Photo by Huang Jin-yi
I wake up after three every morning. The first thought I have the moment I open my eyes is always one of thankfulness. I’m thankful that I’ve lived each past second in safety so that I can wake up to a new day. Another busy day immediately begins. Before long, noon has come and gone; half a day has passed, but there are still many things left to do. When nine p.m. rolls around, it is bedtime at the Jing Si Abode, and it’s time to call it a day. I lament that another day is over and that my life is one day shorter.
None of us knows how long we will live. None of us knows if death will come before tomorrow. All we can know is that time is running out. That’s why no matter how tired I am, I dare not waste a single second. I make the most of every second and try to add the most value to my life.
Life is made up of seconds. So wasting time, even just a second, is wasting life. Time slips by without leaving a trace of sound or smell. Not a single second will come back to us. We must truly cherish time and make the best use of it. Our lives become precious when we give of ourselves. Don’t let your life slip by in vain.
Each day of your life is like a blank sheet of paper. What kind of marks do you want to leave on it? Remember that what you write on that blank sheet of paper every day determines how your next life will turn out. It is therefore important to pay close attention to what you think and do so that you will produce a good script for your next life. That’s the way to pave the way for a bright, worthwhile future life.
Life is short and valuable. We shouldn’t focus on seeking happiness for ourselves, but should instead bring happiness to people who are suffering. I am always touched to see real-life bodhisattvas giving willingly and sincerely to others. “Blessed are those who derive joy from doing good deeds; wise are those who attain peace by being understanding toward others.” When you give willingly and expect nothing in return, when you create blessings for the world every day, you are living the most grounded and valuable life.
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Pillars featuring national flags stand at the entrance of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, where representatives from 195 countries gathered to develop a global climate agreement. Photo by Qiu Yao-yang
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Man-made and natural disasters
We have left 2015 behind and entered 2016. As we look back on the past year, we find many people suffering. In Iraq, violent clashes and terrorist attacks took away at least 7,500 lives. In Lebanon, a million Syrian refugees endured a bone-chilling snowy winter in flimsy tents. My heart really goes out to the refugee children. They have seen and been through so much since fleeing from the war in their home country. What will the cruelty and relentlessness of war do to them? Will rancor or hatred build up in their hearts? How will they dissolve it?
Besides man-made disasters, frequent natural disasters brought on by erratic climates are also worrisome. From November 30 to December 12, 2015, representatives from 195 nations gathered in Paris for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The participating countries reached a consensus to reduce carbon emissions as one of the methods for decreasing greenhouse gases. Eating vegetarian was among the measures proposed by some participants.
In order to satisfy people’s demand for meat, humans raise animals on a massive scale, which produces substantial greenhouse gases and hastens global warming. Like us humans, animals are afraid of being killed and may even harbor hatred as they are slaughtered. I urge everyone to rein in their appetite for meat so that fewer animals will need to be raised and killed.
Eating vegetarian not only leads to a cleaner Earth, but it also nurtures kindness in us. It enables us to form good affinities with all living creatures and thus create a cycle of goodness. Let us adopt a vegetarian diet and do the world a good turn.
In the Lotus Sutra there is the Parable of the Burning House, which tells of a father who is distraught as his children merrily play, unaware that their house is on fire. He urges his children to escape, but to no avail. Then the father lures them out with the promise that he has a sheep-drawn cart, a deer-drawn cart, and an ox-drawn cart waiting for them outside. With that, the children finally leave the house and escape the danger. The world we live in is like a house on fire. If we don’t come to our senses and change our mindsets and lifestyles, it will be difficult to slow down global warming. Then how will we avert danger and live in safety and peace?
Many people like to go to temples to pray for safety, health, and longevity. But in fact, the best way to ensure those things is by respecting life and cherishing all things, thus contributing to the peace and safety of the Earth and all that lives on it. Environmental protection and vegetarianism can mitigate disasters. I hope everyone will lead an eco-friendly life and go vegetarian for the sake of the world and future generations.
