The new chairman of
the Buddhist Association of China said in Beijing Monday
that the Buddhists in China are in firmly opposition to the
Dalai Lama separatist group as well as to the Falun Gong
evil cult.
The chairman, 76,
whose Buddhist monastic name is Yicheng, a new member of the
National Committee of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said: "We resolutely
oppose the Dalai Lama's scheme to push forward the
independence of Tibet."
Meanwhile, at the ongoing
annual session of the CPPCC National Committee, Yicheng
cited the Falun Gong as an evil cult and said it deluded
people in the disguise of Buddhism and was in firm
opposition to the Buddhist circle.
Yicheng from central-south
China's Hunan Province, who had become a monk when new China
was founded in 1949, was elected chairman of the Buddhist
Association of China in September 2002 after the passing
away of the former chairman Zhao Puchu.
The dedicated, highly-esteemed
Buddhist sage, enjoying a very high reputation, said the
Buddhist circle should, acting in compliance with the behest
of late Buddhist sage Zhao, do a good job in running the
education in Buddhism and he hoped that the government would
attach greater importance to Buddhism education.
Moreover, a relic said to be
part of a finger bone of the Buddha from Famen Tample in
northwestern China's Shaanxi Province went on an exhibition
show in Taiwan last year in a bid to promote the exchange
along the Taiwan strait, Yicheng said. And a Buddha tooth
relic was recently taken to Thailand for worship for the
sake of enhancing friendship between the two countries.
The government should attach
more and greater importance to education in Buddhism,
Yicheng said, urging concerted efforts of the five major
religious circles in China, namely Buddhism, Taoism, Islam,
Christianism and Catholicism, to contribute to social
stability, national unity as well as the building of a
well-off society in the whole country. Enditem
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Xinhuanet 2003-03-10 22:16:14