20131103看見台灣美與痛Witnessing Taiwan`s Beauty and Pain
From the sky, we see how beautiful Taiwan is. But look at how people, due to greed, have destroyed such a beautiful natural landscape. Seeing the footage, I was also shocked and alarmed. This documentary should really be seen by people all around the world. Taiwan’s example can be a lesson to all.
Look at how people in Taiwan are destroying their environment. Are people in other countries also destroying their environment? Perhaps the destruction is worse than Taiwan’s. See how beautiful Nature is, such as the narrow valley between mountains. We can see that that is Nature’s creation. It forms naturally on the earth. But humans are destroying it.
This film, “Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above”, was filmed by Director Chi Po-lin. He likes to photograph natural scenery from the sky. Through this, he has discovered that every year, the rate of destruction to Taiwan seems faster and faster, due to both human activities and natural disasters. He couldn’t bear to see this, so he decided to create this film. Of course, there is a group of people who also love Nature and support his cause. They helped him in this effort to produce this film and present it to the public.
I hope people can watch this film and really feel and understand the intention behind it. This film was not made for profit. It is to get people to see the reality of Taiwan with heart. Those who really care about our land and environment must see this. We all live on this land. So, we have to see what’s happening to it. We have to understand the state Mother Nature is in.
As we depend on her for our survival. She supplies us with all that we need in life, such as grains and crops. But we’re destroying her. Have we ever thought about what leads to true wellbeing and safety for humans? Have we really considered what creates a true good life for humankind? We often hear reports of illegal buildings in cities or towns. But no one hears news about the illegal construction going on in the mountains. No one sees it. The reality is heartbreaking to witness.
Mountains are also being destroyed due to cement production. We’ve heard that Taiwan produces good quality cement. But we export it overseas if the cement was only produced for domestic needs in Taiwan, we wouldn’t need to produce such a large amount. If we mine our mountains to supply cement to other countries and treat this as a business, don’t we know that we’re destroying our own homeland in exchange?
These mountains used to be very beautiful. But, because we don’t see the mining, we don’t realize that the entire mountaintop has almost been leveled due to the mining. Parts of the mountain are even becoming hollowed out due to excavation of ore deposits inside the mountain. We have ravaged our mountains and natural environment to make money to spend on, leisure, sightseeing and enjoying ourselves. Is this a worthwhile exchange?
The enjoyment only lasts a short time, but the destruction is permanent and lasting and the damage is vast and extensive. Besides severe damage to the land, we have also polluted the atmosphere as well as the oceans. So our entire ecosystem is undergoing degradation and destruction, all for the sake of profit. Ruining our natural environment in exchange for money--- is that worth it?
This environment is where we live and what we depend on for our survival. It is the place where our children and their children will be living out their lives. For the sake of short-term profit and gains, we readily excavate and mine the mountains, cut down forestland, etc.
Such is the reckless, wanton destruction that humankind does to the environment for the sake of industrial development and profit. It’s because we have so many desires and carry on continuous consumption. Businesses keep devising new products, while consumers keep buying more.
We see that some people upgrade their cellphone after just months of use. Some haven’t even learned to use all the functions yet, but when a new model comes out, they want to upgrade their device. The devices no longer used go in the garbage, but their components contaminate the land. How to manage and deal with all this e-waste?
We see how everything in the physical world which in Buddhism we call the material world are composites of different kinds of matter. All products that are devised result from the human mind. When driven by greed, our minds are full of blindness and ignorance, and our originally pure heart gets tainted. We devise all sorts of products which we tempt people to desire and buy. This is what’s happening everywhere, all the time. It is truly worrying for we can see the terrifying consequences.
But we see how Tzu Chi volunteers, with a change in mindset, can cherish the goods they have and care for the environment. We see that many of them have used the same old cellphone model for years. They say, “It still works. That’s good enough.” So, they don’t throw it out. Their hearts have not been enticed by advertisements or trends. Their minds are calm, stable and at peace and keep using what they already have because they don’t want to waste resources. Truly, we need to seriously reconsider our habits.
I hope everyone, after watching this documentary will always keep it in mind. Everything in the documentary is real. The makers risked their safety to go up in helicopters to capture such footage which required a lot of time and effort. So, much hard work and resources went into its making. Because it’s not-for-profit, it was only possible due to the support from people who helped sponsor this project. So, we need to cherish this documentary.
I hope everyone will have the chance to see it and see the condition that Taiwan is in. We also need to get all people worldwide to open their eyes and become aware of the situation our whole planet is in. We must see how to use our abilities to wake up people’s conscience to work together to improve the situation. Every country needs people to protect the land in that country and to really care about the habitat of humankind. We all need to mobilize to get everyone to protect our environment.
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