From Chicago to Houston, Dallas, New York, New Jersey, Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the US/Canada Visiting Team of the Tzu Chi Teachers Association traveled around North America in July and August 1996, bringing the teachings of Master Cheng Yen's Still Thoughts. The team introduced humanitarian education from Taiwan to overseas Chinese in those areas.

Why is this native Taiwanese product--the teachings of Still Thoughts--still so fascinating even in North America?

The boy had had a fight at school. His mother was worried and went to ask his American principal what she should do. The principal said that Chinese liked to teach their children to tolerate injustices, but that this was not right. He said that her son's fighting that day was justified self- defense.

With such different values between East and West, what choice should the mother make?

Bidding farewell to the familiar hometown and emigrating to a new country thousands of miles away, parents intend to give their child a chance to receive Western education. Gradually, the child learns to speak fluent English, but his Chinese gets worse and worse. What should the parents do?

This child was forced by his parents to attend Chinese classes on Saturday mornings. With a head of brown hair dyed with lemon juice, the boy showed his dislike for the classes. "Now I'm an American," he said to his parents. "Why should I learn Chinese? Didn't you want me to become an American when we immigrated here?"

The parents had nothing to say. They stared at their child, who was so Westernized in his speech and behavior, but who still had an Eastern face.

Lack of Humanitarian Education

In the last part of July, the visiting team of the Tzu Chi Teachers' Association stepped on American soil. Wherever they went, their lectures on Still Thoughts education received enthusiastic response. The books were sold out everywhere. The teachers from Taiwan were surprised to see the effects after they had delivered their talks. They had seldom seen such scenes even in Taiwan.

"In addition to purifying people's minds, the most important thing about Still Thoughts is its depth of thought," said Wang Li-yen, director of the Dallas Chinese Teachers Seminar. He felt that the teachings in Still Thoughts were like rain on arid land.

In the early part of the 20th century, China was in chaos. Many Chinese went abroad bare-handed, working very hard with the hope of settling down. Now at the beginning of the 21st century, some Chinese are still leaving Taiwan. Most of them have established good businesses here. One reason for emigrating is to provide a better educational environment for their children.

"The education in Taiwan is too strict, whereas the education in the States is too loose," said one father who had immigrated several years ago. "Both need adjustments."

"Immigrants have chosen a better material environment for their children, but they have neglected more important things." Wang Li-yen had various reflections on education for overseas Chinese. American education teaches children to be independent and to worship heroes. It also instills pragmatism and utilitarianism. On Sundays, American children go to church with their parents. From the love and compassion of religion, they can learn the humanitarian spirit. But overseas Chinese parents seldom give their children such an environment. Therefore, the lack of humanitarian education is a critical problem that all Chinese schools in the States are facing. What worries the schools more is that there are only a few hours of Chinese lessons each week. How can they develop the students' personalities and teach them concepts of morality within such a limited time?

Still Thoughts: A Helpful Tool

A mobile exhibition was started in early February this year in Taiwan to display the achievements of Still Thoughts education. An exhibition was held at Hsinchuang Grade School at the end of May. Representatives from all the Chinese schools in the United States visited the exhibition. They were deeply impressed when they read articles written by students about Still Thoughts, a book that brings out the love of teachers, students and parents.

On the plane back to the States, the representatives all read that book attentively. They found that Master Cheng Yen's philosophy of daily life provided the best concepts for educating people's personalities.

How could Still Thoughts be used in teaching? How should it be promoted? In what way? Most important of all, how could it activate the love of the teachers?

On July 19, four teachers--Wu Hsiu-yin, Li Mei-ching, Fang Mei-lun and Yu Cheng-ching--from the Tzu Chi Teachers' Association flew to the United States. For 20 days, they gave talks at various Chinese teachers' seminars around North America. They introduced the concepts of Still Thoughts education, hoping that the audiences could understand that Still Thoughts teaching was actually a course in which teachers, students and parents could reflect and grow together.

"My son came to the Chinese school to find basketball playmates," observed Mr. Cheng helplessly. "Actually he knows nothing about Chinese." After listening to the speeches, he realized that he could use Still Thoughts to guide his son to learn Chinese. Through the book's good advice, they could communicate better.

In order to pass on Chinese culture, teachers in Chinese schools in the States work voluntarily, receiving little more than carfare. They come to the school with enthusiasm, but the students they face all speak English. The kids come to the school to find playmates and are not very cooperative with teachers. The sooner the classes are over, the happier the students are. Teachers feel helpless.

Chang Yu-ling used to teach in Hsichih Grade School in Taipei, where she learned Still Thoughts education. Two years after she immigrated to New York, she began to teach in a Chinese school. Facing students who all refused to write their Chinese homework, she wracked her brains every day to find a better way. Finally, she remembered Master Cheng Yen's words: "There are no bad students; there are only undutiful parents and teachers." She realized that the only way to dissolve the hostility of the students was by love.

In class, Miss Chang showed that she cared about the progress of the students. She softened their tempers with graceful, gentle words. After class, she took students back home one by one in her own car, even though she went without lunch. Gradually the students thought her behavior was "cool." They came to class cheerfully and they turned in their homework on time.

Love and Sincerity Needed Both in Taiwan and Abroad

The secret of the success of Still Thoughts education is that it activates people's gratitude toward all people, things and events. As Wang Li-yen said, "It makes people like themselves." When teachers like their job, they teach with pleasure. When students like themselves, they learn with concentration. When parents like themselves, they can get along well with their children.

Many parents immigrated to the United States because they thought the education system in Taiwan laid too much stress on academic performance, and they didn't want their children to endure that much pressure. They never dreamed that one day they would drive several hours in order to listen to speeches about Taiwanese teaching on humanitarianism.