080409 Da Ai TV---Serving to Spread Wholesome Messages to the World

Date: April 9, 2008 (Wednesday)
Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Place: April 7, 2008 – Tzu Chi Communications & Culture Foundation

This is my first trip around Taiwan after the Chinese New Year. After setting off from Hualien, I traveled to Taidong then southwards, before coming back up towards the north. From Taidong, I traveled to Taimali --- I’m truly very grateful to our volunteers for starting up a recycling station there despite it being in a very remote area with the sea on one side and mountains on the other. When I asked them: “How come you have started up recycling here?” They said, “Didn’t Master say that we should turn trash into gold (money), which can go toward supporting Da Ai TV, whose wholesome programs serve to purify people’s hearts and minds? ” Hearing that I quickly said “thank you” to them on behalf of Da Ai TV. I then asked them, “Do you watch Da Ai TV?” They said, “We watch it whenever we come to do recycling.” So, in order to promote Da Ai TV, we need to promote recycling. And, when they go to do recycling, very natually, they’d watch Da Ai TV. The recycling station there also serves as a spiritual cultivation ground as they’d gather together there to cultivate together, do sharings, and watch Da Ai TV. Whether it is Wisdom at Dawn, Life Wisdom, our program about recycling volunteers, or our Da Ai dramas, they’d gather there to watch these programs. So, wherever there is a recycling station, there’d be people there to take in the Dharma.

So, that’s why I keep telling the CEO (chief executive officer) of Da Ai TV that he can reduce the number of reruns for other programs, but not the one on our recycling volunteers. I also often tell him: “I watch every episode of that program.” That’s right. Don’t think that those elderly recycling volunteers don’t know much since they haven’t received much education. Let me tell you, everything they say is full of wisdom--- It’s not knowledge, but wisdom. Everything each and every one of them says is full of wisdom. Take for example, the boy Tzu Chi Foundation VP (vice-president) Wang just mentioned. He said, “I can’t throw away my bad temper as others might pick up. I have to ‘dissolve’ it myself.” See, we really cannot underestimate children. Be it children or the elderly, everyone has inherent wisdom within. That’s why just now I encouraged you to listen to the Dharma. The dharma teachings I impart are often drawn from the things that the elderly and children say. So, when children talk, I always listen very attentively. When the elderly speak, I also listen to them very respectfully. What they say contains wisdom about the world.

When I was in Pingdong, everything I heard filled me with gratitude. When I heard our volunteers who came down from the mountains of Hengchun and Xiaoliuqiu Island report on the work they’ve been carrying out in their community, I was truly very touched. In Pingdong, even people living in the mountains and on an off-shore island are now doing recycling. Our volunteers even go out on a boat to collect trash floating in the sea. Actually, Tzu Chi volunteers living on off-shore islands, be they in Penghu or on Xiaoliuqiu Island, all use boats to collect garbage in the sea. This is how mindfully our volunteers in Taiwan are doing Tzu Chi’s work and protecting the environment. Throughout this trip around Taiwan, I have heard many stories--- Tzu Chi volunteers are truly living bodhisattvas who have achieved even the most difficult feats. I have always hoped that the Dharma can become more widespread.

In Kaohuiung, I heard about a volunteer from Qishan Township. She used to be the head of a gang but she has now reformed herself--- She listen to my dharma talks. Every day at 5:30 a.m., she will wake up to watch my program Wisdom at Dawn and take notes on what I say. Finding it hard to jot down everything, she asked her daughter to buy her a camera. She said it was too hard to listen and take notes, so she photographs the images one shot after the other, and then records every word carefully afterwards. She has written a great pile of notes as well as her thoughts on what she heard. She records and remembers every word that I say. Seeing that, I am truly very touched as this is the result of the support of many people who have helped change her wayword ways. From being the head of a gang who sold seafood, drank, and gambled, she is now transformed and has become one of the most dedicated volunteers in her area caring for many people in the mountains. It truly is very touching to see. For this, i must thank Da Ai TV for reporting these stories and spreading my teachings far and wide. Our volunteers abroad are also working diligently.

Ever since our 40th anniversary, we’ve been giving out bamboo coin banks. Tzu Chi volunteers around the world have been encouraging people everywhere to save a little every day. This has served to inspire love in many people. No matter whether the coins saved up are given to Tzu Chi or not, what we really wanted was for them to realize that even small savings can amount to a lot. So, if people save a little money every day, perhaps, one day, when they need money urgently, upon opening the coin bank, they may find that they have enough savings for what they need. We don’t ask that they donate the saving to Tzu Chi. What we hope is that people’s love can be inspired. A lot of people that we give financial aid to...... When we give them a few hundred dollars in USD, they’d put 50 cents a day into the coin bank. By doing so, they all come to understand “Poor as I may be, I can still help others.” This is because single grains of rice pooled together will become an innumerable amount. It’s just like a drop of water. Once it merges with the ocean, it will never dry up. This is the way many impoverished people are able to let go of their sense of inferiority and their feeling of helplessness. Now, they feel empowered and say: “Though poor, we can still help others, too.” They become empowered and gradually, they’re able to pick themselves up. So, there are many ways we can help others.

Everyone, as staff working for our cultural mission you yourselves must strive to be a model of the culture you promote. The Earth is now heating up like it is running a fever. So, how can we help reduce its fever? What can we do to protect the planet? We should continually work to bring environmental awareness to more people by providing related statistics about how our recycling efforts can help the Earth and let people all over the world know about this. The only way to spread the word worldwide is through Da Ai TV as its programs can reach dozens of countries via satellite. So, I really approve of having English subtitles for Da Ai TV’s programs. I hope that our programs can be translated into even more languages so we can reach even more people around the world. The programs Da Ai TV produces should not only be for audiences in Taiwan, but for people all over the world, as we need to tell people everywhere that we should cherish the Earth.