austraLasia #1791

Minute's silence for 'Cambodia's Gandhi', Buddhist monk Preah Ghosinanda

SIHANOUKVILLE: 18th March 2007 -- The educational community of Don Bosco Sihanoukville kept a minute of silence to respect the memory of the Venerable Buddhist monk Preah Maha Ghosinanda , known by some as the "Cambodian Ghandi", who died last Monday (March 12) in the United States. Ghosinanda was the first Buddhist monk to return to Cambodia after the defeat of the bloody Pol Pot regime and he began a courageous campaign to revive a Buddhism that would work towards reconciliation and peace amongst the Cambodian people. He was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize (1995, 1996 and 1997) and was elected the Supreme Buddhist Patriarch of Cambodia in 1998. He worked for the abolishing of land mines worldwide, respect for the women´s rights and he used to preside regularly at inter-religious prayers for peace.
    With 200 others he led a peace march throughout Cambodia in 1992 (16 days, 125 miles crossing even territories still at that time under Khmer Rouge control) in what is known as the I National Dhamma Yatra Pilgrimage for Peace. He participated in prayer peace ceremonies with other world spiritual leaders of other religions such as the Dalai Lama and Christian leaders. From Christianity, the Venerable Ghosinanda underlined forgiveness for those who lead the Cambodian genocide (1975-1979) working always for the reconciliation of his country.
Venerable Ghosinanda (Kosinanth in Khmer), was born in Takaew Province in 1913, a province of southern Cambodia. Many students at Don Bosco Sihanoukville come from that very province and some of them knew him personally, a person they remember with love, appreciation and admiration for his humble and kind presence.
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