Blessed Taiwan: Buddhist Master Sheng-yen

People are forgetful. We're also easily affected by our environment. Lots of people know that "if you do not forget the past, it can become your guide for the future." Immediately after something has happened people take it as a lesson for the future, but they soon forget and take the attitude that since everything is fine now, why worry?

There was a large company that was going through a period of crisis. Its employees were feeling unsettled, so the boss brought them to the temple to pray for peace, hold a dharma assembly, and seek the dispelling of their misfortunes. They soon felt at peace and no longer came to the temple. Not long afterwards the company again faced hard times, and though they sought to make amends, they fell into forgetfulness once more. History teaches that the tragedy of the human condition is that most people live in this never-ending cycle.

Since 1949, Taiwanese society has experienced a string of domestic tragedies such as the February 28 Incident and the White Terror, but it has never experienced civil war or foreign invasion. This is unlike the civil wars in Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines; the wars between India and Pakistan; the repeated upheavals in mainland China resulting in the butchering of 60 million people; or Pearl Harbor and the September 11 attacks on the US.

The war between the US and Afghanistan is quite an intractable conflict. It is not simply a matter of religious conflict but has to do with ethnicity as well. When Israel gained statehood through the support of the United Nations it came into conflict with the Muslims to whom portions of Israeli territory had previously belonged. When we look at the world around us and think about the last half-century, Taiwan has enjoyed peace and tranquility; it has been blessed indeed. So we should not be overly alarmed. I think we can all agree that Taiwan has not suffered excessive calamity when compared to other places in the world.

Fragility and flux

In addition, I don't consider the economic situation so poor as to warrant alarm. It is inconceivable that living standards could fall back to the level they were at 20 years ago; we have simply reached a temporary standstill. Material conditions may be constrained, but if this economic slowdown causes people to stop being wasteful and treasure the resources we have, it might actually turn out to be a good thing.

With economic conditions less than ideal, we can start with conservation. Recently at the monastery we saw how expensive vegetables became after the latest typhoons and floods. We started to buy more easily available produce such as bean sprouts, pea sprouts, and yam leaves, all of which we enjoyed immensely. When leafy greens were harder to come by, we went to the creeks and mountainsides to gather leaf mustard, a kind of mountain vegetable whose growth is not so easily affected by climate conditions. That's why people say that poverty leads to invention and that invention yields solutions. This kind of adaptability is real wisdom.

I've traveled through much of the world and, in my experience, the Taiwanese people enjoy better living conditions than people in most other countries. It's just that some people here have become spoiled. If you belong to the generation of Taiwanese above 30, then you will probably have experienced life without electric lights or the telephone. People like this can be more restrained in their material desires and content in their daily lives.

But we still have to have to be alert to crises. To lack alertness is the most serious crisis of all. Before entering Nirvana, Sakya-muni Buddha said to his disciples, "The land is fragile and all things are in flux." Earthquakes, floods, storms, wars and the like are all manifestations of this fragility. We should be prepared in order to prevent such crises. If our people have wisdom, are united, and if our defense, economics and politics are are in good order, then, come what may, we will not easily be assailed.

The recent spate of natural disasters has many people pessimistically wondering whether we're coming to the Apocalypse. The Apocalypse is a Christian teaching concerning the period when Jesus will come again. When this happens, the world will reach its final days and there will be a day of last judgment, with the believers going to heaven.

Nowhere near the end time

Buddhism also has the concept of the "age of the final dharma." When the Maha-yana Buddhist community declined in India and believers and practitioners grew fewer, there arose the idea of the age of the final dharma. My view is that we are very far from that time and do not need to scare people by frivolously taking up this position.

Religious faith is a kind of life education that teaches us to view life from the dividing line between life and death. But life education is not only about life and death. If people believe that there is a future after death and have something to take refuge in, their fears will diminish and they can find the strength to go on with their lives. People with religious faith can more easily face death. This does not mean that we seek death, nor do we constantly worry about our own life and death. As for those who do not hold to a religious faith, my suggestion for them is to work hard and to continue going on with their daily lives. We have a saying that tells us to just take things one day at a time: "Ring the bell once a day for as long as you are a monk." With this kind of attitude our pace of life will not be disrupted. We have to be alert but not terrified. Only by being peaceful of heart and settled can we go on with our own lives.

Most people seek the assurance of security and stability. They hope to get these things from their environment. If their environment cannot offer them any grounds for security, they feel insecure; if they are not surrounded by material wealth, they feel unsettled. Each person's relationship with society is like human beings' relationship with the environment, a relationship of mutual dependence and mutual influence. The environment can affect people, but people can also affect the environment. What kind of person can influence their environment? The answer is that each person can influence the environment. A single thought, word, or action suffices to influence one's entire society.

I've been advocating "spiritual ecology" for many years. What I mean by this is that we should modify our own attitudes, concepts, and ways of thinking, because the concepts we hold correspond directly to the emotions we feel. Incorrect concepts lead to emotional instability and inner suffering. If our thoughts are healthy, our emotions will be more stable. Spiritual ecology aims for people's minds to be as little affected by the environment as possible. As the saying goes, "Even should Mount Tai crumble before me, I would not tremble." When the mind is settled, then one's thoughts will tend towards the positive. In this way we can transform crises into opportunities and challenges.