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Remembering Katrina Ten Years after the Storm p. 8 Disaster Relief in Nepal & Sierra Leone p. 28 How to Sleep Better at Night p. 61 Tzu Chi Kids: Comics & Games p. 63 ISSUE 45 | FALL 2015 ISSUE 45 | FALL 2015 Words from Master 4 Letter after Hurricane Katrina Master Cheng Yen DHARMA MASTER CHENG YEN Cheng Yen FOUNDER OF CEO’s Note 7 Lessons Learned Han Huang TZU CHI FOUNDATION 8 Remembering the Lessons of Katrina 10 The Path Paved since Katrina Tzu Chi Volunteers New Orleans 16 Map of Relief Distributions & Clinics CONTEMPLATIVE WISDOM Cover Photo: One decade ago, Rising 18 Free Dentures Lead to Deep Friendship Shirley Tseng New Orleans was devastated thoughts for meditation, contemplation, and by Hurricane Katrina. 21 Working Hand in Hand Colin Legerton reflection from Master Cheng Yen 24 Did Climate Change Cause Katrina? Colin Legerton PUBLISHER Han Huang 28 Nepal: Love to Earthquake Survivors Tzu Chi Foundation EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Disaster Relief Colin Legerton around the 31 Sierra Leone: A Partnership to End Ebola Stephen Fomba The Lotus of Our Hearts Blooms from the Mud EDITORS World Yungli Tseng | Terry Lin 37 Philippines: Tacloban Rises Again Harry del Pilar The complicated habitual tendencies of sentient beings ART DIRECTOR Lily Chen Medical Corner Dealing with Dementia Liyu You serve as a mirror to Bodhisattvas, 40 PRODUCTION MANAGERS reminding them to be vigilant and Tenshang Joh | Lusha Lee Education Corner 42 My Rookie Year in Character Education Tony Koo not develop the same habitual tendencies. TRANSLATORS & EDITORS Raul Corcuera | Mei-li Hamilton Richard Hamilton | Judith Legerton 45 Tzu Chi Global in Action People whose hearts have been contaminated SPECIAL THANKS TO Debra Boudreaux | Shirley Chen Vegetarian Style Kung Pao Tofu Veggie Cooking Team provide Bodhisattvas with nourishment Curtis Hsing | Harriet Luc 49 Hui Ching Su | Huiping Wang to grow on their spiritual path. Dharma as Water Editorial Team Storytelling 50 Teaching by Example Master Cheng Yen The Editorial Team sincerely thanks everyone who contributed to this 53 Tzu Chi Americas in Action Lotus flowers can beautify a pool of mud, issue and warmly welcomes articles, as the mud and filth provide the nutrients for lotus seeds and roots to grow. photographs, and comments. Please contact us at [email protected] Book Excerpt 57 The Path to Truth, Chapter 4 Master Cheng Yen Complicated habitual tendencies and contaminated minds Sign up for a free digital subscription at enews.us.tzuchi.org help Bodhisattvas grow like lotus flowers out of mud and filth. Safeguard Health 61 Sleep Better at Night Lina Lee copyright 2015 Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation All rights reserved. All photos are property The Children’s Beloved Forest Victoria Lee of Tzu Chi unless otherwise noted. No part Tzu Chi Kids 63 of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, 69 The Poor Penguin Cassie Chang electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage-and-retrieval system, without 72 Tzu Chi USA Directory permission in writing from the publisher. All articles contain the views of their authors, which do not necessarily reflect the opinion 75 Tzu Chi: A Brief History of Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. Translated by the Dharma as Water Editorial Team 10 21 31 42 63 Letter after Hurricane Katrina Dear volunteers and staff of Tzu Chi chapters around the world, so that Taiwan was able to escape heavy damages. Having safely weathered the storm, we in Taiwan are filled with gratitude, and are humbled to realize how unconquerable the forces of nature truly are. Life is impermanent and the world is fragile. On August 29, Hurricane Katrina caused the most Indeed, those of us who are safe should reach out to those who are suffering. The South Asia disaster devastating disaster in the last 105 years of U.S. history. Fierce wind and rain pelted the Gulf Coast like passed only eight months ago. Just when we were finally beginning to see the victims settled down, with a ton of bricks, ravaging Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. the groundbreaking of the Tzu Chi communities in Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia, suddenly another catastrophic disaster struck. Deeply saddened as we are, it is not enough just to feel sympathy. We should The city of New Orleans received the hardest blow. When the levees collapsed, over 80 percent of take action to do what we can to offer help. the city, including two airports, became submerged in water. With gas leakages leading to outbreaks of fire, power outages, a water shortage, the collapse of infrastructure, and corpses floating through its Faced with such a horrific disaster, we must all awaken