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---- 外電消息：佛教獲頒世界最佳宗教獎 (http://buddhanet.idv.tw/aspboard/dispbbs.asp?boardid=3&id=18287)
-- 發表時間：2009/7/26 上午 01:46:30
-- 外電消息：佛教獲頒世界最佳宗教獎
這是一則來自國外訊息，瑞士日內瓦當地報紙"Tribune de Geneve"2009年7月15日報導，佛教獲頒世界最佳宗教獎，原文似乎是用法文撰寫，但是英文版則廣為流傳。以下是這則新聞的內容：
Subject: Buddhism won "The Best Religion In The World Award"
15 Jul 2009, Tribune de Geneve
The Geneva-based International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality (ICARUS) has bestowed "The Best Religion In the World" award this year on the Buddhist Community.
The Geneva-based International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality (ICARUS) has bestowed "The Best Religion In the World" award this year on the Buddhist Community.
This special award was voted on by an international round table of more than 200 religious leaders from every part of the spiritual spectrum. It was fascinating to note that many religious leaders voted for Buddhism rather than their own religion although Buddhists actually make up a tiny minority of ICARUS membership. Here are the comments by four voting members:
Jonna Hult, Director of Research for ICARUS said "It wasn\'t a surprise to me that Buddhism won Best Religion in the World, because we could find literally not one single instance of a war fought in the name of Buddhism, in contrast to every other religion that seems to keep a gunin the closet just in case God makes a mistake. We were hard pressed to even find a Buddhist that had ever been in an army. These people practice what they preach to an extent we simply could not document with any other spiritual tradition."
A Catholic Priest, Father Ted O\'Shaughnessy said from Belfast , "As much as I love the Catholic Church, it has always bothered me to no end that we preach love in our scripture yet then claim to know God\'s will when it comes to killing other humans. For that reason, I did have to cast my vote for the Buddhists."
A Muslim Cleric Tal Bin Wassad agreed from Pakistan via his translator. "While I am a devout Muslim, I can see
how much anger and bloodshed is channeled into religious expression rather than dealt with on a personal level.
The Buddhists have that figured out." Bin Wassad, the ICARUS voting member for Pakistan \'s Muslim community
continued, "In fact, some of my best friends are Buddhist."
And Rabbi Shmuel Wasserstein said from Jerusalem, "Of course, I love Judaism, and I think it\'s the greatest religion
in the world. But to be honest, I\'ve been practicing Vipassana meditation every day before minyan (daily Jewish
prayer) since 1993. So I get it."
However, there was one snag - ICARUS couldn\'t find anyone to give the award to. All the Buddhists they called kept saying they didn\'t want the award.
When asked why the Burmese Buddhist community refused the award, Buddhist monk Bhante Ghurata Hanta said from Burma, "We are grateful for the acknowledgement, but we give this award to all humanity, for Buddha nature lies within each of us." Groehlichen went on to say "We\'re going to keep calling around until we find a Buddhist who
will accept it. We\'ll let you know when we do."
-- 發表時間：2009/7/26 上午 07:42:25
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-- 發表時間：2009/7/26 上午 07:29:52
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世界最佳宗教?
對任何宗教的虔誠信徒，
他所信仰的就是世界最佳宗教。
這個獎項的名稱，
似乎容易引起紛爭。
-- 發表時間：2009/7/27 上午 11:58:53
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簡單解釋這則新聞內容，請大家多多指教：
The Geneva-based International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality (ICARUS) has bestowed "The Best Religion In the World" award this year on the Buddhist Community.
位於日內瓦的"國際宗教與心靈促進聯盟"（ICARUS）將"世界最佳宗教"獎項頒贈給一個佛教社區（譯案：可能指某一僧團或社團）。
This special award was voted on by an international round table of more than 200 religious leaders from every part of the spiritual spectrum. It was fascinating to note that many religious leaders voted for Buddhism rather than their own religion although Buddhists actually make up a tiny minority of ICARUS membership. Here are the comments by four voting members:
此一特別獎項是經由一次超過兩百位來自各國，各種不同精神領域的宗教領袖圓桌會議上票選出來。值得一提的是，雖然佛教代表在ICARU僅佔少數，多數支持佛教的選票卻來自其他宗教的領袖。以下是他們當中，四位贊同者的說法：
Jonna Hult, Director of Research for ICARUS said "It wasn\'t a surprise to me that Buddhism won Best Religion in the World, because we could find literally not one single instance of a war fought in the name of Buddhism, in contrast to every other religion that seems to keep a gunin the closet just in case God makes a mistake. We were hard pressed to even find a Buddhist that had ever been in an army. These people practice what they preach to an extent we simply could not document with any other spiritual tradition."
