Buddhism is more painful after learning Buddhism! I'm almost mentally ill!

Yang Lan: The place where I am now is the suburb of Hualien in the east of Taiwan Province. It was a wasteland more than 3 years ago, and there was a dilapidated wooden house on the mountain behind me, which contained this monk who was practicing. At that time, she saw a mountain woman who was in dystocia and was driven out of the hospital because she could not pay the deposit, and she made a great wish to build a hospital to treat the poor. At that time, she needed funds. This is undoubtedly an astronomical figure for her, but later she not only fulfilled this wish, but also raised tens of billions of Taiwan dollars in donations for more than 3 years, and almost one-fifth of the population in Taiwan Province, that is to say, more than four million people participated in her charity activities to some extent. How can a lonely bhikshuni arouse such great social enthusiasm? We are going to interview in her meditation room today.

Master Zheng Yan, who founded the Tzu Chi Meritorious Society, is 62 years old. She has always kept a low profile, and even the TV station sponsored by Tzu Chi didn't have a chance to interview her alone. Today, she made an exception for us who came from afar. What embarrassed us was that there was no air conditioning in the fine house. In order to take care of the recording effect, we had to turn off the only electric fan. On that day, the temperature in Hualien was 35 degrees Celsius. And she has a serious heart disease.

yang LAN: the mage was here when he first came out to practice, right?

Master Zheng Yan: Yes

Master Zheng Yan's common name is Jing Yun. She was born in a wealthy family in Taichung. Her father died young and her mother was ill, which made her confused about life, and she thought of the suffering of all beings from the pain of her family. Finally, one day in the late summer and early autumn of 1961, when she was cutting rice in the field with several monks, a mage asked her, "Do you want to go now?" She put down her sickle and became a monk.

Master Zheng Yan: People are often moved, and when they are moved, they will have an impulse. This kind of impulse means that why a person lives in the world, and suddenly he will think of his father. A good person suddenly has a stroke and suddenly dies, which is really impermanent. This impermanence will make me feel what kind of value I want to live in the world. Therefore, in the field, suddenly there will be such an idea, to ask, it is better to act on your own. So I will suddenly put it down and leave.

yang LAN: I think at first, I wanted to become a monk and practice, but I actually had an idea of leaving the secular world.

Master Zheng Yan: But it's very strange why he plunged into the world of mortals again.

yang LAN: yes, I originally went to be born, but how did I finally join the WTO? what do you think of this change?

Master Zheng Yan: Didn't I just say that I want to live out the value of life, so I feel that a person at home is just for this family, and a good life is just for a family and for myself, which is not worth it. That's why I left my family.

yang LAN: then why do you have to become a monk?

Master Zheng Yan: I think I'm not tired of becoming a monk.

yang LAN: you never saw your mother again?

Master Zheng Yan: Yes, now my mother is my committee member.

Yang Lan: Does this have something to do with your master Ying Shun's idea of "Buddhism becoming human … Buddhism becoming life, bodhisattva becoming human"? I read a story that a Catholic nun visited you at that time. At that time, she raised some objections to the Buddhist lifestyle. They would also tell you that they felt that Buddhists paid too much attention to their own practice and did not care more about the suffering people in this world. What kind of feeling would this give you?

Master Zheng Yan: The purpose of religion should be a love, the love of God, or the love of Christianity. I also admire Dharma very much. As long as there is love in my heart, I will admire it. The three nuns, who are also very caring, saw such a man of practice, who was alone in the cabin. She seemed to have pity on me, so she wanted to persuade me to join the ranks of nuns and become a monk. But each other, the conversation is very congenial, and each other is very congenial.

So this kind of love blends together, but the name of religion is different. Because of this kind of communication, Master Zheng Yan has great respect for religions other than Buddhism. In the future, she also pardoned Catholic prayers in the hospital funded by her, making it convenient for patients with different beliefs. Tzu Chi is more like a social charity than a religious group, and the charisma of Master Zheng Yan is more like a social and moral force. When many temples used huge sums of money to hold large-scale meetings, Zheng Yan maintained three principles: "Don't sing scriptures for others, don't practice meetings, and don't beg for alms." Up to now, her disciples still earn their living by making candles and farming. She put more money into the hospital, not only because of her master's teaching of "humanizing Buddhism and Dharma", but also because of an encounter in 1966.