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Gaotai Junior High School is one of the five schools in Pingdong County in which old classrooms have been rebuilt by Tzu Chi. Photo by Yan Lin-zhao
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School reconstruction
Tzu Chi is currently implementing a project to rebuild old buildings at 21 schools in Taidong, Hualien, Pingdong, and Kaohsiung, in eastern and southern Taiwan.
Sixteen years ago, on September 21, 1999, a major earthquake devastated central Taiwan, destroying many school buildings. It exposed the problem of old, unsafe construction in many schools. It was a good thing that the quake hit in the middle of the night, when classes were not in session; otherwise the consequences could have been more severe. After the temblor, Tzu Chi launched Project Hope and helped rebuild 51 schools, using steel-reinforced concrete to strengthen the new buildings and make them more quake resistant. Although that building method pushed the cost to billions of Taiwanese dollars, I believed it was necessary because schools, like hospitals, are important and must withstand all disasters.
The hope of society lies in its children. A safe learning environment is essential. That’s why Tzu Chi put in so much effort to carry out Project Hope. Now we’ve gone one step further and are helping to make 21 more campuses safer. We hope to be prepared for disasters. Even if we can’t stop a natural calamity from happening, we can at least take precautions so that injuries, casualties, and damage can be reduced to the barest minimum, or ideally to zero.
When I traveled to a Tzu Chi office in southern Taiwan two years ago, a commissioner told me that many school buildings in Pingdong were unsafe for occupancy. I was worried when I heard that. Taiwan is located on a seismic belt. If a strong tremor should strike during class, the damage and loss of lives could be great. When I returned to Hualien, I asked staff members from our construction department to carry out an inspection in Pingdong. They found five schools with old buildings that badly needed repair or reconstruction. Rebar was exposed in some places, and chunks of concrete would fall off at a mere touch.
To protect the lives of our younger generation, Tzu Chi and the Pingdong county government signed a contract in 2014 to dismantle dangerous school buildings and build new ones. After one and a half years’ work, the construction is nearly complete. School principals told me that teachers and students will be able to move into the new buildings after the winter break. This has put the minds of teachers and parents at ease and made students happy.
This is an instance of how Tzu Chi has helped safeguard Taiwan over the past five decades. Out of a deep love for Taiwan, we feel a sense of mission and responsibility toward caring for this piece of the Earth.
Tzu Chi will enter its 51st year on April 30 (March 24 on the lunar calendar) this year. Since the day we were founded, we have paved our path with love. Our foundation started with me encouraging 30 housewives to each save 50 Taiwanese cents from their daily grocery money and put it in bamboo coin banks to help others. Though that wasn’t much money, it enabled those early followers of mine to live out Great Love. I believe that if every one of us can put our love into action and encourage and help each other to give, the combined strength will be like that of Guan Yin—the bodhisattva with a thousand eyes to see the suffering in the world and a thousand hands to reach out and help—and we’ll be able to spread love to every dark corner of the world.
It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor. As long as we have love in our heart, we can all help others. When there are more good people in the world, more blessings will be created, and our world will enjoy more peace and suffer less discord.
Tzu Chi has remained faithful to its original commitment for the past 50 years, paving every step of its way with love and compassion. Originating in Hualien, Taiwan, we have reached over 90 countries around the world and extended care to countless suffering people. In so doing, we have allowed the love of Taiwan to be known in many places in the world.
I hope every volunteer continues to diligently walk the Tzu Chi Path. How can we help our foundation to stand strong and pass on the Tzu Chi spirit to more people? Each of us must stay true to the Buddha’s teachings as well as our guiding principles of sincerity, integrity, good faith, and honesty. In so doing, the dust of affliction won’t sully our minds when we go among the needy to serve. We must practice moral discipline, develop an unperturbed mindset, cultivate wisdom, and live out the Four Immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. That way, when we try to do good for mankind, we also help ourselves improve. Then we have the strength to keep going and inspire more people to join us.
