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Dear Dharma Protectors and Friends,
Happy New Year. May you be free from the cares of body and mind.
After enjoying the spring blossoms, the autumn moon and winter snow,
the year 2004 seems to approach faster than we realize. Yet, the world's
misfortunes do not look as if they are fading away despite the fact
that lives have begun to thrive. Nor does there appear any sign of
development in the whole world's longing for peace and prosperity
though the four seasons continue to come and go.
I look back to all that has happened over the past year. There was
March, a time when lives begin to grow, but also the time I was
admitted to Taipei Veterans General Hospital due to Chronic Cholecystitis.
I am much indebted to Dr. Lui Wing-yiu, Vice Superintendent of the
Hospital, for removing my gall bladder. From now on, I will be a
"gutless" man! Although I do not have many days left in
my life, I cannot be too careful with the way I proceed in this
complicated world.
While I was in the hospital, news about the war between the USA
and Iraq was continually shown on television. It was heartbreaking
to see the satellite images of Baghdad drowning in the sound of
explosions and fierce flames, and its citizens forced to leave home,
escaping in desperation to survive. The outbreak of SARS in May
caused many young doctors and nurses at Taipei Hoping Hospital to
die in the course of performing their duty. What was worse, the
media did nothing but keep people in a constant state of anxiety.
All I could do was seal the mountain gate of Fo Guang Shan for a
month. While I remained inside the monastery, I chanted during walking
meditation and also while giving classes every night and day for
this calamity to go away and return peace and stability to the world.
It was encouraging to see more than fifty thousand guests at the
Buddha Memorial Hall Foundation Laying Ceremony last January. Some
were curious about why the ceremony was called "foundation
laying" instead of the usual "groundbreaking." This
was because I believe mother earth does not need us to break her,
especially at a time when chaos and turbulence pervades the world.
As the whole world wishes for peace and stability, this is the reason
why I named it "foundation laying ceremony."
The question of how much the construction of the Buddha Memorial
Hall costs was raised quite often. Fo Guang Shan does not have any
consolidated or surplus funds, all we have to offer is our sincere
hearts to the Buddha, hoping that he will bless us with strength,
wisdom, compassion, and faith.
After the foundation laying ceremony was completed, Cardinal Paul
S.J. Shan invited me to the foundation laying ceremony of the Cathloic
Zhenfushan Social Welfare and Community Monastery. I offered a donation
of five million new Taiwanese dollars in five annual installments
as a token of my appreciation for his friendship over the past years.
Fo Guang Shan's various projects are also well underway. As I thank
Mr. Wu Poh-hsiung for offering his old home in Chungli to establish
Chungli Fo Guang Yuan, Jing Guang Ming Temple in northern Taiwan
has also been completed and Fu Shan Temple in Changhua reconstructed.
These two locations will become Fo Guang Shan's regional headquarters
in northern and mid-Taiwan. Also, Nan Ping Temple in the south and
Northern Taiwan Culture and Education Center in Tainan are under
construction. Outside of Taiwan, construction work for IBT North
Island(New Zealand), Chung Mei Temple (IBPS Houston), and Chung
Tian Temple (Queensland, Australia) is in progress. Zu Lai Temple
in Brazil has also been completed. Other projects include the office
space layout of Chuan-deng-lou Building up at Fo Guang Shan, the
preparatory work for Nan Yuan Care Center, as well as the construction
of Fengshan (near Kaohsiung), Miaoli(in northern Taiwan), and Kinmen
Centers. Construction is also continuing on Tashi Paota Temple (near
Taipei). While most of the resources are provided by the Fo Guang
Shan Order, I also try my best to personally contribute to these
temples just like our devotees. It is hoped that these temples with
built-in school functions will offer their guidance to all beings
on the path of spiritual cultivation.
Although physical construction projects are
costly and time-consuming, we will eventually see the results, but
the software development of spiriutal works is a much more arduous
task. For example, A Collection of Contemporary Buddhist Works
Published by Venerables Yung Ming and Yung Jing, the Fo Guang Buddhist
Dictionary and Fo Guang Tripitaka - Agama Canon projects
on CD-ROM led by Ven. Tzu Hui, and the Computer Information Center
directed by Venerables Hui Kuan and Yung Jung to allow worldwide Fo
Guang Shan temples to share the same information resource. All of
these are intangible treasures which we have now.
The Humanistic Buddhist Reading Clubs have
grown quite successfully with outstanding results under the leadership
of Venerable Chueh Pei, a graduate of the University of Argentina.
After serving at the City Campus Temple of Nan Hua University in Chiayi
and Guang Ming Learning Center in Mid-Taiwan , she went on to establish
more than two thousand Humanistic Buddhist Reading Clubs worldwide
by forming an alliance with Hong's Foundation for Education &
Culture PHP, Global Views Monthly, and Commonwealth Magazine.
