不丹首相吉格梅·廷里将接任摩诃菩提会会长一职(图)

不丹首相吉格梅·廷里

据《不丹日报》2009年8月25日报道，不丹首相吉格梅·廷里将接任总部设在印度的佛教组织摩诃菩提会的会长一职。

8月24日，由Dr Rewatha Thera法师带领的摩诃菩提会代表团呈交了一份邀请函给不丹首相吉格梅·廷里，邀请他成为摩诃菩提会下任会长，吉格梅·廷里接受了这个职位。他将于2010年继任，任期三年。

首相表示，这份邀请对于他和不丹人民来讲是一份荣耀，在他任职期间，他将会尽其最大努力来弘扬佛法。

摩诃菩提会代表团表示，因为首相还有许多其他重要的职责，所以他对摩诃菩提会的职责只有主持摩诃菩提会的年度会议。吉格梅·廷里主持的第一次会议将会于2010年9月份在印度菩提伽耶举行。

据悉，2008年9月，该摩诃菩提会修订了他们的组织构成纲领并通过一项决议：只有生来就是佛教徒的人才有资格成为会长。大多数的会员都将不丹首相提做会长人选。

摩诃菩提会，佛教国际性组织。原名佛陀伽耶摩诃菩提会。摩诃菩提是“广觉悟”的意思，1891年5月创立于锡兰（今斯里兰卡）首都科伦坡，创始人是达摩波罗，其目的是要修复和维护印度菩提伽耶等佛教圣地及在世界各地复兴佛教。1891年6月派遣第一个传教团去印度菩提伽耶，10月在该地首次召开了国际佛教会议，有锡兰、中国、日本、缅甸和印度等国佛教代表出度。1892年，该会总部由科伦坡迁到印度加尔各答，同时，出版《摩诃菩提与统一佛教世界》杂志。1915年，在加尔各答建造总部法王舍利寺。（编译：子规）

PM accepts Mahabodhi society presidency

25 August, 2009 - Prime Minister Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley will be president of the Mahabodhi society, a Buddhist organisation based in India.

Lyonchhoen accepted the post after an invitation from the society was handed over yesterday by a delegation. The prime minister will assume the post in 2010 for three years.

The prime minister said the offer was an honour for him and the people of Bhutan. He also said he would do his best to further the cause of the Buddhadharma during his presidency.

The honorary post will require the prime minister to preside over the organisation’s annual general conferences. The first general conference that will be chaired by the prime minister will be held in Bodh Gaya in September next year.

In September 2008, the organisation amended its constitution and passed a rule that only persons born Buddhist would be eligible to serve as president. Most members proposed that the prime minister of Bhutan be named as the new president.

The organisation’s delegation, led by general secretary, Venerable Dr Rewatha Thera, said that, because the prime minister has many other important responsibilities, the organisation expected him only to preside over the annual meetings.

The Mahabodhi society was founded in Sri Lanka in 1891, to encourage Buddhist studies in India and abroad. It is also involved in restoring and maintaining Buddhist shrines in Bodh Gaya, Varanasi and Kushinara, along with providing various social services and infrastructural facilities for pilgrims visiting these sites.