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The 29 WFB General Conference
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s the highest decision-making body of The World Fellowship of Buddhists (The
WFB), the General Conference has been held in Japan three times up till now: the
A2 General Conference in B.E. 2495 (1952), the 12 General Conference in B.E. 2521
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(1978), and the 24 General Conference in B.E. 2551 (2008), each conference successfully
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attaining its objectives. To mark the 60 anniversary of Japan Buddhist Federation (JBF),
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the 29 General Conference of The World Fellowship of Buddhists is being held once
again in Japan this year.
Buddhist clergy from Japan attended the 1 General Conference, held at the founding
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of The WFB, and the 2 General Conference held in Japan provided the impetus for the
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founding of JBF. Therefore, the 29 General Conference of The WFB is highly meaningful to
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us, as it signifies a return to our origins. Furthermore, JBF is The WFB’s sole regional centre
in Japan, and officials of JBF have served in positions of responsibility as Vice-Presidents
and Executive Council Members of The WFB since it was established. In addition, the Tokyo
Declaration proposed by JBF and adopted at the 24 General Conference provided for the
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establishment of a WFB Humanitarian Services Committee, now is led by a female priest from
one of our member groups, as an expert of Standing Committee within The WFB.
The WFB takes a realistic look at the social issues of today and explores how wisdom
and compassion should be manifested in modern society. The 24 General Conference
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events included symposium where Buddhists actively working on solutions to social problems
across the globe and exchanging straightforward views on seven selected topic: Peace and
Coexistence; Social Development by Buddhists; What Can We Do?; Buddhist Wisdom in
Caring for the Dying and Bereaved; In Search of Gender Equality in Buddhism; What Can
Buddhists Do on Suicide as a Social Problem?; Youth in Buddhism; and A Buddhist Approach
to Practical Solutions to the Environmental Crisis. The symposium stimulated thought-provoking
discussions and fruitful exchanges among Buddhist from all over the world.
For the past 10 years since the last General Conference of The WFB held in Japan,
we suffered the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. Buddhists communities

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RECORD OF PROCEEDING | THE 29 GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE WFB
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