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Presidential Address

REV. HAKUGA MURAYAMA
President of the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth

The WFB-WFBY Joint General Council Meeting
7 November B.E. 2561 (2018)
Sojiji Temple in Yokohama, Japan

Venerable, Brothers and Sisters of the Dharma,

My name is Hakuga Murayama. At this time, I would like to say a few words on behalf
the WFBY as President.

First, I would like to convey our sincere appreciation to Sojiji temple, the Japan Buddhist
Federation and the All Japan Young Buddhist Association for all of their hard work preparing
for the special ceremony today. .

The various issues of life in modern society were highlighted in the symposium held today
with the theme “Creating Hope and Life and Death”. Also presented during the symposium
was one conclusion that Japanese Buddhists arrived at after 7 years of humanitarian assistance
activities for the Great East Japan earthquake victims. This symposium was a valuable
opportunity for us to contemplate according to Buddha’s teaching about these issues in life, so
that we can transform them into hope rather than despair.

The special Buddhist event held concurrently with the symposium was a perfect chance to
introduce the traditional Japanese Buddhism to foreign participants and to rediscover common
ground between Buddhism and society. The unique aspect of Buddhism in Japan is its
development into numerous independent sects. For centuries, they all have been coexisting in
harmony. This spirit of harmony, I feel, is something that today’s world community desperately
needs.

For the next 2 years, various activities will be organized and implemented based on the
resolutions resolved in this General Conference. I look forward to working together for the
smiles and happiness of many people, and also to sharing reports on many great activities at
the next General Conference. Thank you very much.

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RECORD OF PROCEEDING | THE 20 GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE WFBY
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