A Concept for the Promotion of Traditional Chinese Culture (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism) Through the Establishment of a Co llege for Teacher Training by Professor Chin Kung 12 August 2007 The Book of Rites states that: “Education is essential in building a country and in guiding its people.” In the past, the most respected r ulers always used morality and humanity, and expounded the principles relating to the inevitable co-relationship between cause and consequen ce as the basis of Chinese culture. Traditional culture and education have been the root for the Chinese race to continue for five thousand years and is also a treasure for the entire human race. All human bein gs are vested with the qualities of truthfulness, benevolence, and wis dom. At this crucial moment—when the human race is faced with the pro blem of its own survival—it is important to devise a means [to apprec iate these virtues] to provide the proper training of good teachers in the promotion of traditional Chinese culture (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism). We must reinstate and reiterate what the sages have taug ht us over the centuries. This is the way to create a truly harmonious society. It is the most important foundation for establishing equalit y and harmony among the different races around the world. 1.It is hoped that we shall be able to provide facilities to produce t en teachers who are willing to live frugally while abandoning all temp tations and who possess the virtues of filial piety, integrity, sincer ity, thus showing respect to all that they encounter. They must have t he determination to share the mission to promote peace and a willingne ss to remain secluded and to work hard in the pursuit of preparing him or herself for the task. This, we envisage, will take about ten years . 2.Each student must understand and strictly follow what is taught in t hree books, namely Standards for Being a Good Student and Child as tau ght in Confucianism, the Sutra of the Ten Virtuous Conducts as taught in Buddhism, and Accounts of Request and Response as taught in Daoism. (Those receiving training as monks and nuns will also have to learn th e Sami Precepts and Rites.) Students are expected to practice and beha ve in accordance with these four foundation books. Otherwise, even tho ugh the students might have read extensively, without practical applic ation, what they learned would only be of value academically. It could not change their outlook about the nobility of life or enable them to distinguish themselves as saintly teachers. 3.When the foundations are firmly established, a student will be asked to specialize in one book in one of the three fields of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. The idea is that he or she must immerse him or herself in one book only and spend a long time (ten years) learning it . On a daily basis, each student shall present a half-hour report on w hat he or she has learned. 4.In this manner, each student will have both a thorough understanding of what he or she is learning and the opportunity to listen to the re ports of other students. Through the students' daily research and disc ussions, we are certain that after ten years we will have created teac hers who are good not only academically, but also flawless from a mora l standpoint and who are in a position to continue to teach what our g reatest sages have bestowed on us. What is stated above constitutes a concept for deliberation by our lea rned friends. I will be pleased to see its implementation. The Welfare of the Senior Citizens － A Concept for the Establishment of Garden Villas for the Elderly by Professor Chin Kung July 2007 I left Taiwan in the 1970s, and have been traveling to various countri es and regions to teach Buddhist principles based on what is taught in the Sutras. Everywhere I went, I wanted to find out two things: First ly, the welfare of the elderly and secondly, the youth crime rate. Why do I want to find out the welfare of the elderly? As we know, the ageing population is a world problem. How to take care of the liveliho od of the senior citizens is a major concern of most governments. The traditional concept of “Rearing children to provide for the old age” is a wishful thinking and is not practical now. Not that the younger generations are not filial but that they lack the ability to take care of them. Nursing homes for the elderly seems to be the only solution in some countries. Examining the social structure in different countries, we find that no t many countries have facilities for the elderly. However, such facil ities are found in countries like the USA and Australia, especially in Australia. The government there does look after their senior citizens . But, be it the state-owned or privately-run, the services provided f ocuses on the material needs of the elderly and not the spiritual aspi rations. The workers involved only provide devices prescribed by the r egulations. True love and compassion are not always shown. The elderly would soon feel depressed and lonely. They would live in solitude and some would simply count their final days. As a consequence of our recent studies from the Flower Adornment Sutra (the Avatamsaka Sutra), we are, again, inspired by the concept of “T he Four Immeasurable Compassions” that we have a duty to look after t he elderly. We hope that all could pull resources together to help the elderly. The elderly, our senior citizens, have made tremendous contr ibution to the society in the past. Now, they should be entitled to en joy their lives. We should build a selfless cordial society. Here are some thoughts of mine: 1. Facilities and services similar to what is found in 5-star hotels s hould be made available to the elderly. The accommodation provided sho uld be comfortable with scenic views. Daily room services should be ma de available. Construction cost can be met by pre-selling the rooms. O nce construction is finished, these rooms could be for sell or rent. R ooms not in use could be leased out. These could be made available to the guests of the residents, or students who may need to make use of s uch facilities for study during their vacation. 