Mettavalokanaya_Buddhist_Magazine_December_2018.

Dr. Rey Sheng Her
The Director of Religion, Humanity
and Volunteer Development,
Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi
Foundation, Taiwan
The environmental recycling
mission performed by Tzu Chi
volunteers confirms the teaching
of Buddha, which indicates that
the physical world, the human
body, and the psychological
nature of mankind suggest the
cycle of creation. In this cycle,
creation passes through stages
of sustaining and decaying and
eventually reaches a state of
emptiness.
Tzu Chi volunteers have
become aware of the four states
of change through the recycling
mission and, thus, learn to
cherish the life of all beings.
This experience also brings
volunteers to adopt a simple
and frugal lifestyle. The recycling
station provides a setting
where volunteers improve their
health through diverse physical
exercises. If obsolete plastic
bottles still possess merit, so do
their bodies. Volunteers who
are old or handicapped or who
suffer from some sort of illness
reacquire their physical energy
and redefine their value through
recycling activities: this indicates
that a definite connection exists
Healing the Earth, the Body, and
The Spirit of Man….
between recycling and human
psychology. Meanwhile, the
recycling station provides a
home-like loving atmosphere
and comforts people who live in
solitude and sorrow.
The participants receive the
love of a big communal family,
and this love generates positive
dynamics to all of the participants
at the recycling stations. Finally,
the extraordinary character and
philosophy of Dharma Master
Cheng Yen has a profound
influence on volunteers. She
instructs everybody to “breathe
and live in harmony with the
earth” and to “fear to harm
the land where I walk.” Her
instructions and these words
have provided the ultimate
meaning of life to environmental
recycling volunteers. This ultimate
meaning of life suggests that all
beings are deeply interconnected
and unified. Therefore, we should
love and embrace everybody
without discrimination.
In 1966, Dharma Master
Cheng Yen established the Tzu
Chi Foundation in Hualien, on the
east coast of Taiwan. With the
spirit of self-discipline, diligence,
frugality, and perseverance, Tzu
Chi set out to help the poor and
relieve suffering. Over time, the
foundation’s mission started
with Charity and extended
into Medicine, Education, and
Humanistic Culture. Tzu Chi
originated in the remote Hualien
area and expanded to all five
major continents of the world
with chapters and offices in 47
countries. Tzu Chi provides aid
to over 69 nations. Its volunteers
selflessly contribute through a
mindset of gratitude, expressing
their sincerest care and support
to each and every individual in
need.
The shared goal of Tzu
Chi volunteers is to cultivate
sincerity, integrity, faith, and
honesty within while exercising
kindness, compassion, joy, and
selflessness to humanity through
concrete actions. Transcending
the bounds of race, nationality,
language, and religion, they
serve the world under the notion
that “when others are hurting,
we feel their pain; when others
suffer, we feel their sorrow”. Not
only do the volunteers endeavor
to promote the universal value
of “Great Love,” they also
fully employ the humanitarian
spirit of Chinese culture to its
utmost. Tzu Chi Foundation’s
“Four Major Missions” consist
of Charity, Medicine, Education,
and Humanity. Furthermore,
considering ongoing efforts
in Bone Marrow Donation,
Environmental Protection,
Community Volunteerism,
and International Relief, these
eight concurrent campaigns are
collectively known as “Tzu Chi’s
Eight footprints”
Truth and Majority….
Hannah Arendt stated in her
book "The Promises of Politics"
that "Once you introduce the
eternal truth to the public,
it becomes one of the many
opinions and thus the eternal
truth turns into temporary." From
the perspective of Hannah Arendt,
the truth does not derive from the
decision of majority, the opinion
does. But opinion is temporary,
uncertain and varies from time
and place; the truth is eternal,
although it has been very often
eliminated or distorted by public
opinion. Socrates was one of the
greatest Greek sages and was
the most influential philosopher
of his age and in the times of
Renaissance. We can name him
as one of the wisest people in
the history of mankind. Most of
Socrates' works were edited by
his pupil, Plato, and presented
in the form of a dialogue. In the
time of ancient Greece, there
were many sophists; it was the
most democratic age in antiquity.
However, ironically, it was the
democracy of Athens which killed
Socrates.
The eloquence of Socrates
and his cutting-edge analysis were
perceived by Athenians as those
of contaminated young men. His
persuasive statement of truth
was deemed to offend Apollo, the
God of ancient Greece. Athenians
used a very democratic method
to choose 501 jurors out of its
more than 20,000 citizens and
organized a trial for Socrates.
281 out of the 501 reached the
verdict that sentenced Socrates
to death. His friends and pupils
had arranged his escape but he
declined, saying: "I would rather
die innocent and not escape
like a criminal." He followed the
trial's request to drink a poison
and died. Eloquence like that
of Socrates can elucidate the
truth through dialectic dialogue;
many intellectuals perceive this
as the best way to seek truth.
But the truth was defeated by
"Democracy". The collective
intelligence of the public was far
behind the wisdom of Socrates
and, sadly, they collectively killed
the wisest man of their time.
The example of Athens
provides a clear example of
how eternal truth cannot
be determined by votes of a
majority. The death of Socrates
shows us that the genuine truth
shall be reached through debate.
Dialectic dialogue will not
diminish differences but deepen
them. To express the true ideas
cannot reconcile the divergences
between beliefs and ideologies.
Socrates aimed to seek scientific
truth and its objectivity; this was
understood to be the denial of
God. Although he won almost
every debate, his explanation
of truth became the crime of
which he was charged. Hannah
Arendt concluded from the fate
of Socrates that public opinion
cannot replace truth. Truth only
belongs to a few wise prophets.
Therefore, she believed that the
dialectic discourse is the only and
best way to expound the truth;
we should not depend upon the
majority's opinion to construct
truth. Nonetheless, if truth
cannot be understood by the
public, how can one inspire the
public to know the truth? How
will a prophet eliminate the bias
and wrong perceptions of the
public and eventually guide them
to enlightenment?
Truth and Dialogue….
We shall limit the issue to the
ways to diminish divergences and
bias and to elaborate methods
to reach mutual understanding
among different ideologies and
beliefs? Moreover, will there be
any common truth that can be
accepted by different religions
and belief groups? If this will
neither come out through
dialectic discourse nor by the
vote of the majority, how will it
appear? Hannah Arendt believed
that Socrates was the founder of
dialectic discourse to find truth
and that his dialectic discourse
was based on the principle of
friendship. Socrates expected to
build friendships with the citizens
of Greece and not to compete
with them. From his viewpoint,
dialogue was the way to construct
friendship; but Athens was a
competitive and saturated city.
Its citizens were eager to prove
that they were best and on the
right side in public life. It is very
similar to our modern world
in which we all live in a very
competitive and saturated city
and every one of us tries to gain
advantages and promote beliefs
through the public discourse of
the democratic system. The Greek
prophets, including Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle, believed that
to construct a community had to
be based on friendship instead of
justice. The definitions of justice
vary from people to people; it is
only through friendship that we
can build a shared community.
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