{"id":7407,"date":"2010-09-22T01:23:53","date_gmt":"2010-09-21T17:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/?p=7407"},"modified":"2010-09-22T01:23:53","modified_gmt":"2010-09-21T17:23:53","slug":"taiwan-adventure-15-do-you-have-sharp-edges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/2010\/09\/taiwan-adventure-15-do-you-have-sharp-edges\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan Adventure (15) Do You Have Sharp Edges?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I remember when I first visited a primary school built by Tzu Chi Foundation many years ago, the Buddhist volunteer who guided us around the wonderful buildings in the compound shared something intriguing with us. He said that if we might have noticed, there are no sharp edges in any structures of the building. All corners are gently rounded instead<\/span> – including pillars and such. This is because the founder of Tzu Chi, Venerable Chengyan wants such schools to be safe for children, who are likely to run around.<\/p>\n

This simple yet amazing detail is an example of how meticulous Tzu Chi is in looking after the welfare of sentient beings. It made me reflect… Do I have needless sharp edges that ought to be filed off, to be rounded? <\/span>Are there aspects of my words and deeds that might harm, even if accidentally, as sharp pillars might? You might have have heard of the expression ‘running with scissors’ which defines hazardous recklessness, but do we ‘run as scissors’ at times? May we reduce our sharp edges. While it is alright to have sharp-thinking, any wisdom that is derived should be delivered in the most harmless and in the most helpful of ways. If not, it’s quite pointless.<\/p>\n

Still on the subject of buildings, I also visited the old nunnery temple quarters of Tzu Chi (which is open only to special guests), near its public headquarters. The HQ building is very modern and some might even consider it to be a little lavish – though I don’t – as it is really purposefully built and functional upon explanation. Having visited the nunnery and the HQ, it is easy to notice the great contrasts. The nunnery is much more simple and even somewhat shabby and dated, while the HQ is very appealing to visitors. Once again, this is touching to me… because the priority is clear – that the monastics’ way of life should remain humble, while the gates for the lay and public must be attractive and welcoming!<\/span><\/p>\n

Next Taiwan Adventure:<\/span> Coming up
\nPrevious Taiwan Adventure:<\/span> https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/2010\/07\/taiwan-adventure-14-beyond-convention<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember when I first visited a primary school built by Tzu Chi Foundation many years ago, the Buddhist volunteer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[57,194],"class_list":["post-7407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travelogue","tag-compassion","tag-humility","wpcat-38-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}