The Role of Religion in the Establishment of World Peace Ven. Master Hsüan Hua Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda To underscore his belief in the central importance of intra- and interreligious understanding, the elder Chinese master, the Ven. Hsüan Hua, invited his distinguished Sri Lankan counterpart, the Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda, as guest of honor at the founding ceremony of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Mendocino County, California, in 1979. This gesture was one of many Master Hua made during his lifetime in his wish to help heal the most important division within the Buddhist tradition, that between the Theravada tradition of South Asia and the Mahayana tradition of North Asia. In their prophetic remarks made at the ceremony and reprinted here, both masters emphasized that, for world peace to take hold, religions must practice peace within and between themselves. Ven. Master Hsüan Hua: The reason for the strife among countries in the world is due to a lack of understanding between people. . . . Religions bicker among themselves because religious people are in the habit of praising themselves and deprecating others, of blind adherence to their own beliefs amidst intolerance of others’ beliefs. Moreover, every religion within itself is torn up by internal factions that set up their separate sects. Pitted against each other like water battling fire, they struggle among themselves, and the result is religious warfare, murder and ceaseless slaughter. This is a great pain in the heart—a fatal illness. Today the Ven. Dhammananda has come to America. His mission is a great one, and he has traveled far. Within Buddhism, let Southern and Northern traditions become one, let both East and West be transformed, so that together we can advance towards the Buddha’s goal and realize the issue 4, june 2004
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