Backgrounder: World Buddhist Forum

WUXI, Jiangsu Province, March 27 -- The Second World Buddhist

Forum will open on Saturday in Wuxi City of east China's Jiangsu Province.

The forum, which is scheduled to be held from March 28 to April 1, is

expected to bring together more than 1,200 participants from about 50 countries

and regions.

The Second World Buddhist Forum is jointly organized by the Buddhist

Association of China, Buddha's Light International Association, the Hong Kong

Buddhist Association and the China Religious Culture Communication Association.

Participants to the forum will be transferred to Taipei by four charter flights

on March 30.

The theme of the Second World Buddhist Forum is "A harmonious world, a

synergy of conditions."

The participants will take part in 17 sub-forums and will discuss topics

including charity, environmental protection, culture, music and education.

The first part of the forum will be held at the Lingshan Buddhist Palace in

Wuxi.

In 2004, eight disciples from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan

proposed the World Buddhist Forum in China, which won support from Buddhist

circles in countries like Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The First World Buddhist Forum was held in April 2006 in the cities of

Hangzhou and Zhoushan in the eastern Zhejiang Province. It ended with a

declaration calling for world peace.

More than 1,000 Buddhists and scholars from 37 countries and regions

attended the four-day forum with the theme of "A harmonious world begins in the

mind."