The 3rd International Conference on Raimon Panikkar was held in Seoul, Korea, on June 7-9, 2007 hosted by Yonsei University and Sogang University. The theme of the conference was “Religious Dialogue, Cultural Harmony and Sacred Secularity: Raimon Panikkar’s Thoughts and His Contributions.
Dr. Sang Kuen Kim of the College of Theology at Yonsei University acted as the local organizer of the conference. The conference began with Dr. S.K. Somaiya’ congratulatory remarks, after which Milena Carrara read out Raimon Panikkar’s greeting letter on his behalf, as he was not able to attend the meeting. This was followed by the projection of the video “the Nine Sutras of Peace”, an interview with Panikkar conducted by Francis X D’sa. The first day session was held at Yonsei University College of Theology and the paper presenters were Donald Dawe, Roger Rapp, Francis D’sa, Charlotte Sunde, Michiko Yusa, Paulo Barone, Anselm Min and Young-chan Ro. The presenters focused on the influence of Panikkar on American Protestantism, his idea of symbol, concept of time, natural sanctuary, ontology and mysticism, etc. The second day session was held at Sogang University and the presenters were Sung-Hae Kim, Kala Acharya, Fabrice Dubosc, Jangsaeng Kim, Bernard Senecal, Jae Dong Ryu and Myung Kwon Lee. The subects covered on the second day included the Buddhist concept of suffering as religious dialogue, the therapeutic implication of Panikkar’s intercultural dialogue, spirituality and intercultural dialogue, etc. Chairing the discussions were Kang-nam Oh, John B. Burns, Chaeyoung Kim, Un-Sunn Lee and Seng Keun Kim. On the last day of the conference the participants all went on an excursion to a Buddhist temple outside Seoul.