Disciple of Master Zheng Yan: Because I saw a woman who miscarried for eight hours and walked for eight hours, that is to say, she needed 8, yuan for blood transfusion and surgery, so the Master saw this situation, and she said that she had carried the woman away because she didn't have 8, yuan. Therefore, she was very sad when the master came back. She said that a woman wanted to give birth, and now she didn't know whether she would live or die because she didn't have 8, yuan. So in this case, she didn't consider whether our own lives could be maintained. She said that she would do what she should do, so that's the spirit of the master. She didn't do it for herself. She saw the difficulties, and she solved the matter first. Her principle is that we should be self-reliant. She said that we young people can make our own lives if we have the ability. She encouraged us to say, "We have become a monk", and we are dedicated to religion. To really do things for Buddhism and the public, we must temper a spirit and endurance. We can eat what others can't eat, and we can tolerate what others can't tolerate. The most bitter time is to earn wages by playing sweaters with others. There are seven people in it, and they only get paid once every half month. So there is often no oil or rice, so we grow some vegetables ourselves and pull out some wild vegetables when there is no food. At that time, I was really poor. I was so poor that I only bought 5 cents of tofu a month, so I had to cut it into small pieces and marinate it in salt. I didn't eat the salty tofu until it was rainy and there was no way to pull out the wild vegetables, so I often laughed and said that 5 cents of salty tofu could be eaten for a month.

In such a poor situation, Master Zheng Yan declined a donation of $2 million. Why? The initial donation of Tzu Chi Meritorious Society comes from local housewives in Hualien, and each person saves 5 cents a day. Some people say that it is not enough for everyone to pay 15 yuan a month. Master Zheng Yan said, "this is very different."

Master Zheng Yan: Fifteen dollars a month, I will say that it is only once a month. I want to help people only once a month. Love should be cultivated every day and all the time. Before going out, you should first have a good heart and cultivate such an idea of love. So I want their fifty cents a day, not their fifteen dollars a month.

Yang Lan: I think when I first started to be a Tzu Chi hospital, it was probably based on the same idea. You turned it down. A Japanese wanted to donate you almost 2 million US dollars. You needed almost 8 million Taiwan dollars at that time, but you only raised about 3 million. It should be said that this $2 million came in time. Is it based on the same reason?

Master Zheng Yan: Yes, I am very grateful. I am looking forward to it. There are so many Buddhists in Taiwan Province, not only Buddhists, but also many caring people. When this hospital is built in Taiwan Province, everyone should gather this love bit by bit and cultivate an acre of Futian by themselves. I hope everyone can be a farmer. I hope I will feel more intimate with this Fukuda.

Yang Lan: Later, this charity fund grew bigger and bigger. For example, many members of Tzu Chi's committee are businessmen and experienced in managing the fund. For example, some people suggested to you that, for example, we could develop some real estate near the hospital and then use the money to invest in the fund to operate better. But you refused this idea. Is it the same reason to insist that everyone should raise money?

Master Zheng Yan: Yes, we also expect everyone's love. We should spare no effort and make it fruitful as soon as possible. But also from and for society.

Yang Lan: I think, after the 197s, Taiwan Province's economy took off. After people's material life was improved, they suddenly found that their spiritual life was very empty. Here they also found a lot of emotional support, spiritual support, and what should have been pure feelings of mutual help between people. Therefore, some people say that you specialize in treating "nouveau riche syndrome". Of course, besides helping the poor, you also have the responsibility of teaching the rich.

Master Zheng Yan: What a joke.

yang LAN: but will you encounter such a situation in the middle, that is to say, we will stay in a material exchange society for a long time, so we will also bring these wishes to the Buddhist temple. For example, when people come to pray, they first think, "Buddha bless me to make more money." Or … of course, some people pray for health, or they always want to leave a name when donating money, or get a kind of sustenance in their hearts. What do you think of their desire?

Master Zheng Yan: Didn't you just say that? Tzu Chi has never had such a person come here since the beginning. Bye-bye, begging, nothing. Everyone thought it was spiritual sustenance, but there was. Because he felt it and did it with joy. Moreover, some Tzu Chi volunteers, all Tzu Chi volunteers, all say that they are grateful at the same time, and that they have each other's suffering, so that they can enrich themselves and know that they are more blessed than others, so they will have that kind of … happiness for themselves. Give and be grateful, so they won't ask to say, "Buddha will bless me" here. No, they all give and be grateful at the same time.

