国际联合宗教会（ICARUS）票选佛教获得全球「最佳宗教世界」奖
据《日内瓦论坛报》报导，国际联合宗教会（ICARUS）票选佛教获得全球「最佳宗教世界」奖。
总部设在瑞士日内瓦的国际联合宗教会（ICARUS），基于提高并促进宗教和灵性的融合与交流，今年七月投票决议结果，赋予佛教团体最高荣耀奖，一致表决佛教是「世界上最好的宗教」。
这个奖项是由二百位宗教领袖共同参与国际圆桌会议，投票决定。会中值得一提的是，很多宗教领袖并没有选择自己的宗教，而是把自己手中神圣一票投给佛教，虽然佛教徒只占ICARUS会员的极少数，但得票数与呼声却最高。
国际联合宗教会的研究主管伊卡罗斯认为，佛教能赢得世界最好宗教荣耀，是因为在过去历史中，没有一场战争是以佛教名义而战，与其他宗教明显不同。他认为佛教徒真正实践所宣导的宗教精神，而这也是佛教比其他宗教做得更彻底的地方。
Belfast天主教神父泰德（Ted O'Shaughnessy）表示，他也投佛教一票，他虽崇爱天主教，但内心常深感不安，因为在宣导基督爱的同时，往往在圣经里发现为上帝而杀害异教徒的经文。
穆斯林的神职人员塔尔阿斌·魏塞德（Tal Bin Wassad）说：「虽然我是虔诚的穆斯林，但看到很多个人的忿怒和瞋恨，藉用杀戮方式表达他们对宗教的崇敬，而不是自我调解的途径。」
另犹太教拉比罗宾·山谬·华圣斯坦（Rabbi Shmuel Wasserstein）说：「我爱犹太教，这是世界上最大的宗教，但自一九九三年以来，我每天都在练习内观禅修，并将作为修持功课之一。」
「佛教徒备受肯定」，身为巴基斯坦的穆斯林社团，也是国际联合宗教会投票权的委员之一的魏塞德（Wassad）说：「事实上，我最好朋友当中，有不少人是佛教徒。」
国际联合宗教会目前尚未找到愿意受奖团体，当被问及为什么佛教界拒绝接受奖项时，缅甸翰达比丘（Bhante Ghurata Hanta）表示：「我们感谢佛教被肯定，但此奖是属于全人类，因每人皆有佛性。」
委员会之一的葛力奇（Groehlichen）说，他们将会继续寻找下去，直到找到一个佛教团体愿意接受它。当找到时，一定会告诉大家。
15 Jul 2009, Tribune de Geneve http://www.tdg.ch
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 gun in 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_r_r 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."
