Pomnyun Sunim Attends INEB Conference

Pomnyun Sunim attends INEB conference: Method to resolve conflict in East Asia is showing benignity

18th INEB conference was held at Hongshi Buddhist College in Taiwan, from November 22nd through 29th. The theme for this year’s conference was “Coexistence: Resolving conflict through showing benignity – Goal for next 10 years for participating Buddhists” 200 Buddhist monks from 23 countries and Buddhist activists joined together to share their ideas and discussed the 10-year agenda for INEB.

It’s been 30 years since INEB was founded. Pomnyun Sunim is an adviser of INEB. The conference started on the 24th, and Pomnyun Sunim prepared to give his speech in the afternoon regarding the conference topic.

After the first part of the conference was over, many people came to greet Pomnyun Sunim. Especially the chairman of INEB Harsa and monk Chao Hwei from Hongshi Buddhist College came to greet Pomnyun Sunim and took pictures together.

Pomnyun Sunim was also greeted by people who visited the conference from Taipei, which is one hour away from the location of the conference. Pomnyun Sunim greeted them and gave words of encouragement to those who were leading the Buddhist group in Tai Pei even in difficult situations.

In the afternoon conference session, Pomnyun Sunim gave his speech on “Resolving conflict in East Asia through showing benignity”

After dinner, there was a small discussion session between Pomnyun Sunim and monks from East Asian countries to learn about Korean Buddhism and Pomnyun Sunim’s activities.

Pomnyun Sunim briefly explained the history and current agenda of Taiwan Buddhism and mentioned that for Buddhism to revive in India, it will require a proper Buddhist monk education system. He also mentioned woman monks, how Buddha himself had the first 500 woman monks, and how there should be a temple built for woman monks in Vaishali, India. INEB monks wished for the health and longevity of Pomnyun Sunim.

During the rest of the conference session, people from different countries came out and sang songs in their language, danced, and performed instruments. Pomnyun Sunim also stayed until the end and enjoyed his time.