Venerable Master Chin Kung presented a keynote address in Melbourne, Australia, 2018
Respected Chairman Liu, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
What a pleasure it is for us to be able to have a gathering in Melbourne with distinguished officials, scholars and experts to discuss the necessity of giving top priority to education! What an honour it is for me to have the opportunity to give a speech here! The theme of the international meeting shows us that our future will definitely be bright if we can promote good education today.
What is “good education”? Let’s get back to the basic meaning of the word “education” in Chinese. The word comprises two characters “教（jiao）” and “育（yu）”. Jiao means to follow, or to make others follow; Yu means to raise children properly so that they can be good. So, by combining the two characters into one word, we have the meaning of “education”—to behave and teach our children properly so that their innate goodness will be inspired. The Chinese meaning of “education” is similar to what is found in the scriptures of the Bible: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
Here’s a question: who can we train children with a good education? I once visited Beijing Normal University and saw a couplet written by professors of the school, it read “Be a learned person so you can impart your knowledge; Be a role model so you can inspire the world.” It seems to me that the voluminous Avatamsaka Sutra, the most important sutra in Buddhism, can be encapsulated into the couplet of twenty words. It summarizes the meaning and methods of teaching both mundane knowledge and spiritual growth of mankind.
We have seen the two successful teachers in history: Buddha Shakyamuni and Confucius. They were persuasive because they followed the golden rule of “practicing what you preach”. Therefore, by practicing everything they had taught, these two great teachers were successful in changing the lives of their followers. This was because their followers trusted them wholeheartedly and followed them without hesitation. So, action speaks louder than words and teaching through example has proven to be the most effective.
What kind of actions did the saints and sages in different parts of the world practice when they were teaching? If we could summarize their myriad of deeds in one phrase, I would choose “filial piety” or “the unconditional love between parents and children”. “Filial piety”, the natural bond between parents and children, is represented by the Chinese character “孝（xiao）” which visualizes this bond by the combination of two characters. The first character is “老（lao, the elder）”, which refers to parents; the second character is “子（zi, the young）”, which refers to children. By combining “the elder” and “the young” into one character, Xiao （孝）, this exemplifies the oneness between parents and their children. Parents have their parents and children also have their children, so such oneness is inclusive, so within the limitless of time and space we are all ONE. This is the truth of the universe. How can we fail to love others and live in harmony with others if we are all ONE? Competition is absolutely not an option because we are ONE.
This meeting provides us with a valuable opportunity to learn from outstanding experts around the world. I have read Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris’ famous quote: “If bacteria could learn to cooperate without the benefit of a heart or brain, surely we humans should be able to as well.” I think she has proposed the concept of evolution from which she encourages us to form a real community by recognizing our oneness, by focusing on love rather than fear and by making the earth a sacred place again. This is the way, this is elegant simplicity.
Today is a special moment for our planet Earth. Today is the time that we need to devote ourselves to reviving the sacred tradition of religious education, to promote the education of universal love. Keeping oneness in mind, we love our family. We are responsible children who treat parents with love and care; we are diligent students who treat our teachers with respect and obedience; we are good brothers and sisters who treat our siblings with affection and trust; and we are reliable employees who treat our employers with the sense of responsibility and righteousness. Promoting these teachings will bring about sustainable growth in our dynamic world. We believe human beings will have a bright future and great harmony will be with our planet, with our galaxy and the entire universe.
Since UNESCO has created an office for me that permits discussions with ambassadors and distinguished guests of many delegate countries within the organization on the ways to promote the education of ethics and morality, cause and effect and the sacred teachings of faiths and religions, I am afraid that I will not be able to travel to Melbourne for the meeting. What a pity it is for me to not be able to take advantage of the opportunity to learn from the forum! I was invited to give a brief talk and I am expecting to learn from your valuable comments.
I sincerely wish the meeting to be a fruitful one! I wish everyone to have a blessed life of health and peace. I wish Australia prosperity and Australians to live in happiness and harmony. Thank you!