Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all I’d like to wish the best to all of you and the whole world: peace, happiness, and well-being for everyone in 2003.
According to statistics released by Munich Reinsurance Company, in 2002 alone, natural disasters worldwide, including the widespread flood in middle and eastern European countries, the big earthquake in Afghanistan, and the heat wave in India, have resulted in losses worth 55 billion US dollars, claiming more than 11,000 human lives and resulting in many people losing their homes and family members. Compared to the past six years the situation has become increasingly devastating.
Apart from natural disasters, ongoing wars, terrorist attacks, traffic accidents, and various life-threatening diseases have claimed numerous lives and caused tremendous loss of property, posing a great threat to the safety of humanity. Therefore, we’d like to jointly make a wish and urge every individual in the world to sincerely say a prayer: “Peace for the world, stability in society, security for all countries, and peace of mind for all.”
However, if humanity fails to develop the concept of peace, and to make contributions to the efforts for peace, “peace” will just end up an empty slogan. Our mindset and actions must be in line with the objectives of our prayer. If we are full of ethnic and individual opposition and contradictions in terms of religion, culture, politics, economy, and society, or even, when our minds are filled with chaos and the conflict between public welfare and our personal desires, we will be moving away from our prayer.
Although a universally loving God and the compassionate Buddhas constantly reach out their hands to the people’s rescue, if our way of thinking and our actions are marked by hatred rather than compassionate love, selfish plunder instead of altruistic giving, contradiction rather than tolerance, discrimination rather than respect, suspicion rather than trust, then we are acting in opposition to our prayer. It’s not that God is not universally loving or that the Buddhas lack in compassion, rather, it is us humans steering away from the direction of peace and bliss.
Therefore, we pray for peace, and devote all our efforts to contribute to peace. We believe that our world will witness a wonderful and peaceful tomorrow.
（Presented on January 29, 2003 for the Women's Prayer Breakfast for Peace, an event organized by the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders）
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