The All-pervasive Application of Dialogues

In the Avatamsaka Sutra, all worlds of the ten directions are realms manifested by the aspirational power of the Buddha’s vows. Each world embodies its own form of revelation, and these diverse revelations ultimately culminate in realization. For instance, in the Gandavyuha Sutra, the last chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra, the journey of Sudhana’s fifty-three visits encompasses a wide array of religious traditions and communities. Beginning in the City of Dhanyaka, where he receives instruction from Bodhisattva Manjushri, Sudhana later proceeds to Maitreya and ultimately returns to Manjushri in Sumanamukha. This entire progression constitutes an integrative form of guidance, whose final objective is the realization of one’s own primordial awareness.

In contrast, the diversity of religions in the contemporary world is often marked by misunderstanding and division. The founding of the Museum of World Religions seeks to provide a shared space in which different religious traditions may come together. Within such a platform, participants can jointly study the inner dimensions of their respective traditions, establish channels for addressing differences among religions, and foster a condition in which they may coexist and flourish together. The Avatamsaka Sutra itself presents a comparable principle: within a shared space there are multiple points, each representing a distinct religion, yet none of them is excluded from that shared space. In this way, the Avatamsaka Realm articulates the relationship among religions. Figures such as Brahma, Indra, sages, and ascetics appear throughout the text, and the diverse revelations associated with these traditions ultimately converge upon a single truth. 

At their culmination, all religions return to the expression of loving kindness. The crucial question, however, lies in how this love may be genuinely unfolded and universally extended. The Museum of World Religions aims precisely to manifest such an Avatamsaka realm—in which all religions depend on one another and thrive as oneness, while further integrating this shared spirit of compassion into active engagement in the world. This reflects the fundamental purpose of the Avatamsaka Realm: to recognize all sentient beings as a single community, and, through the experiential wisdom of religious practice, to elevate and expand compassion. Whether expressed as the great love for humanity or the Buddha’s compassionate liberation of sentient beings, these manifestations arise for the sake of beings and ultimately uncover their original state. Such principles are widely shared across many religious traditions. The role of the Museum is to cultivate an integrative understanding, allowing each religion to enact its practices according to its own conventions. Within Buddhism itself, there are diverse schools and methods of cultivation; the essential point is that all may coexist and flourish together. Since religion, in its ultimate sense, is grounded in great love, the avoidance of conflict must serve as a guiding principle. Harmonious coexistence, the oneness encompassing the many, unionized and unobstructed—these foundational principles of religious coexistence and mutual flourishing are, in fact, the very core spirit of Avatamsaka.