President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said the large Buddhist community has much to offer to humankind at a time when the world today is facing an existential crisis on many fronts, not only strife but also the climate crisis.

”The various schools of Buddhism show the world how to counter narrow sectarianism. Their central message remains focused on peace and non-violence. If one word can capture the Buddha Dhamma, it has to be ‘karuna’ or compassion, which is what the world needs today,” she said.

The President was addressing the first Asian Buddhist Summit, organised by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), in New Delhi.

She said India is the blessed land of Dharma. In every age, there have been great masters and mystics, seers and seekers in India who have shown humankind a way to find peace inside and harmony outside. The Buddha holds a unique place among these pathfinders.

”The enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya is an event unparalleled in history. He not only attained incomparably rich insights into the working of the human mind, he also chose to share them with all people in the spirit of “Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya cha” – for the welfare of the masses,” the President added.

She said that over the centuries, it was only natural that different practitioners would find different meanings in the Buddha’s discourses and, thus, there arose a variety of sects. ”In broad classification, today we have Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, with many schools and sects within each of them. Moreover, such flowering of the Buddha Dharma proceeded in many directions over different periods of history.”

This spread of Dhamma over an expanding geographical area created a community, a larger Sangha. In a sense, India, the land of the Buddha’s enlightenment, is at its centre. But, what is said about God is also true about this larger Buddhist Sangha: that its centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere, President Murmu said.

The President said that the preservation of Buddha’s teachings has been a great collective endeavour for everyone. She was happy to note that the Government of India granted the status of ‘classical language’ to Pali and Prakrit, among other languages.

She said that Pali and Prakrit would now receive financial support, which will contribute significantly to the preservation of their literary treasures and to their revitalisation.

She also underlined the need to discuss the role of Buddha Dharma in strengthening Asia. ”Indeed, we need to expand the discussion to see how Buddha Dharma can bring peace, real peace, to Asia and the world – a peace free from not only physical violence but also from all forms of greed and hatred – the two mental forces at the root of all our miseries, according to the Buddha,” she added.