2. A number of dinning facilities should be in place to provide buffet s throughout the day. The food served will meet the religious requirem ents as well as dining habits. 3.We should be careful not to use terms like “nursing home for the el derly” as it will be a constant reminder of the old age of the reside nts. Instead, we should use names such as villa, country cottage or ca bin. For example, Mount Cook Villa can be the name for a villa at the foot of Mount Cook. The villas can serve as a university for the elder ly, a multi-cultural education center, an institution for moral educat ion, Art Museum or multi-purpose complex for other usage. 4.Hospitals will be established close by and so will primary schools a nd kindergartens. Both the elderly and the children of tender age are served by the staff with love and compassion. The very fact that these two groups of residents will live together in harmony will help to re inforce love, and the need to extend our love and affection to the age d. 5.Members of the staff who render service within the complex, whether they work at the clinic, in primary schools or nursery schools will be well acquainted with prescribed textbooks well referred to in Confuci anism, Daoism and Buddhism, such as the Di-Zi-Gui (Standards for Being a Good Student), Accounts of Request and Response, Ten Virtuous Condu cts Sutra. The importance of filial piety and respect for the elders m ust be upheld. They should show respect to the elderly when serving th em and they should have the attitude of truthfulness and loving kindne ss similar to what their children would have adopted. The pilot progra m of promoting the Di Zi Gui at Lu Jiang Cultural Education Center in Tang Chi County, An Hui Province in China is a very good example. The success of the program has received high compliments at the UNESCO Hea dquarters in Paris in October 2006. It is possible to adopt the teachi ng model offered at Lu Jiang Cultural Education Center and to draw ins piration from it. 6.The senior citizens with different faith or religious affiliation wi ll live with one another in the same areas. The complex will provide f acilities for interfaith and cultural activity. For example, there sha ll be chapels, mosques, as well as temples. Different types of religio us gatherings will be organized. Multi-media facilities will be availa ble to show different religious images to suit different gatherings. M ulti-cultural activities and programs will be made available at weeken ds and during the holiday seasons. We must bear in mind the interests of the senior citizens. Our purpose is to enrich their spiritual lives. The programs we would offer must include topics to reflect humanity, morality, philosophy, wisdom and s cientific principles. These will enable the elderly to appreciate the meaning of life and elevate their spirituality. 7. There may be some senior citizens who would want to impart their s pecial skills to the younger generations. They will have the opportuni ty to do so as volunteers. Members of the younger generation would be invited to these workshops and would benefit from what the elders have to teach. The teachings, as well as the happy life of the senior resi dents, could be documented and made available to the general public. 8.After the completion of this complex for the elderly, we should invi te representatives from different countries and from the UNESCO/United Nations to visit and explore our experiences. We hope this should ins pire them to render similar services in their own countries. Multi-nat ional corporations could be forged to consider setting up similar fran chise villas in different parts of the world. It is very likely that t hey would receive support from many governments, because they will be in a position to help solving a social problem, and they could help to reduce the burden in looking after the elderly. 9.Many traditional heritages of different cultures are being marginali zed. In many instances, it is the senior citizens who are preserving t hem. They are the ones who know how to appreciate the treasures of cul ture. We should invite senior citizens who possess these kind of skill s to come forward and demonstrate these heritages. All will benefit fr om such a meaningful endeavor. We all have parents. We will all get old, too. Mencius said: “We provide for our own parents and we should extend our magnitude an d provide for parents of all. We provide for our children and we shoul d extend our magnitude and provide for children of all.” Should we be able to do this, we should be able to do anything easily. The elderly have dedicated the whole of their life in the service of t heir country and their community. It is about time they enjoy the resp ect they deserve from the younger generation. If we could truly adopt an attitude of appreciation and extend our filial piety to all the eld erly; if we could create a paradise for them, truly provide them with first class accommodation, and fulfill our duty in looking after them; if we could unify different religious groupings and people from diffe rent ethnic origins; if we could magnify the significance of tradition al culture and promote the education for filial piety and universal lo ve, then everybody around the globe would appreciate and support our e ffort and a harmonious world is not far away.