| A Phone Call |
| Text and photo by Liu King-pong |
Last year, I was a diplomat based in Taiwan’s consulate general in the sunny state of Florida, U.S.A. My six-year term of overseas service was about to come to an end, and I was scheduled to return to Taipei in a few months. I figured I was going to be assigned to work at the foreign ministry headquarters in Taipei. I can still recall my wife, Jeanny, asking me if I would ever have a chance to work in Kaohsiung, the largest city in southern Taiwan and her hometown, after we returned to Taiwan. It grieved me to tell her that I didn’t think I’d ever have the chance. I started working at the headquarters in Taipei in February 2015, but then they transferred me to Kaohsiung! Believe it or not, this dramatic turnaround in my life’s journey began with a simple phone call. One morning in April my colleague W.X. Qiu came to me and said, “Ambassador Lee asked me to say ‘hi’ to you.” She told me she had bumped into the ambassador, an old friend of mine, in an elevator at the ministry. Since I had not seen him in many years, I decided to give him a call to return the friendly greeting. As we talked warmly on the phone, he told me that he had been recently assigned as the director general of the foreign ministry’s Southern Taiwan Office in Kaohsiung. Then out of the blue, he asked if I would like to join his team. “You can help me maintain good relationships with foreign diplomats and NGOs, such as Tzu Chi, in Kaohsiung,” he stressed. In all honesty, I was a bit taken aback by his kind, but totally unanticipated, invitation. After all, it would be a daunting job to relocate to another city with which I was unfamiliar. Lee generously gave me three days to mull over his offer. After consulting with my wife and my elder brother, I finally made up my mind. I phoned him again and told him that I had decided to accept his offer. I’ve been working in Kaohsiung since July 13, helping Lee to handle all kinds of work. For example, in August 2015 I accompanied him to the offshore island of Little Liuqiu to visit the leaders of the Fishermen Association and exchange views on how to enhance fishermen’s welfare and safety. Taiwan’s only coral island, Little Liuqiu is a popular place for snorkeling and diving, and it is famous for its majestic scenery, such as Vase Rock.
Vase Rock is a popular spot for tourists and photographers on the The longer I live here, the more I like it. There are so many things in common between Miami and Kaohsiung. Among other things, both have a hugeharbor, a laid-back way of living, and a climate that produces delicious tropical fruits such as mangos. They also share many gorgeous sunny days throughout the year. I can even ride my bike to work almost every day, like I did in Miami! This is a true blessing for me! Suddenly, the essence of Mahayana Buddhism—the interdependent arising of conditions and the void of fixed nature—popped into my mind. This tenet, frequently referred to by Master Yin Shun (印順導師), means that nothing in the universe has its own fixed nature; that is, nothing is self-created, unique, or capable of existing permanently. Since nothing has a fixed nature in its own right, everything arises from conditions and is created and terminated according to previous causes or chance meetings of certain circumstances. The moment a single change occurs in a person’s life, the rest of his life will be transformed accordingly. Therefore, life essentially consists of one changing episode after another. It is a condition with no fixed nature, and is thus void. What I have experienced over the last few months proves the truth of this tenet. A simple phone call made all of these significant changes in my life possible. In accordance with that Mahayana teaching, the moment a single change occurred, the rest of my life was transformed. Master Cheng Yen often says that life is impermanent, which is generally taken to mean that life is short and can end at any time. However, her statement also contains positive meaning. If you are not fond of your current job or life, just wait! You never know what amazing changes life may hold for you tomorrow! |
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