[eBook] Still Thoughts: A Collection of Short Teachings and Jing Si Aphorisms, Volume 2 (Revised Edition)

[eBook] Still Thoughts: A Collection of Short Teachings and Jing Si Aphorisms, Volume 2 (Revised Edition)

Introduction

Since the publication of the first two volumes of Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s Still Thoughts in English (“Jing Si” in Chinese) in 1996, many people have been touched by her wise and compassionate words.

Still Thoughts Volume I and II were followed by an additional volume called Jing Si Aphorisms Volume 3 in 2010, as well as several other aphorism collections in books and other formats. These Still Thoughts and Jing Si Aphorisms have been translated from the original Chinese into as many as eighteen languages, making their concise wisdom accessible to people the world over.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Tzu Chi, the organization Dharma Master Chen Yen founded in 1966, we are honored and grateful for the opportunity to offer a revised translation of these short teachings.

This volume includes a total of 365 short teachings, which makes it particularly suitable for daily reading and reflection over the course of a year. The second part of the book includes a Q&A with Dharma Master Cheng Yen, where she answers questions from visitors regarding love and relationships, life and death, religion and everyday living, and much more. We sincerely hope that you will find wisdom and inspiration in these pages and that they will benefit your life and the lives of those around you.

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.