[eBook] Spacious Hearts and Pure Thoughts: Pursuing a Life of Beauty and Goodness

[eBook] Spacious Hearts and Pure Thoughts: Pursuing a Life of Beauty and Goodness

Introduction

This book features a selection of stories told by Dharma Master Cheng Yen, including tales from Buddhist scriptures, traditional moral tales, current events, and real-life encounters. Though simple on the surface, each story carries profound wisdom and compassion. Through these moving narratives, readers are invited to reflect on the Dharma in everyday life, connect with genuine human emotions, and find strength and clarity for their spiritual journey.

Over the decades of Tzu Chi’s development, Master has consistently reminded Tzu Chi volunteers to never forget their initial aspiration and to constantly renew their aspirations. We learn by doing, awaken by learning, and then integrate what we have learned into our practice—in this way, we can experience the truths of the Buddha Dharma. Master often says that a genuine and sincere heart is where spiritual training takes place. Tzu Chi is a spiritual training ground where volunteers can fully put the master’s mission into practice by diligently integrating the Buddha Dharma in daily life and becoming Living Bodhisattvas in this world.

As Dharma Master Cheng Yen says, “A spacious heart is goodness, and pure thoughts are beauty. An open heart and pure thoughts bring joy and are the foundation of our humanistic culture.” It is her hope that this book will inspire more aspiring bodhisattvas to give with sincere love and broad, pure hearts—working together to create a world filled with goodness and beauty.

About Author

Dharma Master Cheng Yen was born in 1937 in a small town in Taichung County, Taiwan. When she was twenty-three years old, she left home to become a Buddhist nun, and was instructed by her mentor, Venerable Master Yin Shun, to work “for Buddha’s teachings, for sentient beings.” In 1966, she founded a charity, which later turned into the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, to “help the poor and educate the rich”—to give material aid to the needy and inspire love and humanity in both givers and recipients.


In recent years, Master Cheng Yen’s contributions have been increasingly recognized by the global community. In 2011, she was recognized with the Roosevelt Institute’s FDR Distinguished Public Service Award and was named to the 2011 TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people. In 2014, she was presented with Rotary International’s Award of Honor in recognition of her humanitarian efforts and contributions to world peace.