The world of Tzu Chi (Vol.108)

48 2019 • 03 Serene Reflection Between Master Cheng Yen and Mr Bo Yang & Mr Tong Tekong on Love as Clear as Water March 26, 1990 Mr Bo Yang: It is the wish of many that religions hold no exclusivity. As for practising love, it is not at all easy. I remember that more than 20 years ago, when society still had limited understanding, Mr Guanhan Sun started writing newspaper articles on this topic. It was very refreshing back then because nowhere in society was love promoted or discussed except in churches. However, nowadays, the word love is overused everywhere! People have even preached about love while they fight violently. Only after visiting Tzu Chi have we truly experienced love. Master Cheng Yen: That is why Buddhist practitioners use the term “compassion” rather than “love”. The mundane love in worldly affairs is always accompanied by worries and afflictions. When we misuse the meaning of love, it will bring us afflictions. Therefore, we should expand our love into unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion. I often liken love to water – something clear and pure. Mr BoYang: Compassion is broader than love. Question & Answer Mr Bo Yang, whose given name is Guo Yidong, also uses the pen name, Deng Kebao. He graduated from Northeast University in China. In his early years, he founded the Dadong Daily News in the city of Shenyang and was an assistant professor at Liaodong College of Humanities and Law. After he came to Taiwan, he taught at the National Cheng Kung University and National Taiwan University of the Arts, among others. Mr Bo Yang started his career writing novels and essays. His recent work on Chinese history is especially unique and distinguished. He has authored more than 40 books, including “A Foreign Place”, “A History of the Chinese People”, and “The Golden Triangle, Border Region, the Abandoned Region”. He also translated the classical book “Zizhi Tongjian” into modern- day language and released it as monthly booklets. Titled “Zizhi Tongjian, the Bo Yang Edition”, it attracted much attention after it was published in book form. Professor Tong graduated from China’s National Central University and holds a Doctoral Degree in History from Columbia University. He authored “A Study of Verbal Chinese History” while at Columbia University, and is presently the Dean of the Department of Asian Studies at City University of New York. His published books include “A Memoir of Hu Shih”, which was about the famous Chinese scholar, “A Dictated Autobiography of Hu Shih”, and “Dust at the End of the 1950s”, among other subjects. Professor Tong is widely known both in Taiwan and abroad; he is also an authority on modern Chinese history, as well as the classic Chinese novel “Dream of the Red Chamber”.