If a corporation or individual spent NT$1.3 billion (US$41.2 million) on a vast area of land, but could not develop it, the owner would probably have to wait for an opportunity to gain a return on its investment — for example, when the population in the surrounding area increases or the land is turned into a public project — in the meantime leaving the land idle and letting it undergo ecological succession.
The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation is a humanitarian foundation that has spent NT$1.3 billion on taking possession of a vast green plot of land in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
Why not just accept karma for what it is and restore the destroyed habitat?
The land could be used to build ecological ponds and plant trees to create a forest, which could serve as a place to facilitate education about nature and the environment, and as a place for meditation to nurture the body, mind and spirit.
Even though this 16 hectare plot is smaller than Taipei’s Daan Forest Park — which occupies 26 hectares — the land that Tzu Chi purchased is inside a conservation zone, which means that this land holds more advantages than Daan Forest Park.
If Tzu Chi can put together a team of visionary volunteers, academics and experts, they would no doubt be able to build an ecological education park of exquisite beauty that could be used to enrich the body, mind and spirit.
It could be called the Tzu Chi Bodhi Ecological Park.
When the Suao-Hualien Highway Improvement Project was under development, Tzu Chi’s Dharma Master Cheng Yen (證嚴法師) urged the government not to overdevelop the land, saying: “Wherever humans go, destruction follows. Non-stop drilling and digging destroys the environment. Taiwan is not a big place; we should protect it.”
It is true that parts of the Neihu conservation zone have been destroyed, but, through ecological engineering, the site could be rebuilt into a place that is both beautiful and natural.
Ponder this possibility: The site could be turned into an ecological education park for the body, mind and spirit, with volunteers taking visitors to the park’s ponds, ditches and paths.
There, they could be taught about the park and learn to appreciate and immerse themselves in the natural beauty of the flowers, fish, insects and birds around them.
Visitors could sit on the lush grass and meditate or share in the wisdom of Master Cheng Yen and the Buddha, while listening to the humming of insects, the singing of the birds and the whispering of the wind.
Would such a place for the enjoyment of the body, mind and spirit not be the Buddhist epitome of a peaceful world?
Would it not be the feast for the mind and spirit that the Tzu Chi people have been seeking?
As Buddhists say: “Compassion has no enemies; wisdom breeds no vexation.”
Many Neihu residents and environmental protection groups are protesting against Tzu Chi’s Neihu development project.
If Master Cheng Yen and the Tzu Chi organization would let go of their karma and restore the conservation zone, building instead a Bodhi ecological park for the body, mind and spirit, they would earn more respect and praise from the public.
Perhaps with Tzu Chi taking the lead in ecological restoration, a new trend would begin.
Would this not be a good deed on a grand scale for Taiwanese ecology?
Yang Ping-shih is a professor at, and former president of, National Taiwan University’s College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS