新加坡佛教总会会长广品法师
大菩文化福建讯 2018年10月28日至30日，第五届世界佛教论坛在福建省莆田市召开。论坛主题为“交流互鉴、中道圆融”，邀请海内外佛教界人士、学者等约800余位代表出席。新加坡佛教总会会长广品法师出席大会并发言。以下为讲话全文：
This august platform of the 5th World Buddhism Forum afforded Sanghas and lay Buddhists all over the world superb opportunity to share and exchange views and experience in order to better propagate Buddhism.
It reminds me of the great saying of Emperor Li Shimin of Tang dynasty which goes like that: use copper as mirror, one can dress up properly. Use history as mirror, one can understand the rise and fall of a nation. Use person as mirror, one can discover his own strengths and weakness. 以铜为镜，可以正衣冠； 以古为镜，可以知兴替； 以人为镜，可以明得失。
Buddhism has since its inception 2607 years ago widely spread throughout all continents and has flourished into several schools but with common core tenets, that is the great compassion and empathy towards all sentient beings.
The concept of great compassion and empathy has been further elaborated in The Four Noble Truths and The Eight Fold Paths. The correct practice of these will liberate all sentient beings from the great suffering.
In the fast changing socio-economic environment and global trends, it would be fruitful and beneficial for Buddhist institutions and individuals to share our experiences in order to better propagate Buddhism and point out a correct direction for all sentient beings.
To facilitate genuine and since experience sharing and collaboration among all Buddhist institutions and individuals of all tenets, one needs to take the Middle Path in order to harness the desired synergy from all those who are concerned. As the Chinese saying goes 君子和而不同。 A gentleman gets along with other despite having differences. While seeking consensus, one must be magnanimous enough to accommodate different views, thereby getting a more balance perspective of all matters.
To conclude my presentation, may I quote from the Sad-dharma Pundarika Sutra that the sand accumulates to form a pagoda 聚砂成塔 to urge Buddhists of all tenets to work closely together for the common interest of Dharma propagation.
This agrees with the theme of this Forum: Exchange for mutual learning, the compassionate light illuminating the ten directions; Middle Way and Harmony , the great compassion will permeating the Dharma world.
