DHARMA MASTER HSIN TAO: Buddhist monk from Taiwan & founder of the Global Family for Love and Peace: Hello, everyone. I wish all with good luck and harmony. We know education is very crucial to a society, an education of believe culture, for instance the culture of Christianity. Every faith has its own ethical and moral values - love the society, love the people. Keep the society in harmony, violence-free, through respect, tolerance and compassion. It’s good to start off with such mentality. In a Buddhist country, Buddhism educates people, from children to families, from society to whole country. This education system maintains the nation’s harmony and stability to be free from violence and killing. Religious education becomes a protection for its national ethics and morality. We shall make good use of religion to inspire people, to create a violence-free and stress-free society. This is a task that each religious culture should work hard for. Especially, religions provide a spiritual guidance. Do not live mainly to consume, but live a simple and plain life. It’s a way to be friendly to the earth, to save energy, to practice environmental protection. Although 2012 was a year of disaster, it seemed yet it did not happen. We know we are all safe and we are very blessed for the safety we have. We are also blessed that we can create a violence-free and stress-free society that would have to begin with spirituality. With respect, forgiveness and humbleness, our spirituality maintains in harmony. We have to restrain our desire. Let it not become unstable due to our consumption. Human kind has enormous stress and violence. Only through spirituality and by elevating it, we can maintain the safety of society and the earth. I wish you all together we create a violence-free and stress-free society.
GURUDEV SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR: The Dharma Master has been with us from a long time. He has created this world museum of religions. He is one of the pioneers who bring, in China and Taiwan, people from all religions together, giving them the message of spirituality. Spirituality is the essence of all religions. That’s wonderful to have him with us today.
