Venerable Master Hsing Yun―― Ecological Safety: Beginning from
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Editor’s Note：
“Joy and Harmony， Oneness and Coexistence， Respect and Tolerance， Equality and Peace， Wholeness and Freeness， Nature and Life， One Truth For All， To Resolve and To Develop， Self-awareness and Practicing the Buddha's Way， Change the World and Benefit Humanity， Bodhisattva and Volunteer， Environmental and Spiritual Preservation， Happiness and Peace” by venerable master hsing yun， together with the notion of “one planet” have now become the spiritual guidance for the current world and the universal life value people hanker for. They play a big role not only in resolving ecological and environmental crisis facing the world today， but also in awakening people’s awareness of ecological safety preservation and environment protection.
On October 4， 2013， the presenting ceremony of “World Ecological Safety Award” was held in the Assembly Hall， Chuandeng Building， Fo Guang Shan Monastery， Taiwan. The presidium of International Ecological Safety Collaborative Organization made the above statement while introducing the awardee of this honor.
With his usual modesty and calmness， Venerable Master Hsing Yun said， if this award is an honor， then the credit should not be given to himself， but to the efforts made by Buddha’s Light International Association（BLIA） as well as all the Taiwanese and other people who care for the planet.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun spent all his life preaching people to have pity of mercy， follow the right trend， tenderly treat all things on earth and be friends with nature. In his 80s， Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s concern for the Mother Nature and all living things is not abated at all.
The Tonsured Can also be Environmentalists
Shi Jinjue， whose earthly name is Li Guoshen， was born in Yangzhou in 1927， Jiangsu Province. Out of admiration for the vastness and infinite of the nebula， he gave himself the name of “Hsing Yun”（the Chinese word for nebula）. When he was 12， he coverted to Buddhism and was tonsured in Qixia Monastery， Nanjing city. In 1949， he came to Taiwan with a medical team made up of monks， and started his 60-plus-year career of disseminating Dharma. The 87-year-old venerable master still looks hale and hearty， and his utterance is filled with apperception of everything on the earth and shows his responsibility of “imparting Dharma to the people”.
When Buddhism was first introduced to China， eminent monks planted forests and reclaimed mountains to farmland. While they plodded away at building monasteries， they also planted all kinds of trees in the barren and desolate mountains. Unwittingly， these acts greatly helped water and soil conservation. To Venerable Master Hsing Yun， these monks were also environmentalists in the way that they cared for the resources in rectifying mountains and rivers， repairing bridges and paving roads， and preached people to love and set free animals， promoted vegetarian diet and admonished people to cherish blessings.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun himself is a real promoter of environment preservation. He gave the speech on relations between universe and mankind with the title of “Saving the Planet” on many occasions， and taught people a simple principle from the perspective of environmental and spiritual preservation： “If we preserve our spirit， environmental preservation is not far. As long as we value environment protection and care for the earth， we will love the society， the country and the mankind.”
To tackle global warming， under his guidance， Buddha’s Light International Association worked hard to promote energy saving and emission reduction， reforestation， reusable bowls and chopsticks， resource recollection and waste classification to protect the planet. He advocated all branches of Buddha’s Light Association to plant trees as an act to save the water resource， clean up the waste in the riverside， beaches， seaside， park， etc. Merit Times Newspaper launched by Venerable Master Hsing Yun hosts an annual vegetarian exhibition to promote vegetarian culture… All of those demonstrate the determination and commitment of Venerable Master Hsing Yun to maintain environmental preservation and ecological equilibrium.
Every Brick of Fo Guang Shan Embodies a Merit
To Venerable Master Hsing Yun， it’s not an exaggeration. “If we continue to neglect environmental issues， in the time of five decades our offspring will be severely affected”. Buddha’s Light International Association and Fo Guang Shan Monastery continuously conducted reforestation and clean-up beaches， streets， etc. all around the world for dozens of years.
In May， 1967， Venerable Master Hsing Yun purchased a place where “even ghosts do not haunts” and headed masses of monastics in an arduous exploitation. After 16 years of laborious work， the once barren wilderness has now become the most eminent Buddha Pureland--Fo Guang Shan--with the most devotees.
Fo Guang Shan Monastery lying in Dashu District， Kaohsiung City looks very spectacular at dawn and dusk with towering trees， flowers all over the mountain， rows of Buddhist architecture and well-proportioned statues. However， the beautiful mountain also had suffered from “black hands”--many tourists leave litters and waste behind， which costs the monastery over one million NT per month to dispose. Venerable Master Hsing Yun invited tourists to classify the waste before selling them to pertinent institutions for recycling. Hence， they save the deposal fee and have another income from “resource recycling”.
Venerable Master told the reporter that every brick of the monastery showed the credit of the people， and was the result of the arduous work of recycling waste by believers. Vajra Branch under Taipei Vihara is one of the key members committed to “resource recollection”. Years of recycling now bears fruits. With the official founding of “Resource Recycling Team of Fo Guang University”， more and more BLIA members are engaged in this work.
