Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

Nearly 1,300 college students from 13 countries celebrated c from December 23 to 25 in the Jing Si Hall in Hualien. This year’s theme was the promotion of vegetarianism and “The Dharma as Water – the Sutra Adaptation of Water Repentance”.

The Tzu Chings are the youth members of the Tzu Chi Foundation: ‘ching’ means ‘young’. Worldwide, there are 6,147 Tzu Chings in 18 countries. They come together once a year at the home of the foundation to share ideas and learn from each other. This year they chose to celebrate the Christmas holiday season with a simple faith and gather their collective power to change the world. They exchanged ideas on how to promote vegetarianism as a way to protect all living things.

Vegetarianism is the most direct way to reduce carbon emissions. The members of Singapore Tzu Chi Collegiate Association (Tzu Ching) have made great efforts to promote vegetarianism. They are not only reducing carbon emission themselves but also promoting environmental protection and recycling in every college. They hold VERO (Veggie Hero) drives in schools and have inspired 234 young people to join. During the last six months, their VERO drives have accumulated 5,000 vegetarian meals.

Since 2009, Tzu Ching members in Melbourne, Australia have started to recycle used batteries from door to door every two months: over 800 families have responded to the call. Over these two years, they have recycled 20,000 batteries, equivalent to over 500 kilograms. This has avoided the pollution of 1.3 billion liters of water.

Dharma Master Cheng Yen hopes that young people will “walk the path of compassion and wisdom & cultivate themselves to nurture true wisdom". They should be role models who bring out the happiness in others. They have not only professional knowledge but also loving hearts, gratitude and a sense of responsibility toward the Earth.