Buddhist Harmony in AEC: Regional and World Peace

On 24 July 2016, International Buddhist College sent delegators and students to participate in the International Buddhist Conference on the theme: “Buddhist Harmony in AEC: Regional and World Peace” which was jointly organized by Buddhism for Education of Cambodia (BEC), Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University, Cambodia and World Buddhist University (WBU), Thailand. The conference took place at Bassac River II, Bassac River II Commune, Chamkar Mon District, Phnom Penh Capital City, Cambodia.

The objectives of the conference were to provide an academic platform for Buddhist scholars to present their papers, discuss and exchange ideas in order to promote harmonious and peace in Buddhism, enhance the unity and relationship of Buddhists within ASEAN region as well as to promote Buddhism around the globe.

The presenters and their respective papers are as follows:
1. Ven. Dr. Khy Sovanratana (Cambodia) “Tolerance and Mutual Understanding: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Social Harmony in ASEAN Economic Community”.
2. Dr. Scott Neeson (Australian) “The Living Vessels of Wisdom”.
3. Dr. Soontaraporn Techapalokul (Thailand) “Towards Peace and Happiness: A Buddhist Economics for World Peace Building”.
4. Ven. Kou Sopheap (Cambodia) “Character Education in Early Stage: A Backbone for Peace, Prosperity, and Harmony”.
5. Ms. Sandy Weiner (America) “Dust Sing Change through Mettā”.
6. Mr. P.B. Tan (Malaysia) “An Assessment of the Buddhist ‘Compassion’ and ‘Wisdom’ as an Alternative Solution to Regional Harmony and Peace”.
7. Ven. Aparekke Sirisudhamma (Sri Lanka) “A Critical study of Aesthetical Value of the Therīgāthā”.
8. Mr. Kazal Barua (Bangladesh) “Efficacy of Buddhist Principles in Strengthening Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) in the ASEAN Region,”.
9. Ms. Nadnapang Phophichit (Thailand) “Buddhist Psychological Factors Related to Resilience of Adolescents in Bangkok”.
10. Ven. Dr. Chhoeng Bunchhea (Cambodia) “Buddhist Harmony in AEC: Its Significant Contribution to World Peace”.
11. Dr. Josef Gohori (Czech) “Looking for Buddhist “social work”: New Perspectives of Social Work based on Buddhist Principles and Practice”.
12. Dr. Tavivat Puntarigvivat (Thailand) “Buddhist Harmony in AEC: Regional and World Peace”.

It was a successful conference with an interesting array of papers on the various aspects of “Buddhist Harmony in AEC: Regional and World Peace” being presented by the speakers. The audience comprising of almost 900 participants were enthusiastic in questioning, sharing of experiences and giving constructive comments. The four moderators also did a great job in summarizing the essence of the papers presented in their respective panels. The AEC International Buddhist Conference has thus achieved its objectives of providing a platform for Buddhist Scholars of ASEAN to exchange ideas and to strengthen their fellowship and co-operation.