The Key to Environmental Preservation Is “Spiritual Preservation”
Buddhism always values natural ecology. Since ancient times， constructions of Buddhist architecture were not built at the cost of forest environment， and practices of monks never encroach on the natural environment， which are the embodiment of “oneness and co-existence” of all things on the earth. To uphold the cause of environment protection， Venerable Master Hsing Yun is never tired of preaching his view of environment preservation to people on various occasions， be it an interview， a forum or a lecture.
Facing today’s predicament of ecological safety and environmental protection， Venerable Master Hsing Yun said in earnest： “What is environmental protection？ The maintenance of the environment， the balance of ecology and the purity of mind and body all require environmental protection. Especially in today’s society， we should not only protect the natural world， but also further promote the ‘spiritual preservation’. The solving of environmental issues relies on our self-awareness， efforts to save resources and our care for the earth. Only by erasing the resentment and hatred in our mind， can the world enjoy peace； only with an awareness of environmental protection and a respect towards the living space of other creatures， can we ensure our descendants a prosperous and contented life.
In his opinion， “although the heaven and the earth are vast， they are contained in human’s minds， which again co-exist with the heaven and the earth； heaven， earth and human are closely linked and constitute all in the nature.” Arousing people’s environmental awareness to shoulder the common responsibility of protecting the earth is what Venerable Master Hsing Yun always loves to do. Just like the Buddha spoke all the Dharma to remedy all minds； if no such mind exist， then what is the use of all the Dharma？ Saving our earth mainly relies on our thoughts， which need to be transformed into concrete actions.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun had been asked by an individual that， facing various problems like global warming， ozone depletion， improper nuclear waste treatment， water resource scarcity， etc， with his limited energy， how much could he exert to help save the planet？ To this， he replied， “This is indeed not a problem. What matters is whether we care. The world needs those who care. If everyone has the heart and wish to save the earth， thinking， ‘The earth is sick. I want to help her not to worsen’. Just as shown by the story of ‘parrots saving fire’， if all of us protect the environment， the united force of small individual ones are amazing， and the disasters of the earth can be solved easily.”
Venerable Master Hsing Yun has brilliant suggestions on the environmental problems： Apart from the force of the populace to preserve the outside environment， we should also attach great importance to the spiritual preservation， purifying our minds， ideas， language and feelings. First of all， the promotion of environmental protection should start from education， adults should set a good example for the children to follow， such as parents should teach children to respect life and treasure blessings and possessions； teachers should teach students to respect elders and always be polite and courteous. In particular， more efforts should be made to educate children so as to improve their moral ethics and preserve the public environment. When you refuse useless knowledge and the pollution of thoughts， that is the preservation of thoughts. When your concepts are righteous and always optimistic， that is the preservation of concepts. When speeches are pure， you refrain from swearing， duplicitous speeches and speaking harshly， then that is the preservation of language. When you have no worries， jealousy， unfairness， hatred， and such negative emotions， that is the preservation of the mind.
Take the Lead to Protect the Planet
This March， Venerable Master Hsing Yun was invited to return to his hometown--Yangzhou--to attend the 2013 China Yangzhou Cross-strait Vegetarian Diet Culture & Green Life Boutiques Exhibit. In an interview， he said， vegetarian food can enhance people’s stamina and raise people’s awareness of ecology and the environment. Surely， it is not to say that everybody should eat vegetarian food， but we should eat less meat， which helps us to improve personality and character， love the earth， protect the environment and enjoy green life.
Promotion of vegetarian food accounts much in the ecological campaign by Venerable Master Hsing Yun. Buddhism believes that， all the things on the earth have lives； people should not only treasure their own lives， but also other’s life， and give respect to the lives of all the things on the earth. All the living creatures and resources on the earth whose existence cater to the needs of human should not be consumed， wasted， exploited and damaged recklessly， and especially， life should not be murdered at random.
Meantime， Venerable Master Hsing Yun said the vegan diet is not the sole way to solve environmental problems. While we work， we need to recycle the litters of the office as much as possible， and the disposed office facility can be given to someone who needs them. In our daily life， we should begin to work at dawn and go to bed at sunset. We should not make an excessive use of the basic necessities of life. And we should conserve resources and try using recyclable products as much as possible. These are all down-to-earth acts to protect the environment.
All the interviews conducted with Venerable Master Hsing Yun reflected his placid demeanor， a heart always caring for the society and neglecting fame and positions. His wisdom tells us： We should humbly respect all lives， treat all things equally， value ecology conservation， and refrain from random killing； plant trees and stop deforestation； preserve water and stop littering； treasure our blessings and possessions， and recycle resources， since in his mind， only by “treasuring blessings， chances， possessions and life” can we always have a green and prosperous co-existent earth.