WEBVTT

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I was born 35 years ago

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in a Buddhist temple here in Kyoto.

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I was raised as a child
of a Buddhist monk,

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but graduated from Catholic
junior high and senior high schools.

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(Laughter)

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As a son of a Buddhist monk,

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getting educated
in Christianity is very unusual;

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however, everybody, including
my family, relatives and friends,

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have been very supportive of me.

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I have once been to Ireland
when I was a college student.

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As you know,

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Ireland is a religious Catholic country.

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When I stayed at one local B&B,

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I explained about my upbringing
to the lady, the owner of B&B.

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Then her face turned pale,
and she said this:

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"Why are things like that
allowed in your country?

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If you do such a thing in Ireland,
no excuse would save your life!"

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That was her reaction.

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Sad to say, I was too young
to refute her opinion then.

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The Japanese religious
perspective is very unique.

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For instance, many Japanese celebrate
the birthday of Christ, Christmas,

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listen to the temples' gongs
on New Year's Eve,

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and pay the New Year's visit
to the shrines.

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People in other countries may say:

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"How unprincipled the Japanese are!"

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Japanese people generally
are religiously tolerant.

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Our attitude towards religions

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may be similar to the one towards food.

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Take the example of the differences
between Japanese and Western meals.

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Take a look at a full course Western meal.

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You have a main dish
that's the highlight of a course.

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There isn't such a thing as a main dish
in a Japanese meal course.

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Take a traditional Japanese kaiseki-ryori:

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if you look at each one, from
the appetizer through the last rice dish,

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none of them is considered as a main dish.

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Just like the way we view our dishes,

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we don't hold any discriminatory view
towards any religion,

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and we instead treasure
common philosophies or moral values

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that are shared by all religions.

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So the Japanese view about religion
isn't, "Believe in something,"

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but instead, "Respect for something,"
or "Respect for others."

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This is the Japanese style
of viewing religions.

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So in Japan, many people
believe in various religions.

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but we all respect each other's.

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In fact in my temple, Myoshinji,
in spite of being a Buddhist temple,

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we often recite a sutra
to deities of shrines.

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A lot of temples have
a shrine on their premises.

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Japanese Buddhism
is very unique in that sense.

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There are exceptions, but Japanese
Buddhist monks are allowed to marry.

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We refrain from eating meat and fish
during the ascetic training

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and eat only vegetables,

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but after finishing the training, we don't
have such strict principles to obey.

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In Japan, we detest wasting things

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and throwing away food.

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If anybody from India,
the birthplace of Buddhism,

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sees the reality of the Japanese Buddhism,

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he may say,
"This isn't Buddhism, is it?"

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Throughout the Southeast Asia and India,

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in Theravada Buddhism,

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strictly following the principles,
studying the teachings, and meditation

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are what they aim
to pursue in practicing it.

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However, in Japan,

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Buddhism lays a weight
on other daily practices

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such as the commemoration

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of our deceased family
members and relatives

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and teaching propriety.

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If this form of Buddhism
we have established in the past 1,500 years

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is denied to be called Buddhism,

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what can we call it then?

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No matter what,

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there isn't any other way
but to call this "Japanese Buddhism."

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The Japanese Buddhism has been refined,

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being influenced by Shinto,
the ancient Japanese religion,

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and taken in the appropriate form
adjusting to the Japanese soil.

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So the earliest Buddhism

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is different from today's
in its actual practice,

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but the underlying core
of all forms of Buddhism--

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wherever it's in India,
the East Asia or Japan

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is based on the principles of wonderful
philosophy and teaching of Buddha.

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The differences between Japanese Buddhism
and India's reminds me of the differences

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in the tastes of curry we eat and theirs.

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(Laughter)

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In India very spicy curry
is preferred by Indians.

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Curry has also come from India,

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but if people from India eat
the Japanese curry, mild and sweet curry,

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that we are used to eating

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- I'm sure many of you like it -

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they would say, "This isn't curry."

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That's what they would think.

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What would you call the Japanese curry

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that we have become
so familiar with, then?

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(Laughter)

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Again, there isn't any other way
but to call this "Japanese curry."

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The cooking method
and the ingredients may differ,

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but we cook the ingredients
in the curry sauce

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and eat it with rice or bread.

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India and Japan share this style.

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I majored in agricultural science.

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I once had an experiment about curry
when I was a college student.

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I'd like to tell you about the experiment.

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We prepared two separate rooms.

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The first one was made
very hot and humid

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just like the summer in Japan.

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Its temperature and humidity were high.

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The other one was made
into hot but not so humid.

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Like India it was hot and dry.

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Thirty students gathered
from the world's different cultures

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were asked to stay in the Japanese room
of high humidity for awhile.

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Then we asked them
to eat Indian and Japanese curries

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to compare the tastes.

