Welcome Address

On behalf of the Central Buddhist Board of the Russian Federation I greet you, the participants of the International Symposium, on the sacred Lake Baikal land. At the present time it is obvious that the environmental situation has become a general global problem. The solving of this problem requires mutual efforts of the whole human community. I am sure it is necessary to achieve the unification and harmonization of East and West. Traditionally, the West is distinguished by developed technology and the East has achieved much in developing moral sciences and the science of the mind. These two directions of perfecting human nature ought to be united. Without such a combination it is hard to imagine that the sustainable development of the society will ever be possible.