Tzu Chi stages Buddha’s birthday ceremonies worldwide

2016/05/11

Taiwan’s Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation held May 8 a series of ceremonies worldwide celebrating Buddha’s birthday in conjunction with Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May, enabling believers to express gratitude for Buddha, parents and all sentient beings.

In the face of natural disasters around the globe—especially this year’s earthquakes in southern Taiwan’s Tainan City, Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture and Kyushu Island, as well as South American nation Ecuador—Prayer, Gratitude was selected as the theme of the ceremonies. A total of 450 sessions were attended by an estimated 270,000 worshippers in 35 countries and territories.

The first, led by founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen, took place early in the morning at Tzu Chi headquarters in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County. Among other venues hosting ceremonies was Liberty Square, the plaza abutting National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei City’s Zhongzheng District—home to the Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan), and numerous central government ministries.

President Ma Ying-jeou, Vice President Wu Den-yih and Legislative Yuan President Su Jia-chyuan were some of the many high-profile attendees at the event. In remarks made April 30 by Ma at Tzu Chi’s 50th anniversary celebrations in Hualien, Ma praised the group’s half century of selfless, consistent devotions to Taiwan society and the international community.

For five decades, Dharma Master Cheng Yen has led these “volunteering social workers with the highest creativity, vision and average age in the history of Taiwan to travel all round country and the world,” he said.

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je attended a Tzu Chi event in front of city hall. Renowned for his fondness of citing Buddhist texts, Ko was invited to a similar event in the capital organized by Dharma Drum Mountain, another major Buddhist group in Taiwan.

Established in 1966 as a religious sect based on traditional Buddhist teachings, Tzu Chi has developed into a widely respected international organization offering spiritual guidance and devoted to charity and disaster relief works around the world. It also operates schools and hospitals to provide educational and medical services.

Taiwan’s religious population is mainly Buddhist or Taoist. A combination of these two belief systems, along with folk religions expressed in numerous temples, forms the foundation of the country’s religious diversity.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=244537&ctNode=2194&mp=9)