Christians and Buddhists may always struggle to see eye to eye. But one man is trying to bring them together with what he says is a lot of help from God and a little bit from Joseph Smith.
Chinese immigrant and Salt Lake resident Yi-Chen says the intolerance and conflict between religions stems from "an incomplete understanding of the word of God."
The conflict is fueling Yi-Chen's founding of a new religion promoting the unity of Christianity and Buddhism. He calls it The Eternal Gospel for World Peace and Spiritual Unity.
Yi-Chen, slow to give too much information, said the complete revelation explaining the entirety of the new religion will be included in his new book, "Holy Bible 3," which is set for publication in mid-March.
"Until the book is finished, no one will understand what this is all about," Yi-Chen said. "This is the revelation regarding the World Religion. It's the big one."
The book itself is not a new version of the Bible or a different translation, Yi-Chen said. It's a whole new message.
"The main purpose of this message is to help people be humble, and not be angered," Yi-Chen said. "We need to respect other people's feelings."
Yi-Chen will be editing and publishing the book himself in order to bypass the month-to-month process publishers require. Because the book deals with the current Iraq conflict, Yi-Chen said it is important to publish it as soon as possible.
"The book talks about September 11 and a lot of other things that are happening right now," Yi-Chen said. "I don't want to make too much of a statement until the book is ready."
Yi-Chen, formally known as Richard Lee, grew up in China under a communist regime where he studied the teachings of Mao. He came to Salt Lake City 13 years ago to study physics at the University of Utah before moving on to study computers.
In what he refers to as a very symbolic and important year, Lee started studying Christianity in 2000. Shortly after, he took upon him the religious name Yi-Chen, a Chinese word meaning "dust."
Since then, he has actively worked on the creation of his book and his new revelation.
"It was like an awakening," Yi-Chen said. "Through the power of God and the wisdom of God I was able to see."
The revelation Yi-Chen based his book on refers to the scriptural passage in Revelations 14:6 that says, "Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;"
That prophecy is being fulfilled now, said Yi-Chen. And he is a part of it.
Yi-Chen said former Latter-day Saint Prophet Joseph Smith is also a part of the religion because he paved the way for the truth.
"Joseph Smith prepared us for the gospel," Yi-Chen said. "He is like John the Baptist - John prepared the way for Jesus Christ - and Joseph Smith gave the prelude."
Yi-Chen said Joseph Smith was only a part of the prophecies found in Revelations.
"For one prophesy to be fulfilled, the prophecies before and after need to be fulfilled too," Yi-Chen said. "Everything has to be fulfilled step by step by step by step. God has his plan and his order."
And he said that plan includes him.
"The teachings of Christ and the teachings of Buddha have remained separate through the years," Yi-Chen said. "I've finally realized that they need to be together to teach all that is necessary."
The scope of Yi-Chen's revelation is larger than life, he insisted. He said people who have been attending his weekly lectures in the Salt Lake City Library are only getting about 20 percent of the news. He said to understand everything people need to read his book.
To introduce "Holy Bible 3," Yi-Chen will be lecturing at 2 p.m. March 16 in the new Salt Lake City Library.
"You will see the World Religion from above," Yi-Chen said. "You must look through the eye of heaven. That's what the revelation is all about."
Yi-Chen said depending on how the LDS culture accepts the teaching, he will decide on whether or not to stay in Salt Lake City.
"If they don't, I have to preach to other nations," Yi-Chen said.
The creation of his new religion adds to the lengthy list of Christian religions worldwide.
According to "World Christian Encyclopedia," there are 19 major world religions, which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups and many smaller ones. Of these groups, there are 34,000 separate Christian denominations.