Seventh Buddhist Summit World Buddhist Supreme Conference

In the modern times of the 21st century, the world is getting increasingly chaotic and effective solution is hard to find. The chain of brutal terrorism caused by religious conflicts and the retaliation has expanded and cannot be stopped. Our earth is on the edge of crisis due to a number of factors. For example, nuclear proliferation and military threats are destructive to peace and stability of the world. Looking at our Mother Nature, excessive consumption of natural resources has led to environmental destruction,and climate change, food crisis, natural disasters, spread of infectious diseases are frequently seen around the world. The earth, the planet on which we all live, is falling into a catastrophic state. Science and technology have developed to a highly advanced stage and humankind can enjoy an affluent life now. However, this critical situation of the world is truly serious and disturbing.   

It is only religion that can resolve the present situation in extreme chaos and bring about peace and serenity. Among many religions in the world, Buddhism we believe in, has firmly upheld its principle of non-violence throughout its history of 2,500 years.

Buddhism is truly the religion of peace that brings about great hope to us human beings.   
Buddhist Summit was founded in 1998 in order to propagate Buddhism by Most Ven. Dr. Kyuse Enshinjoh, the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, Ven. Chief Prelates of Sri Lanka, and other world-renowned supreme Buddhist leaders in the world, who worried over the state of the world.   

Almost 2 decades have passed since then and the supreme Buddhist leaders of member countries have made every endeavour for propagating Buddhism. As a result, Buddhist Summit has grown from 13 participating countries and 1 region at the First Buddhist Summit to 47 countries across the 5 continents at the Seventh Buddhist Summit. It has become a global-scale international Buddhist conference whose lofty ideals and earnest activities compare favourably with those of the United Nations. During the same period of time, the number of Buddhists in the world has increased from 370 million to 520 million and the number is still increasing.   

A number of goodwill messages have been sent from Heads of State, national leaders, intellectuals, and cultural figures of various countries in the world on the occasion of the Seventh Buddhist Summit to be held in November 2017, with great expectation and attention at the conference hall of Temple Trees, the Prime Minister’s residence in Colombo. The country takes pride in its long tradition and high authority in Buddhism. It is tremendously significant in the Buddhist history of 2,500 years that the Buddhist Summit Conference is held as a national event under the auspices of the government of Sri Lanka, a leading country of Theravada tradition, in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena as the guest of honour.   

In this Seventh Buddhist Summit, it is hoped that the supreme Buddhist leaders from 47 countries across the 5 continents in the world overcome the differences of traditions by reverting to the original teachings of Gauthama Buddha, and share their wisdom, strengthen their solidarity, and advance forward together with strong passion toward the peaceful future through the propagation of Buddhism in the whole world.   

In 2014, it was unanimously agreed at the Sixth Buddhist Summit to designate April 8 as International Buddhist Day, a common festive day for all Buddhists in order to propagate Buddhism into the world. At the Seventh Buddhist Summit, various ways will be proposed for the sake of young people to get familiar with Buddhist principles and practices. Such proposals will surely make a powerful contribution to the further propagation of Buddhism and bring about fruitful results for saving all human beings.   

The Seventh Buddhist Summit which will be held as a national event of Sri Lanka, the country that prides itself with its long history of Buddhism, will become a historic international Buddhist conference where a declaration will be made for strengthening the solidarity and further propagation of Buddhism worldwide for the sake of world peace and serenity for humanity.   

47 countries will participate at 

the Summit. They include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Congo, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela and Vietnam