Recording beauty and goodness
In his 2015 year-end address, Pope Francis called on the media to tell more positive, inspirational stories to counterbalance all the evil, violence, and hate in the world. Noting what a difficult year the world had in 2015, with all the “violence, death, [and] unspeakable suffering by so many innocent people,” the Pope urged the media to reflect on itself and give more space to news that is beneficial to the world.
With today’s technology anyone can easily post messages on the Internet. But how many people who do so take the time to check whether the messages are true or fabricated? Do they ever ponder if the messages they post are beneficial to society? If people do not verify the messages they spread, or if they intentionally disseminate inaccurate messages, it can lead to disturbances in society.
The frequent disasters that have beset the world are actually triggered by people’s unbalanced minds and wayward thoughts. I hope everyone harbors good thoughts and tries to do the world good instead of harm.
The ignorance and turbidity in people’s minds can be cleansed with the purifying water of the Buddha’s teachings and the wholesome messages which Tzu Chi’s cultural mission aspires to spread. When our Tzu Chi Monthly was launched on July 20, 1967, Master Yin Shun [Master Cheng Yen’s mentor] wrote an article for it, urging people to give to the needy, to “live out the Buddha’s compassion and emulate Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s virtuous deeds.” It was the beginning of our cultural mission. To further advance our mission, Da Ai TV went on the air on January 1, 1998. Over the last 18 years, Da Ai TV has been highlighting the good that is being done in society and guiding the public to a more informed perspective on important issues. It has been striving to bring out the love in people by spreading positive messages, such as “Never delay in practicing filial piety and doing good deeds.”
I expect our cultural mission to be like a purifying, nourishing stream for the world. The responsibility of our work is to transform and purify human minds and bring peace and harmony to society. I’m grateful to all the staff and volunteers of the mission of culture for giving the public more exposure to the positive, heartwarming side of society. They document the beauty and goodness of our times, which can also serve as a good moral education for our younger generations.
Goodness is innate in all of us. Let us start with ourselves by activating our goodness, and then inspire those around us to act out theirs too. When we do good for the benefit of others and encourage each other to do so, our world will be blessed indeed.
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Participants of a Tzu Chi study group in Japan study the Tzu Chi Monthly. The launch of the periodical in 1967 was the beginning of the foundation’s cultural mission. Photo by Yan Lin-zhao
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Three wishes
Half a year has passed since the water park explosion in northern Taiwan. Many victims are still working hard on rehabilitation, and our volunteers continue to accompany them. Some of the victims came to our year-end blessing ceremonies this year, and a number of them went on stage to share what they went through after the tragic incident. They also expressed their gratitude to the medical teams that had cared for them and to the general public that had been so kind to them. I found that instead of closing themselves up, they were very positive and strong in the face of their life’s challenges.
Many people were seriously injured in the explosion. The disaster was a big blow to Taiwan. But amidst the hardships, our society came together to help the survivors, and medical facilities put in their best efforts to save lives. Together, the medical workers pulled off what professionals in other countries described as a miracle. Our island, rich in goodness and love, is truly blessed.
Twenty years ago, I first made these three New Year’ wishes: “May people’s minds be purified, may society be harmonious, and may there be no calamities in the world.” These have been my wishes every year since then. As the old year is left behind, let’s bid it farewell with a heart of gratitude and usher in the new year with a heart of pious sincerity.
Let us be sincere in all dealings with people and events and strive to get along well with others. When we can do that, we’ll help bring harmony to society. If everyone is kind and loving, every day will be a peaceful day, and we will all enjoy a good year filled with blessings and wisdom. Let us be ever more mindful.
(This article is excerpted from a series of speeches delivered by Master Cheng Yen from January 1 to 17, 2016.)
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