scholars, lay practitioners and local social workers also participated in the conference discussions.
The people of Cambodia have been living in the chaos of war and poverty for a long time, so the construction of public infrastructure, the restoration of local culture, and the humanitarian endeavor of engaging in spiritual counseling for disaster-torn people all appear imperative.
On the night of 15th, the summit was formally unveiled following the opening remarks made by the founder and convener of GPIW, Dena Merriam. During World Café, each delegate shared their views on compassion and the reflection on ego. For instance, Li-Chun Her, a golf coach, shared her story of how to perceive the paths of happiness and spiritual growth, in order to lead the young participants to understand the meaning of happiness in the spiritual field.
Venerable Chang Ji introduced Venerable Master Sheng Yen's humanistic and compassionate ideas, and shared the Master's teachings, in the attempt to encourage all participants to realize the significance of focusing on the present in making dreams come true.
On the 19th, the final day, participants pledged to keep in contact with one another to facilitate close cooperation, and to continually and actively embark upon the work of cultivating people's mind for virtue.
(translated by Jin Yang/edited by DDM Australia Editing Team)