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20 out of 30 students who ate

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both the Japanese and Indian curry
in the humid room

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said the Japanese curry tasted better.

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On a different day
the same group of students

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were asked to eat both curries
in the hot and dry, Indian room.

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20 out of 30 students said

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that the Indian curry tasted better.

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The Japanese curry tastes better
in the Japanese room,

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the Indian curry tasted better
in the Indian room.

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That's the result we got.

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Like this, food is greatly influenced

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by the climate and the natural
features of the place.

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Similarly, a religion is affected
by the climate and natural features,

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and also the history, the culture,
and traditions of its hosting place.

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Religions are refined by these aspects

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while adapting to its hosting country.

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If we could share the Japanese, tolerant,
religious view we generally have,

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with people all over the world,

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I strongly believe that it would be
a wonderful offer to the world.

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Several years ago,

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an amazingly innovative programme of FM

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started at Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.

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The very title of this programme is:

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"Eight o'clock! Gods and Buddhas."

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(Laughter)

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Originally it was "Eight o'clock!
Buddhism and Shinto, come together."

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(Laughter)

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Anyway, I am going to tell you
about this program.

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It airs every Wednesday
for half an hour and it starts at 8:00.

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As you may know,
this programme works like this:

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a Buddhist monk, a Shito priest,
and a Christian minister,

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listen to the callers' personal problems

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and put their heads together
to find a solution for them.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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Nobody had ever tried
this revolutionary idea before.

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We normally see a case

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in which a monk from a certain school
would give an advice to people,

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but that three people dedicated
to completely different religions

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get together to try to figure out
how to solve people's problems

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is a very groundbreaking idea.

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Such advices give the listeners
a strong sense of security, assuring them

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that there are more than one
stereotype solution in the world.

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And this February,

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another epochal event proposed
by me was held here in Kyoto.

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It's this:

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Inter Faith Ekiden marathon. (Laughter)

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Japanese people
are very familiar with "ekiden,"

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and Kyoto is actually
the birthplace of the sport.

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A century ago this sport,
ekiden was born in Kyoto.

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In this religious city that represents
the world of religions in Japan,

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the birthplace of ekiden of Japan,

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people of all sorts of religions
from all over the world gathered

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and took part in this road relay race

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planned only for religious people.

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This doesn't mean one religion
against another.

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Each team consists of 4 runners:

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say, the first runner is a Shinto priest,
the second runner is a Buddhist monk,

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the third runner is a Christian minister;
the fourth one is a Muslim imam.

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With the idea that the same sash
could bring different religions together,

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many teams were formed
and the race took place.

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Today, we often say we need
to sit down and talk

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in order to understand with each other,

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but talking in a meeting room

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wouldn't have much power
to make ourselves understood.

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On the other hand, this kind of open race

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is so clear for everybody to see
and understand with each other

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because all of us become one,
running together in an open area.

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And since there isn't anything
to do but running in the race,

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the youth of religions inevitably have
a chance to play an active role.

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Moreover not only in Kyoto
but also in Luxembourg,

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the race with the same concept
has been held.

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In fact through this kind of race,
a movement for all religions

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to be in harmony with one another
is growing throughout the world,

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In this time of turmoil,

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the people of religions themselves
break their backs to make efforts

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to make all religions
harmoniously co-habitable.

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This is a very important thing.

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Now, if I were to meet the owner
of the B&B of Ireland

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whom I met in my college days,

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I would unhesitatingly say with confidence

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that it surely is important
to faithfully follow the teachings

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of the religion you believe in;

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however, there are
more important things in life.

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That is no matter
which religion we believe in,

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we have to respect and live
in harmony with one another.

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In Japan there are many people
who believe in various religions,

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but the differences among religions
rarely cause any trouble.

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Such a thing hardly ever happens in Japan.

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We often see on TV news

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that a zealous religious group fights
another of a different religion.

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This is happening all over the world.

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I think they are getting priorities wrong.

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The essence of religion
isn't to blindly believe in one thing.

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The role of religions is to help
people live out their lives,

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feeling safe and appreciative
with each other.

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That's what religions are for.

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The essence or role of religion is
to give people a sense of security.

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Therefore, In Japan, we live
peacefully, with a sense of security

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while respecting each religion,

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although we have many kinds or religions.

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Nevertheless, since the cultures
and the traditions differ

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depending on the regions in the world,

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the sense of security
can be gained in various ways.

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The method shouldn't be only one.

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For the past two years,

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I have been invited
to the Vatican by the Pope.

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This April I was invited by the Dalai Lama

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to participate
in the symposium held in Kyoto.

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The religious people in the world
are truly holding a high hope

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for the Japanese views on religion.

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So, from Kyoto,

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a world's pre-eminent city of religion,

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let us call for the world to permeate

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our tolerant view about religion
throughout the world.

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I definitely believe
that when it comes true

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the world will be an even
more beautiful place to live.

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)