Date: October 1st, 2010 (Friday)
Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Tzu Chi's Cultural Mission: Purifying Minds and Nurturing Wisdom 慧命工程正人心
What we just heard is very good news---
Our Da Ai TV has received 16 Golden Bell Award nominations, and our Rhythms Monthly magazine has won 7 awards in the 34th Golden Tripod Award, including one for “best magazine of the year”.
This is truly a great achievement.
Indeed, no matter how high a mountain or how dangerous a place is, staff of our Rhythms Monthly travel there and bring back precious images of these places to share with us what happened to our land, rivers, etc. so that everyone can be aware and be reminded of what we can do to show love and respect for Mother Nature, care for the Earth, and prevent it from being harmed and further.
Rhythms Monthly covers a wide range of topics such as natural conservation, environmental protection, cultural heritage, etc. and conducts in-depth research on all topics.
Every issue helps to broaden readers’ horizons, enabling them to gain deeper insights into various issues that concern humanity.
So, these awards are a great affirmation to the work we’ve done, which truly brings us much joy.
Our Da Ai e-Radio has also been nominated for a Golden Bell Award.
Last month, Ci Yun, the manager of our Da Ai e-Radio, was invited to a conference for Chinese-language radio stations held in Qinghai, China.
She met the director of China National Radio, and he asked Ci Yun to tell me that he is a devout Christian, but he admires everything that Tzu Chi has done.
He also knew that Tzu Chi has done a lot work in China for nearly 20 years.
See, the affirmation we’ve received was due to hard work, not chance.
For that, I have to thank all Tzu Chi volunteers.
All around the world, many people have received help from Tzu Chi but it is because of every one of our volunteers that Tzu Chi is able to help so many people.
So, I am truly very grateful to Tzu Chi volunteers.
And, thanks to our cultural mission, we are able to spread good teachings far and wide to more people.
For example, our volunteers in Fujian Province once shared with me that they’ve benefited a lot from watching our TV program, “Wisdom at Dawn”.
They think that this program provides them with the Dharma they can apply to their daily living and helps nurture their wisdom.
Indeed, helping people grow in wisdom is what our cultural mission serves to do.
The work that our cultural mission does is completely selfless and serves like a wellspring that continuously springs forth to cleanse impurities from the minds of people around the world, so that eventually there’ll be peace and harmony in society and the world can be free of disasters.
This is the responsibility of our cultural mission which is to spread the Dharma like a wellspring springing forth continuously as only Dharma can help people grown in wisdom and only wellsprings can cleanse impurities from people’s minds.
This is the aim of our cultural mission as our work is to help nurture people’s wisdom.
Our wisdom is like a clear mirror in our mind which can reflect everything exactly as it is without distorting or blurring the image of the object that comes before it.
This is what our cultural mission aims to do, which is to keep this mind clear with everyone’s mind clear and free of impurities.
This is a great mission.
So, what the staff at our cultural mission are doing is cultivating the fields of people’s minds and nurturing people’s wisdom.
By doing so, we can prevent unwholesome thoughts from arising in our minds.
As I often say, even the slightest deviation can lead one to stray far off course.
Our mind is as clear as mirror to begin with.
That is what our wisdom is like.
But, when we don’t take care of our mind, it will give rise to unwholesome thoughts and so, our original pure nature will be tainted and we’ll begin to stray from the correct path.
So, we must not give rise to unwholesome thoughts.
When they arise, we must eliminate them right away.
To prevent unwholesome thoughts from arising, we must take good care of our hearts and minds and not let them deviate from the correct path.
When we lose sight of life’s direction, we’ll make the same mistake again and again.
So, we must work hard to purify people’s minds and guide them to walk on the correct path.
The positive impact of our cultural mission is evident in many people’s lives.
Take two of our volunteers for example---
One once had an extramarital affair.
One day, as he watched Da Ai TV’s coverage on the Sichuan Earthquake, he realized what he did was wrong.
A Tzu Chi volunteer, Xu Ting-Sian said:
“The quake was so devastating. Seeing that, I realized there was much suffering in the world. Then I listened to Master’s speech and I felt what I had done to my wife was wrong.”
Now he works as a driver at our hospital in Taichung.
He dedicates himself to his work with the spirit of a volunteer and whenever he has free time, he looks for other work that he can help with.
He is one example of how people can change after watching Da Ai TV.
Another example is our volunteer form Taoyuan, who used to drinking a lot.
A recycling volunteer, Lin Mei Ru said:
“He never came home at the time he said he would. I had to call again and again. But still he was out there drinking. I’d get mad and go find him and we’d start quarreling.”
A recycling volunteer, Jhou Jing Siang said:
“She’d nag at me or even scold me. I’d get angry at her. People say that alcohol makes one insane. Once you drink it, you lose your mind and you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Jhou Jing Siang’s son, Zhou Yan-Ting said:
“Before, he often argue with my mom. When I saw him come home, I’d go to my room and pretend that I was asleep. He’d wake my brother and me up and we had to listen to his drunk talk.”
“Such as?”
“He’d complain about work.”
Jhou Jing Siang’s son, Zhou Yan-Si said:
“He came home drunk and lost his temper.”
See what a wayward life he led, putting his family in such distress.
But one day, when he was drinking, he happened to see my speech on Da Ai TV.
Slowly, he began to change.
Now he is a very dedicated recycling volunteer, and so is his wife.
They are much happier now.
Jhou Jing Siang’s son, Zhou Yan-Ting said:
“He was changed so much. Before, when he was watching TV here, we didn’t dare sit here with him. But now we do, and we even chat about the program we watch.”
See how much he has changed.
Indeed, to purify people’s minds and to bring peach and harmony to society, we need to share wholesome teachings with people, and this is the work of our cultural mission.
Seeing so many of our staff put in so much effort and love to produce wholesome TV and radio programs and publish magazines to share with people worldwide and deem the work as their calling, I am very touched and grateful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 人間菩提)
首頁 
