News background- World Buddhist Forum
The sixth World Buddhist Forum, organized by the Chinese Buddhist Association and the China Religious Culture Communication Association, with the Zhejiang organizing committee hosting, will take place from October 15 to 17 in Ningbo, China. The event will welcome Buddhist representatives, experts, and honored guests from 72 countries and regions worldwide.
The World Buddhist Forum, initiated and hosted by China, is the largest and most influential international platform for Buddhist dialogue and exchange, having successfully held five previous iterations.
The inaugural forum, themed “A Harmonious World Starts from the Heart,” was held in April 2006 in Hangzhou and Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province. It concluded with the adoption of the “Putuo Mountain Declaration,” which emphasizes humanity’s eternal hope for peace and the aspiration for a harmonious world, calling for collective responsibility in fostering global harmony.
The second World Buddhist Forum, with the theme “A Harmonious World, United by Kindness,” took place from March to April 2009, beginning in Wuxi, Jiangsu, and concluding in Taipei, Taiwan. This marked the first time that China hosted an international religious forum in a grassroots format across the Taiwan Strait. The participants adopted the “Second World Buddhist Forum Declaration,” emphasizing that “only through unity can we achieve harmony; only through respect can we achieve peace,” urging Buddhists worldwide to embrace a spirit of cooperation to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world.
The third forum, themed “A Harmonious World, Walking Together with Shared Aspirations,” took place in April 2012 in Hong Kong, where a declaration was read aloud at the closing ceremony.
The fourth forum was held in October 2015 in Lingshan, Wuxi, under the theme “Walking Together with Shared Aspirations, Engaging in Mutual Learning.” This iteration featured broader topics, deeper exchanges, and innovative formats, with a record number of participating countries and representatives. The “Fourth World Buddhist Forum Declaration” was released, calling on Buddhists globally to embody the spirit of compassion and mutual exchange, working together to build a community with a shared future for humanity. It also introduced nine specific initiatives regarding Buddhist communication, scripture research, and education.
The fifth forum, held in October 2018 in Putian, Fujian, focused on “Mutual Learning and the Middle Way.” During the closing ceremony, the “Fifth World Buddhist Forum Declaration” was presented, which proposed seven initiatives highlighting the promotion of the Middle Way spirit, the values of compassion and peace in Buddhism, cultural exchanges among Belt and Road countries, strengthening communication in the Buddhist community, preserving world Buddhist cultural heritage, enriching methods of Buddhist outreach, and emphasizing environmental consciousness within Buddhist teachings.
The theme of the sixth forum is “Walking Together with Shared Aspirations, Coexisting in Harmony.” Attendees can look forward to an opening ceremony, closing ceremony, main forum, seven sub-forums, a new media forum, a television forum, a blessing ceremony, and various related activities. The discussions will explore Buddhist wisdom, spiritual values, lineage transmission, scripture compilation, social responsibility, cultural arts, humanistic Buddhism, and the principles of the Middle Way and egalitarian wisdom.