to its lessons. We must come to realizations waterlogged streets, the city was forced to shut down and declare a state of emergency. The Governor and adjust our own hearts, to pray for and reach out to disaster victims with a heart humbled, sincere, of Mississippi even compared the hurricane aftermath to Hiroshima after the atom bomb. The and disciplined. At the same time, we must recognize how human activities have a hand in natural unimaginable scale of the disaster has paralyzed U.S. emergency services. They are unable to rescue the disasters and do what we can to protect our environment and be more eco-friendly in our day to day survivors even as the number of casualties continues to climb. living. While things may be safe and well for us, we must always remain aware of potential crises and live in a way that can help prevent them. Listening to all this, I feel an indescribable sense of pain and sorrow. In the world we live in, everything is interconnected. Any minor changes to the environment can ripple out to affect the whole. We must quickly do good deeds; doing good isn't something to be put off for another time. Doing Where does a hurricane of such magnitude come from? The role of global warming cannot be denied, good deeds creates positive karma and sows blessings, bringing about good fortune and averting disaster. as scientific studies tell us. The disasters nowadays are increasingly more severe, and in the future, given So, we should encourage everyone to exercise their compassion and carry out acts of kindness. Disasters, human beings' wayward activities, the disasters will become even more devastating. The small acts here both natural and man-made, are happening because there is a lack of goodness and love in our world and there may seem minor, but very quickly we find upon us a calamity that tears apart families and today. Karma—the law of cause and effect—is a law of nature. As unrelated as things may seem, a cause destroys cities. As a member of this global village, how can we remain apart and take no action? and effect relationship nevertheless exists. Tzu Chi volunteers in the U.S. have already been mobilized. Since the disaster area was shut off, Everyone's actions, both positive and negative, affect the state of the world. If people are moral and they have begun providing assistance to hurricane evacuees who fled to Texas, especially to the elderly, ethical, then naturally the world will be safe and peaceful. When there are disasters, it is the concern the disabled, and low-income families. They plan to distribute US$200 emergency gift vouchers to of each and every one of us. We all have a responsibility to help. I hope you all will do your part in the victims in lieu of cash and offer other forms of assistance, so the evacuees can immediately receive motivating those around you to contribute to humanity in a positive way. emotional and physical support. Furthermore, TIMA (Tzu Chi International Medical Association) members across the U.S. are preparing to provide medical assistance at the refugee centers, while others We all live under the same sky, on the same earth. We should treat everyone in the world as part of prepare to kick off a nationwide fundraising drive. Tzu Chi volunteers in Canada have already donated our family and embrace their suffering as our own. Our mission now is to inspire everyone to dedicate US$1 million to the relief efforts. their love and wisdom to helping the victims of the hurricane and easing their suffering. Let us fully embrace this mission. I earnestly hope that all of you will bring forth your love and further inspire others to share the same compassion—that you will contribute but also draw others to join this global fundraising effort. At I sincerely hope that every day you will think good thoughts, speak kind words, and do good deeds, this time, we need to unite everyone behind this campaign—to rally everyone's love and inspire acts of so we can help to purify people's hearts, bring peace to society, and eliminate disasters from the world. kindness. The positive force created from this goodness is the force of positive karma. It is a force that I'm grateful to you all, and I sincerely wish you happiness and wisdom. can turn the tide of negative karma. Just as Hurricane Katrina was forming over the Atlantic, Typhoon Talim was forming over the Shih Cheng Yen Pacific. While Hurricane Katrina swept through three states of the United States, Typhoon Talim landed in Taiwan. Thankfully, the Central Mountain Range helped to weaken the winds of the typhoon September 3, 2005 4 TZU CHI USA FALL 2015 www.tzuchi.us | 5 Lessons Learned t’s hard to believe that it’s already been accumulate experiences. It was good practice, and When Dharma Master Cheng Yen founded Tzu Chi ten years since Hurricane Katrina.