Mettavalokanaya_Buddhist_Magazine_December_2018.

Most Vene. Master Shih Ching Yao
Founder - International Buddha’s
Day Festival, President - Buddhist
Association of New Taipei City,
President - China International
Offering Ceremony to All Buddha’s
and Sangha’s Association (CIBSA),
Chief Master, Abbot & President of
the CI-FA Buddhist Temple in Taiwan
More than 2,500 years ago, Prince
Siddhārtha was born on earth and
became fully enlightened as a Buddha.
With the intent to let more people
come to know Buddha and acquainted
themselves up with Buddha's teachings,
New Taipei City Buddhist Association
has managed to incorporate temples
and organizations from all parts of
Taiwan to organize a grand series of
celebrations of the Buddha Day. The First
International Buddha Day Forum is part
of this series of celebrations. This forum
has invited many distinguished elder
masters, Buddhist monks and nuns,
laymen and laywomen from Taiwan and
all around the world to come together
to witness and remember the kindness
of the Buddha and the immense
kindness of our parents. Through the
discussions at this forum we hope to
explore ways to unite Buddhists and
Buddhist organizations from all parts of
the world. Together we can propagate
Buddha's teaching to the whole world
and to foster world peace.
Buddha's birthday, also known as
the bathing Buddha festival, is organized
every year to commemorate the
birthday of Buddha. The true purpose of
bathing the Buddha is to purify our own
body, speech and mind by removing
greed, hatred and illusion from our
minds. When we wholeheartedly bath
the statue of Prince Siddhārtha with
clean water, we remind ourselves to do
three good things: do good deeds, speak
good words and think good thoughts. By
Buddha in The Human World….
doing so we keep our body, speech and
mind purified with the wish to guide
people towards the good, appreciate
and cherish our blessings and to benefit
ourselves and others. Therefore, when
we bath the Buddha we should do it
with faith, honesty and rightfulness,
truly believe that our merits will be
shared with all beings, promote world
peace, and cultivate peace in our minds.
Only then the purpose of celebrating
Buddha's birthday is served.
In the competitive society today,
everybody is keen on participating in
all kinds of training courses. However,
we often forget about self-cultivation.
Buddha's teaching is our best friend
and best medicine. Buddha was born in
our world to inspire us to cultivate our
compassion and wisdom that we already
possess, so that we can understand the
ultimate truth and advance toward the
grand path of liberation.
The first Buddha Day Cultural
Festival was initiated by Honor president
of CYBA. President of New Taipei City
Buddhist Association, Ven. Ching Yao
and co-sponsored by New Taipei City
Gorvenment, directed by Taiwan's
Buddhist Association of the Republic
of China (BAROC), New Taipei City
Buddhist Association, Chinese Young
Buddhist Association (CYBA), the China
Buddhist Music Popularize Association,
Jing Hua Society Cultural Foundation,
Phu-Sien Dharma Guardian Association
and Ci Fa Chan Temple etc. Ven. Ching
Yao mentioned that we upscale the
celebration of Buddha's birthday
this year with the wish to convey the
meaning and spread the merits of the
festival for the peace and harmony of
Taiwanese people. We also wish to let
more people come to know Buddha's
teaching, Buddhist culture and to take
part in this celebration to commemorate
Buddha's kindness.
To address the increase of global
catastrophes and the human mind, lost
in direction the first Buddha's Birthday
Cultural Festival has three themes:
Blessing, Thanksgiving and Purifying.
Through the event we pray for the
whole world and we wish to foster
our own wisdom and loving-kindness,
propagate the Dhamma, and cohere
the community to give thanks to the
blessings of the Buddha, our parents,
our country and all people. Let all
people appreciate the wholesomeness
and beauty of Buddhism and its culture.
Globalization of the Buddha Day
Celebration can be made possible
through the implementation of unity
and expansion. In another words, we
have to forge great unity in Buddhism,
channeling younger generation and
non-Buddhists into knowing Buddha
Day thus making people from whole
country and around the globe celebrate
Buddha Day. In doing so we hope more
people will come to know teachings of
Buddha and Buddhist culture as well as
participate in Buddhist events.
The introduction of modern art
and culture into Buddha Day celebration
will assist globalization of Buddha Day
Celebration. I wish it can continue
the spirit of Buddha's concern for the
living beings, spread the ideas of selfawakening
and awakening others,
further and widely spread the teachings
of Buddha, purify the minds of people
and awaken the people's conscience and
uncover concealed virtuous capabilities
In 1982, I left home to become
a Buddhist monk. In accordance of
Buddha's spirit and has been caring
this society and further taking the
responsibility to establish many social
welfare organizations as the followings.
Since 1986, I kept making efforts to
moralize and educate prisoners without
cease. In 1989, he established CYBA
(Chinese Young Buddhist Association),
leading teenagers to appreciate and
learn Buddhism; in the meantime, I also
built Pu-Xian Chinese Medicine Clinic,
giving free medical treatment for those
low-income residents and Buddhist
monks and nuns.
In 1990, I established Jing-
Hua Society Cultural Foundation,
undertaking the mission of anti-drug
education, supporting disadvantaged
families, caring back-home prisoners,
and etc.. Besides, this foundation also
built Pu-Xian Ci-Hai Juvenile House for
back home from prison young people,
especially to help and to take care
of those male teenagers from
malfunctioned families (highrisk
families), who has finished
their reformatory/prison
term, confronting with
unexpected accidents in
families, losing parental
dependence, being
mentally or physically
abuse, and who with
behavior deviation. This
foundation provides
those teenagers a safe
and stable environment,
and then assists them
back to school or offers
them vocational education
to get employed, and helps
them to return their original
home.
In 1990, I founded
Samantabhadar Buddhist
Association, counseling
in the prison / teenagers
reformatory, and helping
the prisoner's families. In
1992, Ifounded Taipei Kuan-
Yin Counselling Hot Line
Association, providing
mentally re-building
“Gratitude
and Peace”….
service. In 1995, I built up Buddhist Lotus
Hospice Care Foundation for serving
dying people. In 1996, I established
International Young Buddhist
Association, taking care of those overseas
Chinese teenagers; furthermore, I also
founded ROC Single-Parental families
Mutual Aid Association, ROC Buddhist
Music Spreading Association, Ta Tung
Community University, and other
organizations to broadcast Buddhists'
philanthropy spirit.
I have been nominated as the
representative of Presidential Council
on Human Rights in President Office
for many years. Since 1997, I have
received many awards, including Award
of Effectively Spreading Law Education,
Personal Awards of Effective Education,
Medal Prize of Cultural Education,
National Representative of Good Deeds,
first National Civic Service Award, Youth
Service Award for the sake of Peace,
Effective Education Award, Personal
Award of Effective Anti-drug Education,
Ambassador for Peace, Award of Social
Education and Welfare Pursuit, and other
National prizes. Besides, the president
of Sri Lanka also named Venerable
Master Jing-Yao in 2008 to receive
the diploma of PhD. Buddhism
from the biggest Buddhism
University in Sri Lanka, the
University of Kelaniya. I
am the Abbot of CHE-FA
Monastery in TU-CHENG,
President of CHING-HUA
Society Improvement
Foundation, Honor
President of Chinese
Youth Buddhist
Association, President
of the New North City
Buddhist Association,
Lecturer of National Anti-
Drug Education Media
Campaigns of Ministry
of Education. I wish to all
blessings of Amitabha..!!
“Global
Catastrophes
and the
human
Mind”….
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