Messages from Canada
Academy of Wisdom and Enlightment
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE
From Dr. Ching Lo, Professor, Canada
On behalf of the Academy of Wisdom and Enlightenment (AWE), Toronto, Canada, I am honoured to convey this humble and heart-felt statement of congratulations to the International Council, sponsors, organizers and hosts of the 11th United Nations Day of Vesak (UNDV) Celebrations and Academic Conference being held in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam from 7th –11th May, 2014. The International Council for the Day of Vesak, in its consultative status to the UN Economics and Social Council, elevated the 2014 celebration by forging the Academic Conference theme of “Buddhism and the UN Millennium Development Goals”, substantiated by several sub-themes below.
AWE rejoices in these initiatives because the conference theme and sub-themes, which are vital to Humanity, coincide with our vision and mission. AWE has designed a modern Buddhist educational curricula framework that precisely matches the conference theme and sub-themes. In response to the sub-theme of “Buddhist Education and University Level Curriculum”, AWE submitted the manuscript “No Religion is higher than the Truth” which outlines the rationale and guiding principles for a modernization framework of Buddhist education. To address the sub-theme of “Buddhist Contributions to Healthy Living”, AWE submitted the manuscript “What is Holistic Health?” On the sub-theme of “Peace-building” AWE offered the manuscript “How to Transcend Duality” as a fundamental skill for conflict resolutions. Regarding the sub-themes of “Global Warming, Sustainable Development and Social Change” AWE proposed a solution in the manuscript “Quantification of Happiness using the Science of Metabolomic Profiling”. These samples of manuscripts illustrate how the AWE Year-1 university level curriculum is fit-for-purpose towards fulfilling the UN Goals.
We express our utmost gratitude for the opportunity to partake in this UNDV commemoration and to share our ideas on how to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. We thank the organizers for their hard work and wish them every success attaining this milestone Vesak Celebrations and Academic Conference. May the Buddhist spirit of harmony and peace spread henceforth throughout the world.
Dr. Ching Lo, Professor
Principal, Academy of Wisdom and Enlightenment (AWE), Toronto, Canada
