| |
 A Month of Great Goodness, Great
Goodness for Taiwan
Master Sheng-yen
8/30/2001
 Honored
guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you all for your participation in
this news conference on the “Month of Great Goodness,” a month of speaking
good words, doing good deeds, and transforming our fortunes.
A few days ago, a man asked me, “What
are good deeds? What are good words?”
I said, “Fifty years ago, I happened
to read an essay regarding the habits Hu Shih kept in his daily life. It said
that when staying at hotels in his travels or using public facilities, before he
left, Hu Shih always made sure that the bathroom, wash basin, and bed he used,
and the room he stayed in were clean and tidy. Although these seem to be petty
details of daily life, the author of this essay said he changed his ways after
learning about them. Moreover, when he reflected how seldom he had thought of
others or cherished public goods, he felt very ashamed and repentant.”
Then I asked the man if this kind of
example counted as a good deed or good words. Of course it does. In the process
of our lives, in the surroundings we live in, we can easily find the chance to
do good deeds and speak good words wherever we may be. It just depends on
whether we pay attention to such opportunities.
Most people always think that only those
with money, time, and position can do important good deeds or speak significant
good words. Actually, it doesn’t matter who you are. If, in your daily life,
you do what you can to bring a little less harm and a little more loving care to
your physical and mental health as well as to your family, workplace, society,
and natural environment, and if you can then share these attitudes and actions
with the people you meet, then the cumulative results are really significant
good deeds and words.
In short, any words or deeds, whether
large or small, that help to improve people’s character or purify the
environment are good words and good deeds.
Today, Dharma Drum Mountain would like
to express its gratitude to the ten domestic television stations that cooperated
to organize and are now attending this news conference on the “Month of Great
Goodness.” We would also like to thank our honored guests from the electronic
and print media for attending this event to broadcast encouragement for everyone
to speak good words, do good deeds, and thereby transform their fortunes. Now
let’s all give ourselves encouragement and applause.
Every day this September, the general
managers and news anchors of the ten television stations here tonight will give
all Taiwan and other nations the opportunity to listen to a segment of good
words and hear about a good deed. They will cooperate to promote the campaign to
encourage everyone to speak good words, and do good deeds, and thereby transform
their fortunes. I hope that, over the month, this example and appeal will foster
a new ethos and practices throughout society. If each person in Taiwan does a
few good deeds and speaks a few good words daily so that it becomes a habit like
brushing their teeth and washing their face and hands after getting up, then we
will see how this can bring about an excellent environment for us to live in.
Now I want to announce that on the
evening of September 29th at Taipei City Hall Square, there will be a
“Meditation and Music Festival for Youth”. We have invited many stars adored
by young people to sing uplifting songs and cultivate good intentions together
with everyone. This will mark the end of the “Month of Great Goodness”
campaign and serve as another starting point for the campaign for great goodness
in Taiwan. We wish great goodness for Taiwan not only for this September, but
for every day in the future. And we wish great goodness not only for this
generation but the next; not only for Taiwan but all the world, for all times
and all places.
Let me once again thank these ten
television stations and our honored guests.
I wish great goodness for all of you.
|
|
