"There's no telling what's going to happen." This could be a crystallization of much of the wisdom accumulated by man. Who would have thought that on a lovely day in May there would be a bizarre air disaster, devastating families and ending dreams. Today, even as we pray for the victims and their families, one cannot help but think that something similar could happen to any of us at any time. Life is full of uncertainties, and there's nothing one can do about it.

Because of this, the Buddhist idea of "living in the present" is particularly valuable. We should live in the present, use time wisely, devote our full attention to those around us and to everything we do, and act with goodwill. If we do, the when that moment comes to say goodbye, there will be fewer regrets.

Disaster comes in many forms. Two years back Taiwan experienced a major earthquake. Last year there were landslides and massive flooding here, and also the horrific 911 incident in New York. And most recently Taiwan has faced a drought. Some of these are natural disasters, some are man-made, and some are natural disasters made worse by human action. Some take lives instantly, while others take their toll over the long term. Regardless, all of them underline a chilling fact: disaster can happen at anytime, and to anyone.

Yet, when we look carefully at various disasters, we also discover that they all have their long-range causes, in which humans always play a part. That is to say, at a deeper level, when people interact with nature, nothing is completely accidental. People have the responsibility to do what they can to prevent or minimize the damage from even the most unpredictable disaster.

I remember reading a story, originally from the psychologist Jung, which was retold in Thick Face, Part II by Chu Chin-ning. The story tells of praying for rain, and goes as follows: There was once a village which suffered drought for five years in a row. People there tried everything they could, but still it never rained. Finally they brought in a well-know spiritual healer. When the old man got to the village, he set up a tent and sat inside for four days. On the fifth day, it began to pour. The villagers were ecstatic, and wondered what the man had done to bring rain. But the old man simply replied: "I did nothing!"

"How could that be?" the villagers responded. "Others performed all kinds of rituals without effect. How did you get it to rain after only four days?" The healer explained: "When I came here, the first thing I noticed is that your village is not harmonious. Therefore, I kept myself in the tent, and spent four days using all my skill to harmonize with heaven, after which it began to rain!"

As Laozi wrote: "All things carry the female (yin) and embrace the male (yang). And by channeling their energy properly, they live in harmony." If yin and yang are in harmony, life thrives. If not, it withers. If you look at Taiwan society today, every day on TV or in the newspapers, you see people struggling against each other to satisfy their ambitions and lusts. People don't care about right and wrong, good and evil. There are only clever self-justifications, and every mistake is someone else's fault. The virtues of simple honesty, modesty, and diligence that formerly characterized Taiwanese are completely gone.

"No calamity is worse than insatiable desire." When people are continually acquisitive, when they struggle against nature, other people, and themselves, when there is no longer harmony, naturally nature feels the effects. But if we can act more modestly, respect others, save on resources, and love nature, immediately the sweet rain will fall.

Over the past half century, the dominant thinking in Taiwan has been "the economy comes first." Today the government is changing tack, adopting "sustainable management." Although this is difficult to implement-even more challenging, in fact, given the need to maintain competitiveness amidst a global downturn-it is essential. If Taiwan succeeds, it will enter the ranks of the developed countries. But success depends not only on government policy, but also on the whole people.

Institutions that measure national competitiveness, such as the IMD and World Economic Forum, take into account many factors, human and systemic. We can affect many of these, such as human resources quality and quality of life, directly by our individual choices and attitudes. Our cover story this month, "Taiwan's Economy-The Next Ten Years," explores the views of businesspeople, officials, and academics on the keys to the transformation of Taiwan's economy. We look forward to everyone working together to face these challenges so that together we can bring sweet rain to Taiwan.