Tzu Chi Hospital was officially completed in 1986. It not only has first-class medical equipment and professionals, but also strives to build a close relationship between doctors and patients.

Yang Lan: There are a large number of volunteers in the hospital, that is, voluntary workers. Many of them are bosses or senior executives from all over Taiwan Province. They fly to Hualien on weekends to take care of patients in the hospital. During the summer vacation, college and middle school students also come here. Ms. Yan Hui Mei, who has participated in Tzu Chi for 18 years, is responsible for arranging their work.

Yang Lan: You have come into contact with so many young children, sometimes high school students. When they come here to volunteer, what do you think you need to let them know that they are generally ignored in the outside world?

Yan Hui Mei: The most neglected thing now is ethics, because young people feel very arrogant, and he wants to say, "What's the harm if I'm happy?" So he doesn't know how to say to our elders, even the elderly, that their hard work is to safeguard our family and take care of our homeland. He thinks that there are old people, so there is nothing to do for you. So when they came to the hospital, when they saw the lonely old man, they naturally shaved, washed their hair and washed his feet for them. So in this action, he suddenly realized, "Why am I so willing to wash the old man who has no reason with me? Why don't my grandparents live upstairs and downstairs with me and why don't I say hello?" I even thought, "I'm tired. When I get home, I'm going to lie upstairs and have a rest. I'm going to talk to my grandparents." So naturally he knew he was wrong.

Refused to pretend to be a ghost. Master Zheng Yan said, "I don't have any magic".

Women have played an important role in the development of Tzu Chi. Tzu Chi members are mainly women over 4 years old. After joining Tzu Chi, these women not only get spiritual satisfaction in the process of helping others, but also find the support of a group with strong moral strength. This has improved their status in the family, and their husbands have also participated in charity activities under the recommendation of their wives.

Tzu Chi Commissioner: I think the biggest change is that my husband and I have a * * * understanding, and then we have a * * * topic and a * * * idea, which can help needy beings. This is the biggest change. In the past, my husband might talk about his career, children or friends when he came home, but now our topic is Tzu Chi.

yang LAN: did you quarrel in the past?

Tzu Chi Commissioner: It's either a quarrel or a little argument. He has more social activities and can drink. Now he drinks a lot less because he still has entertainment, but he also smokes a lot less. He likes to do such things, so that he can relieve a lot of his pressure, because the last person taught us to be a palm-down person, and the palm-down person will get great joy.

yang LAN: do you feel that your position in the family is more influential now?

Tzu Chi Commissioner: I think I have more wisdom to handle many things.

Today's Master Zheng Yan is the object of many people's follow-up and worship. Some people even hold a child and let her touch the child's head to eliminate the disaster. Zheng Yan smiled and said, "If I have such great skills, I don't need to build a hospital."

Master Zheng Yan: My schedule is very simple. I get up after three o'clock, start to meditate by myself, and then I will go out to talk. Before dawn, we will start to speak in the morning and have classes. Then from the beginning of the day to the end, I don't know what I did all day.

yang LAN: anyway, there are many decisions that need to be made by you. After the scale is getting bigger and bigger, we found that you have a move, that is, you hand over these hospitals and schools to professionals to manage them, instead of saying that you manage all the details of these management. This is a very clear concept from the beginning.

Master Zheng Yan: Because I am a layman, I don't mean that I have any ability. Next, the hospital is supposed to give it to doctors to see patients, and I'm not a doctor. As long as it is covered, or if doctors can understand the purpose of Tzu Chi, it is beyond my power to let them take care of patients with this love.

Yang Lan: There are many flood relief activities in various regions in East China, but do you think this will be influenced by some political forces in Taiwan Province? For example, they will think, "Why put this money on the mainland?"

Master Zheng Yan: No wonder, but I have my own clear direction. Besides, as long as it really saves people, many people are very responsive.

yang LAN: so for some attacks like this, you completely ignore them.

Master Zheng Yan: Don't do it if you pay attention to it, but you must have this … Our direction is very clear, and we can't bear to see or hear people who are really suffering. Besides, there are many people in Taiwan Province who have this love.

Yang Lan: Now you see disputes, wars and quarrels in various places at the end of the century. What do you think? Do you think the world will become better?

Master Zheng Yan: Now, science is also very developed, people's ideals are quite high, and the level of knowledge is also improved, which is very common. Everything is going up and constantly improving. It's just a pity that human nature.