A World Buddhist Summit solely sponsored by Myanmar was inaugurated at the Maha Pasana Cave in Yangon Thursday in an effort to promote and propagate Buddhism.

The opening ceremony of the three-day religious event, staged by Myanmar for the first time, was attended by Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Senior-General Than Shwe, Lao Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachith, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Lu lay Sreng and 18 countries' Buddhist leaders as well as about 1,000 delegates and observers from more than 30 countries and regions.

Than Shwe said in his congratulatory message that the summit will be instrumental in promoting and propagating the Buddha's teachings and will enable people to develop better understanding, friendship and cooperation among Buddhist nations.

Myanmar Prime Minister Lieutenant-General Soe Win also expressed wishes in his welcoming address that mankind be able to follow the teachings of the Buddha and bring about world peace, justice and prosperity.

Thaksin and Boungnang also made speeches congratulating the inauguration of the summit.

The participants from the 30-strong countries and regions include those from Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, SriLanka, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Japan, South Korea and host Myanmar.

Following the inauguration of the summit, paper presentations by the world Buddhist leaders will be made until Friday and a round-table conference will take place on Saturday, the last day of the event.

Buddhism stands one of the four main historical religions of the world with over 360 million followers. Myanmar is a country with a majority of its population (about 80 percent) believing in Buddhism. It is officially estimated that there are more than 500,000 monks and nuns within nine sects in Myanmar which have been unified at different levels under the leadership of the government's religious committee.

For nearly 1,000 years, the country has kept Theravada (Little vehicle) Buddhism pure and intact. Buddhist scripture learning centers and other monastic education schools were set up here longago.

Aimed at promoting the genuine Theravada Buddhism throughout the world and the study and comprehension of the canonical texts of Buddhism, Myanmar opened an International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University in Yangon in December 1998, the country's first permanent center of higher learning of the Buddhism in various languages.

The Maha Pasana cave, where the present summit is taking place,was once a historical venue for the 6th Great Buddhist Council (Synod) in 1956, attended by venerable elders from five Theravada Buddhist countries, namely Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia to recite and verify the scriptures of the Buddha.

Source: Xinhua