There is perhaps at least one difference between Buddhists and most other people: When they make a declaration, they inscribe it on stone.

Yesterday, when more than 1,000 Buddhist monks and researchers from at least 30 countries and regions endorsed a declaration, they began to engrave it on Mount Putuo, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in China.

They did so by moving from Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, to the nearby revered place to conclude the first World Buddhist Forum.

The religion reached the islet in the East China Sea at least 1,200 years ago and now Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) is honoured in most temples and monasteries.

The forum participants held a grand ceremony praying for world peace yesterday morning at a square with a 33-metre-tall bronze figure of Guanyin forming the backdrop.

They passed the Putuoshan Declaration at the end of the four-day forum, vowing to continue Buddhism's tradition of pursing peace and harmony to help heal a world which they said is blighted by worsening environmental problems, widening wealth gaps, wars and crimes.

The declaration called on Buddhists around the world to strive for harmony where family is in concord, society is in harmony and the world is peaceful.

It points out that everyone has a stake in the harmony of the world, and says that harmony begins in the mind.

"Harmony is the ideal realm human beings have been longing for ... As a great spiritual tradition, Buddhism has been seeking the way to world harmony and tranquillity of mind," says the Putuoshan Declaration.

If every one readjusts or corrects his or her mind to root out "greed, hatred and ignorance," the world will become harmonious, it says.

"A purified mind contributes to a purified territory, a tranquil mind contributes to a happy life and a calm mind contributes to a peaceful world," states the declaration.

Last week, government officials said that in addition to efforts of governments, religious communities could also play an active role in building a harmonious world.

Inscribing the consensus of the forum serves to enlighten more people to work for world peace and harmony, according to Vjamsdbyangs Choskyinyima, vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China (BAC). The forum was sponsored by the BAC and the China Religious Culture Communication Association; and was the first such event in the 2,000-year history of Buddhism in China.

Spokesman Qi Xiaofei yesterday said at least 80 venerable Buddhists and researchers on the religion addressed the forum.

Commenting on a Falun Gong website's accusation that the forum was a so-called gathering of "demons," Qi said the cult had always been antagonistic towards Buddhism.

"What kind of motive does it have to so describe the forum? Where are the demons now that all the participants are respectable monks and Buddhist experts?" he asked.

Source: China Daily