International Buddhist seminar organised in Lumbini

By Laxman Paudel,Bhairahawa, May 7: Various national and international scholars have demanded the government declare Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, as a city of peace. 

Speaking at the International Buddhist Symposium organised by the Lumbini Buddhist University on Monday, the participating national and international scholars demanded that Lumbini be promoted as the cradle of peace and the origin of Buddhist philosophy. 

They also demanded that Lumbini be declared the capital of Buddhist meditation and spiritual practice.

Speaking at the seminar 'Relevance of Buddhist Education in the Context of Resolving Global Challenges', they urged the United Nations to declare Nepal the birthplace of Buddha and the country of peace.

They also requested the concerned bodies to include Buddhist education in the curriculum from the school level and give special priority to the study and research of Buddhist philosophy. 

The declaration released after the seminar urged the international community to emphasise the study and research of Buddhist education globally. 

Buddhist education is necessary to build a society with enduring peace and wisdom to solve and mitigate global problems such as environmental crisis, economic crisis, conflict, crime and mental adversity, reads the Lumbini Declaration. 

Acharya Balkrishna and Dr. Bikashananda said that meditation and spiritual practices are the only means for human being to get rid of suffering and urged them to do yoga to overcome their problems. 

Prof. Dr. Subarna Lal Bajracharya, Vice-Chancellor of Lumbini Buddhist University, said that preparations were underway to formulate a new curriculum linking Buddhist philosophy and yoga. Buddhist monks and experts from Thailand, France, the Republic of Estonia, Myanmar, Japan, Bangladesh, India, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Portugal, Norway and other countries presented working papers in the seminar.