The Love Is Around Us Charity Book Sale organized
by BLTV's Venerable Tzu Jung and General Manager Chang Zhong-yue,
and also Merit Times Daily News directed by Chief Editor Venerable
Yung Yun are both energy and cost consuming tasks. I am fortunate
to see these young hearts offering their bit of work enthusiastically.
They are like the winter sun which gives warmth to us, and they are
also like gentle breezes which bring coolness to this world.
Among the many difficult tasks I have come across, human resource
issues are the most complicated ones with which to deal. Fo Guang
University's President Gong Peng-cheng left office in July because
he has completed his term as president…not because of the "roast
goat incident" or the unsuitable essays he has presented! I
was happy to see Zhao Li-yin, the vice president of BLIA, Chungwa,
take on this position. Her extensive administrative experiences
and passion for education have proven her quality as Director of
the National Institute for Compilation and Translation.
Chen Miao-sheng, the president of Nan Hua University, has been doing
a wonderful job. Hsi Lai University is also getting very close to
becoming a member of WASC under the leadership of Dr. Nai-chen Chen
and Dr. Guruge. Pumern Junior High School principal Yeh Ming-tsann
not only established a ladies' basketball team, but the ladies'
gymnastic team has also won many prizes at the national competition.
The school is currently preparing to move to a new location. One
other thing, Fo Guang Shan Tsung-lin University now has a new dean,
Ven. Man Chien, former abbess of Nan Tien Temple in Australia. All
of the above are working extremely hard for our educational undertakings.
I am grateful to Thailand's Chulalongkorn University for granting
me an Honorary Doctorate on Education Administration, this honor
belongs to all Buddhists. As an individual, I will continue to give
my best toward the goal of achieving unity for Buddhism. Also, the
University of Santo Tomas in Chile conferred an Honorary Doctorate
of Peace and Philanthropy for which I personally went to Chile to
accept. During my October visit to that country, I gave a few talks
on Buddhism and discovered that not only is that South American
land blessed with beautiful scenery, it is also full of friendly
people and kind hearts.
I went to Brazil for the BLIA Board of Directors Meeting, where
I received a welcome letter from Brazilian President Lula da Silva.
I was also very touched by what Dr. Francisco Baltazar, Director
Superintendent of the Sao Paulao Federal Police said to me, "There
are no Brazilians in Brazil, because most of Brazil's residents
are immigrants. Therefore, anyone who comes to live in Brazil is
considered a Brazilian." Isn't it just the same for Taiwan?
Originally there were no Taiwanese in Taiwan, because most of them
came from the other side of the ocean, and this trend was at its
peak during the Ming Dynasty, an era of war. Up until today, twenty
three million people have poured into Taiwan, they are all Taiwanese
people, but they are also Chinese people. Everybody comes from the
same origin, and we are all fellow countrymen, so why create gaps
between one another just because we come from different geographical
backgrounds? This is never a good thing for a country or its people.
It has never been easy for Taiwan to go far on the international
stage due to its lack of diplomatic relationships. However, Nicaraguan
President Enrique Bolanos Geyer and Guatemalan President Alfonso
Antonio Portillo Cabrera both visited Fo Guang Shan in August. Even
the First Lady of the Republic of Malawi, Madame Dr. Patricia Shanil
Muluzi, paid a personal visit to Fo Guang Shan in August to express
her appreciation to Nan Hua Temple's frequent organization of wheelchair
donations and other charitable events.
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, at its Substantive
Session of July 2003, decided to grant Special consultative status
to the Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA), a Non-Governmental
Organization of the United States. All of these achievements have
strengthened our confidence in the possibility of Buddhism playing
a very important role to diplomatic relationships.
Last year was the fiftieth anniversary of
my propagating the Dharma in Taiwan. My disciples Chueh Nien and Ju
Chang spent the entire May and June selecting two thousand photos
from the past decades and published five thousand copies of Cloud
and Water - A 50th Anniversary Photobiography, each copy weighing
five kilograms. These were presented as gifts for guests of the Ullambana
Festival as well as for academics and friends from the academic, educational
and cultural circles. This was my way of sharing the joy and experiences
from the past half a century with everyone.
In time for my fiftieth anniversary in Taiwan, a member of the Buddhist
Youth Choir, which I founded fifty years ago, Venerable Tzu Hui,
organized "Sounds of the Human World" Buddhist Hymn Competition
to commemorate the old days. Within just three short months, more
than three thousand pieces of work flew in from all over the world,
and eighty finalists were invited to Taiwan to perform their songs
in French, Portuguese, English, Japanese, Cantonese, Hakka, Taiwanese,
Mandarin, and many other languages. The performances took place
inside the Taipei National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the Kaohsiung
Cultural Center, and the Tainan Municipal Cultural Center, and this
event received a tremendous response, thus fulfilling my wish to
propagate Buddhism through music. I was extremely gratified and
content.
