URI’s 25th anniversary year is a good time to remember and invite the inspirations of URI’s past to light up today’s efforts. One elemental blessing in URI’s birthing years was the presence of the Venerable Maha Ghosananda at the first Global Summit Planning Conference at Stanford University in 1997.
The Venerable Maha Ghosananda, a renowned Buddhist monk from Cambodia and international peacemaker, was tiny but unforgettable in his orange robe and matching orange knit cap. Rather than philosophical words, his enduring gift to URI was his sweet presence and his listening, beaming face.
His humble stature and tranquility belied his spiritual and political power. As reigning Patriarch of Buddhism during the Pol Pot Regime in the 60s-70s he literally interrupted live gunfire by walking through battlefields across Cambodia.
Recognition and respect for him was so great that fighters on both sides stopped firing their guns to let his holy peace procession slowly pass between them. His reputation as an intrepid interrupter of warfare coupled with his bright, modest presence among the conference participants both elevated and humbled URI’s nascent sense of purpose.
In the preface to Maha Ghosananda’s book, Step by Step, Meditations on Wisdom and Compassion, Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist scholar in the US wrote, wrote, “If he [Maha Ghosananda] could come out of this book he would smile or laugh with sparkling joy… just to be in his presence, to experience his smile and the infectious loving kindness that flows from him, is healing to the spirit.”
Today, URI is enriched by remembering his sweetness and patient wisdom. “Slowly, slowly, step by step. Each step is a meditation, each step is a prayer, A journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single step.”
Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda (1913 –2007), supreme leader of Cambodian Buddhism in the Theravada tradition served as the Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism during the Khmer Rouge period and post-communist transition period of Cambodian history. His monastic name, Maha Ghosānanda', means "great joyful proclaimer."