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National Taipei University x Huayan Institute:

Environment, Humanities, Wisdom: The New Century Sustainable Development Summit Forum has achieved fruitful results

In 2015, the United Nations released 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the Sustainable Development Summit, hoping to propose corresponding solutions to the challenges facing the world by 2030, including environmental, social, and economic issues. In order to move towards sustainability and implement actions and changes, National Taipei University and the Huayan Society have joined hands. The Office of Sustainability and the College of Humanities will be responsible for the implementation. On Friday, May 24, 2024, from 13:10 to 17:30, the first "New Century Sustainability Summit Forum" will be held at the 1F01 Conference Hall of the College of Humanities, Sanxia Campus, Taipei University. The theme is: "Environment, Humanities, Wisdom". All those who care about sustainable development are invited to attend the meeting and work together towards the core goal of sustainable development. The theme of this forum is to discuss the issues and ideas related to "sustainable development" from the perspective of multiple religions. Four experts and scholars from the fields of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity were invited to give keynote speeches. The participants included teachers and students from various schools, as well as more than 140 people from all over Taiwan and various fields. The forum was first opened by President Lee Cheng-chia of Taipei University, who emphasized that "sustainability" is an issue that no one can avoid at present. The forum was originally conceived by Master Haiyun Jimeng, the 23rd Outstanding Alumnus of our school, who hoped to implement various ideas through the power of religion and at the same time combine different religions to jointly propose discussions and guidance. It has then continued to expand so that various religious groups, and even various units and individuals, can move towards the goal of sustainable development. Mr. Wu Baorong, President of the World Huayan Association, came all the way from Hong Kong to participate in this forum. He said that Huayan had just held the "When AI Meets Buddha" forum in Hong Kong in early May to discuss the impact of AI on spiritual life. The Huayan Society has also signed a six-year cooperation agreement with Taipei University to hold theoretical forums and seminars on E, S, and G. It is hoped that through this long-term cooperation, both parties can become leaders and practitioners of sustainable development. The forum was hosted by Professor Chen Junqiang, Distinguished Professor of the Department of History and Vice President of Administration of Taipei University, who introduced four speakers. In the first half, the founder of the World Huayan Association and the mentor of the Great Huayan Temple, Master Haiyun Jimeng, was invited to discuss "The Core Value of Sustainability: Conscience and Neutrality", pointing out how people and nature should develop harmoniously, which is the issue of "sustainability". Since the Industrial Revolution, the social structure has become "utilitarian", leading to many political, technological, and economic diseases, and producing problems such as colonial slavery, ignorant stupidity, and insensitive rigidity. Only by "neutralization and conscience", developing spirituality, and developing humanistic education, so that everyone can obtain safety, health, and happiness, can we find the best medicine to deal with the current difficulties facing mankind. The second speaker invited was Professor Wu Youneng from the National Taiwan Normal University, who talked about "Taoism: Taoist Wisdom and Sustainable Development". He pointed out that sustainability, from a horizontal perspective, is the justice of fair distribution; from a vertical perspective, it is to preserve the resources needed by the next generation. There are differences in the world. The Taoist "return to nature" advocates that all things are born from the same roots, and heaven, earth, and man are one. The natural relationship between "man and the world" is an ethical relationship that coexists with differences. Man is the spirit of all things and should take the responsibility of environmental conservation, so that differences can complement and enrich each other, making sustainable development easier. During the halftime break, there was a 20-minute tea talk, and the participants continued to discuss with each other. At the beginning of the second half, we first invited Professor An-wu Lin, Honorary Lecturer of National Dong Hwa University, who also teaches in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at National Taipei University, to talk about "The Complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism and Its Promotion of Peace in Human Civilization in the 21st Century". He pointed out that Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism all emphasize the activation of people's inner spiritual awareness. Confucianism emphasizes "benevolence", emphasizes human relations, filial piety, and the ideal dimension of inner sage and outer king, and emphasizes the unity of man and the universe; Taoism emphasizes "kindness", emphasizes the constant joy and harmony of heaven and earth, and understands the constant way and tolerates the differences between each other. The complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism shows the "virtue of life" valued by the Chinese cultural tradition. The interaction and harmony of various subjects are the central concept of the "sustainability" issue. The second speaker invited was Professor Chen Jiafu from the Center for Jewish and Interreligious Studies at Shandong University, who discussed "Between Anthropocentrism and Ecocentrism: Christian Eco-ethics". He pointed out that the basic arguments in Western environmental philosophy are anthropocentrism and ecocentrism. The two viewpoints conflict with each other but have their own characteristics and contributions. The Christian tradition attempts to integrate the two and bring out a third route for environmental thinking, emphasizing that humans are the central role of all things. God has given humans "rationality" and they must take on the responsibility of practicing love and responsibility to achieve common goodness, so that the earth can maintain a friendly relationship with humans and play the role of humans in managing and protecting the earth. After the four speakers finished their speeches, the conference also arranged a 30-minute comprehensive forum. Under the host's humorous and witty introduction, the speakers either supplemented the above or debated with each other, further highlighting that Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity are the thinking basis for sustainable development. Although there are differences among them, they are also integrated with each other. All religions are unified, that is, humans and all things in nature coexist and prosper together, and they should be treated well. The summit forum ended in an atmosphere of intellectual and spiritual interweaving, giving participants a lot of inspiration and reflection, and achieving fruitful results. Among them, the sparks of "humanity and wisdom" that were aroused by thinking together about how to create a good "environment" for our new century life are expected to follow each participant back to their own fields, communities and even daily lives, and use practical power to make them shine and heat "sustainably".

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