Other than the above, I have given Dharma lectures combined with
the singing of Buddhist hymns in Taiwan and Hong Kong for two consecutive
years. By combining traditional Dharma lectures with Buddhist hymns
and chanting, audiences were able to join in the singing and create
a positive interaction, which I was also very happy to see. It was
very wonderful to have Mr. and Mrs. Wu Poh-hsiung, Dr. Zhao Ning,
Ting Shou-chung, Zhao Li-yun, and Dr. Steven Huang sing on stage
with me.
Many BLIA Lay Dharma Lectureres have continued to give talks. Take
Sophia Zhao, for example. On her own, she gave talks all over the
world. It can be said that the sound of Dharma has spread across
the world, and the Buddha's light is shining universally.
Speaking of propagating the Dharma through music, I am very grateful
to Kenny Weng, a Master of Erhu in Taiwan, for spending three months
instructing my young students and disciples on how to play the erhu
so that they can propagate Buddhism with this musical skill in the
future. Venerable Yung Fu also led the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Hymn
Choir to Beijing and Shanghai, thereby breaking down the barriers
of religious exchange between the two shores of the Taiwan Straits.
This event followed the Peace Prayer Dharma Function against SARS
which took place at Nan-pu-tuo Temple in Xiamen last July, involving
Buddhist leaders from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, and also
the 1,250th Anniversary of Master Zhien Zheng's Arrival in the East
Commoration Ceremony, all of which were extremely important events
to Buddhists in China and Taiwan.
Venerable Man Yi spent last year taking notes
on the talks I have given and the symposiums I have conducted. Some
of the topics I discussed included "The Buddhist Perspective
on the Body and Mind, " "The Buddhist Perspective on Religions,
" "The Buddhist Perspective on Women's Issues," and
so on. All of these articles were published in the Universal Gate
Buddhist Journal. In the future, there will be more articles on
issues such as suicide, euthanasia, political human rights, and so
on. Hopefully they will be a contemporary guide on life, and that
they will help enrich today's minds and elevate people's spiritual
values.
In terms of academic exchange, I also interacted with academic leaders
such as Dr. Lewis Lancaster and Dr. Guruge from the USA; Professors
Fang Li-tian, Lou Yu-lie, Lai Yung-hai, Chen Bin, Ma Tien-hsiang,
Wang Lei-quan, Yang Zeng-wen, Chang Xin-ying, and Xuan Fang from
China; Ms. Leneen Forde AC (Griffith University Chancellor), Prof.
John Fien (Director, Griffith University Ecocentre), Prof. Swee-Hin
Ton (Director, Griffith University Multi Faith Center), Phra Thepsophon
(Rector, Chulalongkorn University), Dr. Phra Rajaratanamoli (Vice
President of Chulalongkorn University Council), Dr. Navirro-Rosita
(President, Central Philippine University), Santos-Rosita (Vice
President, Central Philippine University), Kang Woobang (Professor,
Ewha Womans University), Ven. Kyung Il (Vice President, Dongguk
University) from Korea, Cho Myung-je (Komazawa University), Kanenawa
Hatsumi (Lecturer, Seinan Gakuin University), Dra. Marcia (Board
of Trustee Member, University of Sao Paulo), Noral Romcu Roccu (Director,
University of Brasilia Research Institute), Sr. Gerardo Rocha (Founder,
University of Santo Tomas), Sr. Anibal Vial Echeverria (President,
University of Santo Tomas), and many others. The times we spent
exchanging ideas and interacting with each other have always been
very pleasant. I was also invited to the Asian Chinese Writer's
Association Ninth General Meeting at Motosu Temple in Japan to share
my experiences on writing.
Most of the talks that I have given over the past year were based
on the topic "Practicing Buddhism," because I feel that
most works done in the long history of Dharma propagation have focused
on encouraging people to believe in the Buddha or to pray to the
Buddha, and so,the the most basic strength gained from practicing
Buddhism has been lost. For this reason, Buddhism has not been able
to fully interact with society. Therefore, I hope Buddhists will
always be able to keep up with the pace of our time, and direct
their attention to practicing Buddhism with compassion. If so, a
bright future for Buddhism will eventually arise.
The 2003 Peace Lantern and International Flower Expo organized by
Fo Guang Shan attracted more than one million visitors worldwide
during the month and received a tremendous response. The 2004 Fo
Guang Shan Flower Expo has also been well-planned by Venerables
Hsin Ting and Hui Chuan, who adopted an original approach to this
year's expo. While there will be the beauty of stillness, the natural
landscape accompanied by modern technology will add movement into
the beauty of stillness. I hope many of you will be able to come
and see the expo, which aims to start from beautifying human minds
and taking a step further to creating a humanistic pureland, thereby
accomplishing the ultimate goal of practicing Humanistic Buddhism.
Last but not least, may all be free from the cares of body and mind,
with abundant joyful Dharma, and peaceful happiness!
Hsing Yun
January 1st, 2004
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