As long as we are true friends, even if the friends are far away, it still feels like they are next door.
海內存知己，天涯若比鄰

昭慧法師致詞‧David Reid英譯

Respectful Presidential Palace Secretary general Yeh, Respectful Ajarn Sulak, Respectful INEB guests from overseas, Dear sisters and brothers in The Dharma,
尊敬的總統府葉秘書長，尊敬的阿姜蘇拉克，尊敬的入世佛教協會海外來賓，各位法友：

The International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) will hold their annual ?conference at Hongshi College from now to 3 September 2007. The theme of the conference is “Engaged Buddhism: from Social Welfare to Social Change”. The conference will include keynote speeches and provide a platform for discussion. Looking at the conference schedule you can see that its content is very rich and the conference is something to anticipate!
「國際入世佛教協會」（International Network for Engaged Buddhists，INEB）即將在8月31日至9月3日，假台灣佛教弘誓學院舉行年會，並以「入世佛教：從社會福利到社會改革」（Engaged Buddhism: From Social Welfare to Social Change）為題，展開大會的主題演講與論壇，依大會議程表來看，其論議之精彩豐富，應可預期！

Because of the limits on our college's resources, we Had not dared to take the responsibility to sponsor this conference. But a month ago, Dr Yo and Grace brought INEB co-founder Ajarn Sulak's representative, Mr. David Reid, to express the hope that Hongshi College could host the 2007 INEB Conference in Taiwan.
由於本院場地有限，我們不敢承擔這項會議的主辦工作。然而一個月前，游教授與陳枚槐伉儷帶著INEB會長蕭素樂先生的私人代表（澳洲籍的佛弟子）David Reid翩然蒞院，希望本院能擔任共同主辦單位，讓INEB2007全球大會能在台灣順利召開。

I put forward my concerns that the college was too small and didn't have enough facilities to host the conference. Dr Yo then expressed that the idea of INEB's Engaged Buddhism has always been to promote social change and be critical of capitalism and consumerism; the quiet, beautiful and simple nature of the college actually matches really well with the spirit of INEB.
我提出了「場地不足、場所簡陋」的顧慮，游教授當即告知：「INEB的『入世佛教』理念，一向勇於社會改革，批判資本主義與消費主義的佛教現象不遺餘力，因此學院清幽、簡樸的環境，反倒與INEB的精神較為吻合。」

It seems like the members of INEB are very far from each other but also very close. It is "Close" because even though we all come from different countries, we might be ordained or not, and we use different languages to address different Buddhism phenomenon and social issues, but we all promote the same revolutionary concepts and the same social movement that is based on Buddhist teachings. It is "Far" because INEB members are from more than 20 different countries in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. We rarely meet because of the distance. Amazingly this 2007 INEB conference can actually enable all the amazing members to gather together in our college. Tang Dynasty poet, Wang Bo wrote: "As long as we are true friends, even if the friends are far away, it still feels like they are next door." This truly portrays the nature of INEB conference.
看來INEB各國成員對吾人而言，真是既近且遠！近，是因為吾人長期以來，雖以四眾弟子的不同身份，用不同的文字，關心不同的佛教現象或社會議題，卻不約而同地依佛法觀點，陳述著相同的改革理念，推展調性相同的改革運動。遠，則是因為INEB成員來自亞、澳、歐、美二十餘國，平素海天遙隔，罕能相見。然而，空間的遠距立時拉進：一場2007年會，竟然使得INEB群賢即將相約聚首於本院。唐朝王勃詩云：「海內存知己，天涯若比鄰。」這確是INEB群賢聚首的真實寫照。

The INEB conference will be held at this college, truly exceeding our capability. However, it seems there is a karmic force that enables Hongshi to do something small for INEB. This must be what has been said in "Za Ahan Sutra"- Beings will seek out others who are like-minded.
INEB年會要在本院舉辦，對吾人來說，確實出乎意料之外！然而冥冥中似有一股力量，讓弘誓學團能為INEB略盡棉薄。這想必是《雜阿含經》所說的「眾生常與界具」吧！

So INEB would hold its conference at Hongshi College bringing people from across the seas so close together, isn't it because we share the same faith in Dharma and personality? Therefore we already have a deep understanding of each other. This positive karma verifies that "often seeking out others who are like-minded" is truly amazing!
那麼，INEB在本院召開，四海遙隔而相會咫尺，豈不也因其佛法信念與性格特質「同聲相應，同氣相求」，因此冥契於懷，莫逆於心呢？這份「常與界具」的善因緣，確乎不可思議！

I specially requested the chief editor of Hong Shi bi-monthly periodical, Venerable Shin Kwang, to change the topic of this coming edition to “An Active, Brave and Strong Engaged Buddhism" and include Dr Yo's two articles about INEB to help the readers of our magazine to further ?understand the spirit, the vision and the activities of INEB. I hope all the international friends have a warm welcome. Thank you very much.
因此我商請《弘誓雙月刊》主編性廣法師，臨時將當期專題抽換成「積極勇健的入世佛教」，刊載游祥洲教授介紹INEB的兩篇鴻文，讓本刊讀者更能瞭解INEB的精神、宗旨與作略，並對國際友人的到訪，聊表竭誠歡迎之情！感謝大家！

（96.8.31致詞）