NINTH ABCP GENERAL CONFERENCE
The Ninth ABCP General Conference was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 7-12 September 1998. It was attended by 121 delegates from ABCP National Centers of Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Japan, Vietnam, Council for Religious Affairs of H.H. The Dalai Lama, ABCP Headquarters and 7 guests from Buddhist organizations of the Russian Federation, Singapore and Taiwan, namely Moscow Buddhist Society, World Buddhist Sangha Council Youth Conference and Chinese Young Buddhist Association.
The ABCP Executive Council session was held on the eve of the General Conference, which discussed and adopted the agenda of the General Conference and registered the Korean Buddhist Chogye Order as a member of ABCP alongside the Aginsky Datsan, the World Buddhist Sangha Council Youth Conference of Singapore, and the Chinese Young Buddhist Association of Taiwan.
The opening ceremony of the General Assembly was attended by 1,000 participants, including representatives of Buddhists and laity of Mongolia, diplomatic missions in Mongolian and foreign guests. Mr. R. Gonchigdorj, Chairman of the State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia was the Chief Guest of the General Conference.
The inaugural speech was made by Most Ven. Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, President of ABCP.
During the General Conference, a round table meeting on the topic “Spiritual Development Makes the World Sustainable” was held, while elections of new office-bearers of ABCP and the Executive Council were also held. At the General Conference two new Standing Commissions on “Conservation of Ecology and Environment,” and “Protection of Human Rights” were constituted.
The General Conference adopted two resolutions, one on the constitution of a Sub-Committee to review the ABCP Constitution, and the other on the setting up of Standing Commissions on “Conservation of Ecology and Environment,” and “Protection of Human Rights.
The heads of delegations to the Ninth General Conference, called on H.E. Mr. Natsagiin Bagabandi, President of Mongolia, who appreciated the endeavors made by ABCP in promoting peace and harmony, and Buddhist cultural heritage.
The Plenary Session adopted the Ulan Bator Declaration.
ULAN BATOR DECLARATION
We, the participants of the 9th General Conference of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, held at Ulan Bator from 7-12 September, 1998,
- being conscious of the duties and responsibilities for strengthening, developing mutual understanding and cooperation at the regional and international level,
- promoting the cause of peace, harmony, equality and protection of nature and environment, based on the teachings of Lord Buddha, and also defending human rights,
- desiring to galvanize Buddhist work for peace, as effectively as possible, by making the compassionate teachings of Lord Buddha well known for the benefit of the general public as a whole, have spelt out urgent tasks on the background of the present situation in Asia on the eve of the 21st
In view of the changed world scenario and democratization, ABCP realizes that developing mutual trust instead of confrontation, furthering mutual understanding instead of violence are the important characteristics of cordial international relations. Yet the world today is facing a very serious situation due to escalation of the arms race, testing of nuclear weapons and missiles, testing of nuclear weapons b non-nuclear States, establishment of foreign military bases, deployment of foreign troops, and conducting military exercises in Asia and the Pacific region, and gross violation of human rights.
Poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy stares at the face of the millions of people in the world, including Asia. The nuclear power countries tend to use their available sources not for improving the lives of their people. The global problems faced by humanity can be solved if such sources are diverted for the betterment of mankind and for economic growth.
Under the prevailing circumstances, we cannot watch these developments as silent spectators and we strongly feel that we have to act in unison to save humanity from destruction. The growing terrorist activities in the world have to be contained in the interest of social stability and well-being of the people. In this respect, it is necessary to take effective measures to educate younger generations. Spiritual development and the development of mind of the individual based on the Buddha’s teachings can make the contemporary world sustainable. It is also extremely important to instill Buddhist values of compassion in the minds of the people to create the edifice of a sustainable society in the world.
The success of the movement for peace and harmony depends on the work of the ABCP National Centers. Therefore, we reiterate our commitment to undertake the following tasks:
- Not to spare any efforts in realizing the objective of total disarmament and elimination of all weapons of mass destruction which threaten the life of all the sentient beings so that everybody could live in a world free from nuclear weapons. In our strivings, we are guided by Lord Buddha’s teaching: “All fear violence and all fear death. Put yourself in other’s place and do not kill and not let kill.” This can be realized by taking active part in the universal movement for complete disarmament and elimination of nuclear weapons.
- To undertake activities like collecting of signatures, organizing peace marches, carrying on effective campaigns through mass media, exhibitions and display of films to create general awareness among the people on the need to eliminate the growing threat of a nuclear holocaust.
- To express solidarity to those Buddhists who live under tension and who have been denied the right to practice religion, and to launch activities to support the resolving of national problems without outside interference and to support protection of human rights.
- To make notable contribution widely based on the Buddhist traditional idea of conservation of ecology and protection of natural environment.
- To disseminate Buddhist teachings, to enrich Buddhist tradition and culture and to expand the framework of activities and to develop cooperation in this regard.
- To coordinate the activities of the National Centers and the Standing Commissions of ABCP, to invigorate exchange of information and to revive, as early as possible, the publication of “Dharmaduta” making it an important means of communication to disseminate the teachings of Lord Buddha and publicize the activities of the ABCP and its National Centers.
- To cooperate and strengthen traditional ties with religious and non-religious organizations working for peace and disarmament, and with other religionists, temples and monasteries for establishing new relations and cooperation with them.
This Conference of the ABCP urges upon Brothers and Sisters in Dhamma to work together and strengthen solidarity for the common cause of Peace and Dhamma.
Ulan Bator
11 September 1998
