Monks and nuns urged to play a major role in poverty alleviation

Despite a busy schedule at the two sessions, Dao Shuren has managed to stick to his daily Buddhist practices, meditating for half an hour in the morning and chanting scripture at night.

The 82-year-old lay Buddhist is the head of Yunnan province's Buddhist Association and has been a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, for 20 years.

Dao said the Buddhist aspiration to "glorify the country and benefit sentient beings" coincides with his duties as a political adviser, as both stress the importance of serving the country and the people.

As a political adviser and religious leader, Dao has worked to promote people-to-people exchanges and strengthen talent cultivation among Buddhists.

In addition to religious issues, Dao, a member of the Dai ethnic group, has also focused on ethnic issues. At this year's two sessions, he suggested setting up an institution to study historical documents from the 1950s from regions inhabited by ethnic groups.

Poverty alleviation has also been a focus of both Dao's work and that of the Chinese leadership in recent years.

"Buddhists cherish the ideal of 'delivering oneself and all beings from misery and suffering', which is in line with the philosophy of poverty reduction," he said, adding that he often travels in Yunnan's impoverished areas, calling on Buddhist temples to perform charity work.

"The monks and nuns have their part to play in poverty relief, such as helping villagers grow cash crops, treating illnesses with traditional Chinese medicine, and raising donations and participating in rescue efforts when natural disasters occur.

"It's my duty to be a voice for the religious circle through the platform of the CPPCC and contribute to social causes with my religious background."

The 12th National Committee of the CPPCC consists of more than 2,000 members, including 65 who represent religious communities, including Buddhist masters, Living Buddhas, Taoists, imams and priests. Dao is also one of the 102 members representing ethnic groups.

He said the CPPCC offers a good opportunity for religious leaders to sit down together to learn about policy and discuss religion, politics and social issues.

"When conducting international exchanges, friendly relations among representatives of China's religions often impress our foreign counterparts," he said.

Dao said he remembers his first overseas trip as a religious representative in 1984, when he traveled with other Buddhist and Taoist representatives to the World Conference on Religion and Peace in Nairobi, Kenya.

"Some foreigners were astonished to see us, as they thought religious beliefs were not allowed in China," he said.

Frequent foreign exchanges have helped eliminate misunderstandings, he said, adding that he now has friends of various religions in dozens of countries.

Dao was born to a Tusi family in Yunnan's Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture. Tusi were tribal leaders appointed to govern ethnic groups in feudal China. The system was not abolished in some parts of the country until the 1950s.

Like most Dai people, Dao is a follower of Southern Buddhism, which is also found in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, India and Thailand.

As a layperson, he follows the "five precepts" according to Buddhist teachings: abstaining from killing, stealing, illicit sexual conduct, false speech and intoxicants.

"The core of Buddhism is to teach people to be well behaved and compassionate, which is similar to other religions and fits with the requirements of good citizenship in the modern age," he said.

"Focusing on similarity while reserving differences is key to achieving harmony. The CPPCC offers a platform for people with different beliefs to exchange opinions while seeking consensus."

According to the work report of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee delivered on March 3, many efforts were made this year to promote religious harmony.