2005.12.31
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Awarded “Pt. Moti Lal Nehru National Award For Peace, Tolerance And Harmony”

2005, (At the age of 57)

  • In January, Master Hsint-tao initiated an fundraising activity in a united way to construct “Home of Eternal Love” in Sri Lanka for the victims of tsunami in South Asia. Various religious organizations and government organizations participated together in this activity, such as, “Inter-religious Assistance to South Asia”, “United Way”, I-Kuan Tao Association, Federation of Taiwan Presbyterian Church, the Catholic Caritas, the Chong-hua Tien-ti Teaching, Taiwan Association Baha'i, Chinese Muslim Association, the Chinese Taoist Association and the China Buddhist Association, around nine different religious groups.
     
  • In March, Master Hsin-tao went to United States to preach the dhamma. During this visit, he also went New Mexico to visit a local Indian Reservation Land where he praised the concept of how Indian respect the natural civilization, Master Hsin-tao emphasized the spirits of MWR, such as “Respect, Tolerance, Love”.
     
  • In April, went to La-shio, Myanmar (Burma), to receive the land which was donated by the chief of the village and organized land donation ceremony. This land will be used to build Sramanera center (Novice Monk School), Buddha Seeds cultivation and Organic Farm, the Ling Jiou Mountain will put every panney into implementation step by step.
     
  • In May, on the invitation of China Heritage Foundation, together with educator and curator Han Pao-teh, of MWR, he went to visit Dung-huang Mogao Grottoes and Zhang-ye Grand Buddha Monastery and Buddhist shrine. In this Monastery he paid his homage to “Mahā-Prajnāpāramitā Sutra” and other Buddhist scriptures inside the Monastery. After that he was invited to participate as distinguished guest in “Great Relic Mahāpujā” in Bangkok, Thailand. Latter, he delivered lecture on “The Similarities and Difference between Taiwanese Buddhism and Early Buddhism” in Nakhon Rajamangala University, Khon Kaen province, Thailand.
     
  • In June, Master Hsin-tao led the members and representatives of Presbyterian Church, I-Kuan Tao, Tien-ti religion and others to Sri Lanka, to participate in the inauguration ceremony of “Home of Eternal Love” which was built for the victims of tsunami in South Asia. The “Home of Eternal Love” was built with the cooperation of nine different organizations including different religious and government organizations. He was awarded by “Outstanding Contribution to the Propagation of Buddhism Award”, Sri Lankan Highest honor for a Buddhist leader. This award was given by the President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa.    
     
  • In August, the Indian Islamic organization “Inter Faith Harmony Foundation”, awarded Master Hsin-tao with “Pt. Moti Lal Nehru National Award for Peace, Tolerance and Harmony” in recognition of the contribution made to promote world peace. This award was presided over by former Indian President Narayanan. In the same month, he received “Sri Mahā Bodhi Sapling” from Sri Lanka. Master Hsin-tao conducted “Mahābodhi Mahāpujā” at Wu Sheng Monastery to plant it on Ling Jiou Mountain.
     
  • In September, he was invited by Peking University in China, to deliver a keynote speech “From Inner Observation to the Avatamaskā World – Sharing the Perspective of Ling Jiou Mountain culture and International developments”. After the meeting, the Department of Philosophy, Peking University signed a memorandum of cooperation on “Religious Dialogue Seminar”.
     
  • In November, invited to participate in international conference on “Mysticism and Peace” in Switzerland. After this conference he moved to Morocco to participate in “Muslim Buddhist Dialogue ── Religion and Society”. In the same month, the Wu Sheng Monastery of Ling Jiou Mountain and “Elijah Interfaith Institute” Alon Goshen-Gottstein of Israel together co-hosted the Second Conference of World Religious Leaders. The issue of this conference focuses on “ The Crisis of The Holy Place”. There were sixty religious leaders and representatives from all over the world participated in this conference.
     
  • In December, Master Hsin-tao was invited to Bilbao, Spain to participate in conference which was organized by an UNESCO branch organization “International Catholic Movement” for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs. The international conference focused on “Facing A New Challenge in the World of Desire for Peace” and he presented his idea on “The Opportunity and Threat of Religious and Cultural Interaction in the Era of interdependence”.