News from the Dharma Realm

Continued from last issue's account of the Opening Ceremonies for The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, the morning of November 4, 1979.

5. Wang Te Fu, Former Minster of Interior of the Republic of China:

I am very happy to have the opportunity to participate in this important occasion. I believe this year's opening of the light will prove to be an event of major importance in the beginning of the flourishing of Buddhism in the West. Furthermore, for Buddhism to flourish in the West, in the religious sphere, is the greatest event in modern history, and is also the symbol of the bright future and good fortune for humankind. In the world, among many problems, the problem of religion is a major one. History records how the spirits of the various religions have had worldwide influence, and this contributes to the development of Buddhism here in the West. This event is also an indication of the future union of all the religions of the world. We talk of world unity, and religious unity is the stairway to world unity, all joining forces to work together so that religious unity and world unity become accomplished facts. We see the Sino American Buddhist Association is establishing a World Religions Center for the investigation of all the religions of the world. This Center is vast in concept, and will play a brilliant role in the future. Today the event in which we are participating is the symbol of world peace and the great union of the religions of the world.

6. Carol Ruth Silver, Member of the Board of Supervisors for the County of San Francisco, and Founding Trustee of Dharma Realm Buddhist University:

Venerable Masters, monks, nuns, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Friends, and atheists, it is a great, great pleasure for me to be here in Ukiah under the clouds and rain to help to open up this wonderful new institution in the United States. This is a momentous occasion as I think we all know, not only for Ukiah, not only for California, but in the whole Western Hemisphere of the world this will be the first real institution for the full study of Buddhism, and it will bring a new flavor of Buddhism a11 over the world in the East and the West. It will bring American thoughts and ways to the ancient Buddhist tradition, which has really not melded yet except perhaps in some parts of San Francisco tradition. So it is with great pleasure that I am here today, and I listened with great pleasure to the words of the Venerable Master from Malaysia who said that government cannot bring peace to the world, and religion cannot bring peace to the world, and only when the two come together can we have any hope. And only if we bring' peace to the world, only if in our generation we solve the problems of nuclear war, of starvation, will we be able to hand on to our children a world that is worth handing on. And when the Venerable Abbot says that today I should shave my head, I tell him that I have many more things to do in the world. But there will come a time when in the Western tradition we say that it will be time for a new career, and in the traditions of Buddhism it will be time to set aside worldly things and to seek the inner life of the spirit. And when the time comes, I am going to be even more grateful that this University will exist, and I will have the opportunity, as many others will have the opportunity, to come here to study, to reflect, to meditate, and to seek wholeness with the one and the universe.

Thank you very, very much.

7. Venerable Dharma Master Wu Ming:

Chancellor and Trustees of Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Venerable Masters and Dharma Masters, Lay people, and Officers of Dharma Realm Buddhist University, today is the combined celebration of the opening of Dharma Realm Buddhist University and the opening of the light on Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, and I feel very honored to say a few words to all of you. In our present age, human kind needs education. If the level of education is high, then the level of our knowledge will be high, and what we do win be just, not prejudiced but very egalitarian, Moreover, Dharma Realm Buddhist University is a Buddhist University and incorporates a religious way of thinking and therefore the students it trains will be most even minded, upright, and unprejudiced the very opposite of extremists. In that ray they will greatly benefit the world, the country, society, and all humanity. Due to considerations of time I shall simply conclude with the wish that all who participate in these celebrations will be well in body and mind and grow in wisdom.