Jonna Hult，負責ICARUS研究單位的主席，提到：
對我而言，佛教獲得"世界最佳宗教"這項獎項並不令人驚訝，因為從文獻上不曾看到奉著佛教名義發動世界大戰的例子，相對於其他宗教來講，不管上帝是否犯錯，幾乎都有備戰與應戰的紀錄。人們很少聽過佛教徒所組成的軍隊，佛徒們實踐了他們所傳播的教義，這在其他的心靈學說的宗教上比較罕見。
A Catholic Priest, Father Ted O\'Shaughnessy said from Belfast , "As much as I love the Catholic Church, it has always bothered me to no end that we preach love in our scripture yet then claim to know God\'s will when it comes to killing other humans. For that reason, I did have to cast my vote for the Buddhists."
天主教的教士，來自北愛爾蘭首府，伯爾發斯特（Belfast）的Ted O\'Shaughnessy神父則表示：
我愛教會。我們傳播聖經的教理，宣揚了神的旨意－愛人，但每當發生了殺戮事件，對我而言總是感到苦惱。為了這個理由，我把這一票投給佛教。
A Muslim Cleric Tal Bin Wassad agreed from Pakistan via his translator. "While I am a devout Muslim, I can see
how much anger and bloodshed is channeled into religious expression rather than dealt with on a personal level. The Buddhists have that figured out." Bin Wassad, the ICARUS voting member for Pakistan \'s Muslim community
continued, "In fact, some of my best friends are Buddhist."
how much anger and bloodshed is channeled into religious expression rather than dealt with on a personal level. The Buddhists have that figured out." Bin Wassad, the ICARUS voting member for Pakistan \'s Muslim community
continued, "In fact, some of my best friends are Buddhist."
透過巴斯斯坦籍的翻譯員，回教的神職人員，Tal Bin Wassad說明他投給佛教的理由：
"在我獻身於回教的生涯，我看到宗教宣傳大幅強調了憤怒與流血衝突，而較少處理個人心靈問題。但這一點，佛教徒卻能超越了。"代表巴基斯坦回教社團投票的Bin Wassad接著指出："事實上，我最好的朋友們都是佛教徒。"
And Rabbi Shmuel Wasserstein said from Jerusalem, "Of course, I love Judaism, and I think it\'s the greatest religion
in the world. But to be honest, I\'ve been practicing Vipassana meditation every day before minyan (daily Jewish
prayer) since 1993. So I get it."
來自耶路撒冷的Rabbi Shmuel Wasserstein則指出：
當然，我是熱愛猶太教，我認為那是世界上最偉大的宗教，但是老實說，從1993年以後，我每天在進行猶太教的祈禱之前，都先修行毗缽捨那（Vipassana）禪修法門。所以我把這一票投給了佛教。
However, there was one snag - ICARUS couldn\'t find anyone to give the award to. All the Buddhists they called kept saying they didn\'t want the award.
然而，卻發生意想不到的事情，ICARUS卻不知道將這項獎頒贈給誰，許多佛教界人士都說他們不想領這個獎。
When asked why the Burmese Buddhist community refused the award, Buddhist monk Bhante Ghurata Hanta said from Burma, "We are grateful for the acknowledgement, but we give this award to all humanity, for Buddha nature lies within each of us." Groehlichen went on to say "We\'re going to keep calling around until we find a Buddhist who
will accept it. We\'ll let you know when we do."
當問到緬甸的佛教團體為何婉拒了這個獎項， 緬甸籍的Ghurata Hanta 法師表示："我們很感謝頒給佛教這項殊榮，但是我們應該把這個獎頒給全體人類，因為佛性是在你我之間！"
Groehlichen(譯案：ICARUS的會長)則表示："我們要繼續找尋願意接受這個獎項的佛教徒，如果找到了，會讓大家知道的。"
-- 發表時間：2009/7/27 下午 12:13:22
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http://life.fgs.org.tw/content/culture_art_news.php?ArticleNo=24929&news_class=SS05
這是佛光山，人間通訊社的報導，應該也是這篇報導的翻譯吧！請大家參考一下。
-- 發表時間：2009/7/30 上午 09:36:16
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我們很感謝頒給佛教這項殊榮，但是我們應該把這個獎頒給全體人類，因為佛性是在你我之間！"
這話回答太好了