Education, needs to be based on the principles of Great Love
Instilling such an education requires the joint efforts of three parties---
The first is family
The family is where children start their life
(And first learn about the world)
So, family education is very important and has great impact on children
Is the quality of family education based on how rich or poor the family is?
Not necessarily
A well-to-do-family doesn't necessarily guarantee a good, wholesome environment because parents in well-off families may have more social activities care more about enjoying life and tend to spend without check
Can children in such families be brought up to have correct values?
It'd be very hard
Apart from the family, school education is also important
It is the school's duty to teach children knowledge and principles
Be it preschool, elementary or middle school, the aim of education should be to instill selfless Great Love (love for one's fellow man)
This is should be a very important mission of school education
That is why when we build schools, we call it "Project Hope"
As the name suggests, education is what bring hope for the future
It holds the family's hope, the hope for society, and the hope for a world where all are one
These hopes all essentially come down to education
That is why education must take care to give children correct values and guide them toward love
The education provided by the family, society and school must all share this same direction and aim
However, in these times that we live in, it is most important that children learn to have love and respect for themselves
What makes others feel her the most is that when her mother passed away, she withdrew into herself for some time, but she never gave up on herself
She know that she's the eldest among her siblings and that if she could get a scholarship, she's be able to help her dad a lot, financially
I would not feel happy or proud simply because I got the top score on an exam
I am more practical---
If ranking first means I can get a scholarship that'd be helpful to my family
(So, I think about it more pragmatically)
She'd not like some children who in the course of pursuing their studies have parents who're constantly by their sides, (and who overprotect them to the degree) that they can't bear to see their child endure any discomfort, such as fearing that their child might drink a cup of milk that is too hot or too cold (which would not be very good for)
(their body)
That's how overprotective and pampering some parents are
The spoil their children and don't know the right way to love their children
This girl in Taidong, Wu Shi-yi is very self-respecting
Her family is very poor
Her mother passed away in 2003, and her father makes a living by doing odd jobs
Although he could have found a job had he left the mountains, he couldn't bear to see his children have no one to attend to them
(with their having already lost their mother)
So, with not much work being available in the mountains, and te wages there being quite low to begin with, the family inevitably became a low-income family
So, you remained here because of them?
Or you'd have left the mountains to look for a job long ago
If I didn't worry about them, I would've headed for
But, I couldn't do that because there are no adults to look after them
What has your dad done that touches you the most?
His providing for us up to now and working so earnestly and so hard every day
Shi-yi's father has to support 3 children on his meager income
Shi-yi had ranked first among her peers in Taidong in the nation-wide high school entrance exam and could have gotten into
However, thinking of her father and not wanting to burden him even more, she gave up the chance to study in
At the time, all three of us children needed to pay tuition for our schooling, and Dad, of course, had to take care of it all
But, he didn't actually have regular income,
(so at the time, I truly didn't know what to do)
Because she gave up the chance to study in
When Tzu Chi volunteers learned of her story, they went to visit her family at once. That was when Tzu Chi began to care for the family, and even provided her with a scholarship
Apart from loving her father dearly, Shi-yi also very grateful to her teacher Mr. Xu
That's why she often says that she has two dads with the other being Mr. Xu
Mr. Xu is like a second dad to me
My own dad can't come to se me in the city often, but Mr. Xu lives in downtown Taidong, so he can come see me often
Once, out of curiosity, I asked her
"Shi-yi, you ranked first again for this exam,"
"and your score is always so much higher"
"than the score that ranked second"
"won't you ever slack off sometimes?"
She told me:
"Mr. Xu, I only complete with"
"the score I received last time"
"and tell myself to do better and not to slack off"
I tell her that in giving her a helping hand, I hope she'll return her debt of gratitude by reaching out to help others in the future
Mr. Xu has been tutoring Shi-yi in math and has kept encouraging her to strive forward
Isn't he a very good teacher who cares for Shi-yi like a father and educates her with love?
He knows that Shi-yi is a good girl with a promising future and that she is kindhearted and diligent
So, he thinks that she is someone he must help nurture
That's why he has been caring for her and tutoring her all these years
This is an education based on love---selfless Great Love
Such an education based on love and children who know to love and respect themselves are really what give our society and bright future as these children whom we work so hard to nurture for our society and the world
(will grow up to become upright people who can)
(help bring about a world based on moral values)
If everyone can educate our children this way and give them correct values, I'm sure that the ideal society where people uphold ethics & common decency will not be far off, and a world where all are one will not just be rhetoric
As long as everyone has correct values
(and works for the collective good,)
I'm sure that we'll be able to create a world of great harmony
(Then, there will be hope for our society)
Their requires the joint forces of family, school, and society, together creating a greater environment that teaches love
So, if all three can share this same aim and work closely in concert, I'm sure that our hope for
(an enlightened society based on correct values) and a united world in harmony will not be hard to achieve
The worst is for children to have wrong values
If so, even if their families are well-off, they won't grow up to become upright people
For children in poor families as long as they know to respect themselves no matter what difficulties they encounter, they'll still have a promising future
Living in this world in their the greater environment we're in today, we all share in the responsibility
Fulfilling this responsibility is about
(mindfully living out & promoting correct values)
重播 週一到週五
09:48 11:45 15:15 23:00
重播 週六
07:45 11:45 15:18 23:00
重播 週日
02:45 07:45 11:45 23:00
作育英才愛之教
良師授業助於學
勤奮品潔盡孝思
新芽計畫期有成
有了文明的社會，世界大同的理想才能實現，要有文明的社會，就要靠大愛的教育，把家庭、學校、社會，三個教育環節合一，不過在現在的大環境下，最重要的還是要孩子們自己的自愛。
在台東有一位女學生詩怡，考量到家裡的經濟環境，放棄就讀北一女的機會，留在台東讀書，認真不放棄的用功，感動社會大眾，慈濟人也為詩怡提供助學金。上人在開示中，呼籲大家要負起社會責任，共同為世界大同努力。
住在台東的詩怡，母親因為意外往生後，就姊代母職的照顧弟妹，雖然因為經濟因素，放棄就讀北一女的機會，詩怡還是在老師與父親的支持下，用功讀書，堅持的用心令人感動，而慈濟人也為詩怡帶來希望，提供助學金。
證嚴上人開示：教育一定要好好的方向導正，那用愛來教育，不管是家庭，社會跟教育的環境，要這三個條件合在一起，不過在這樣的大時代，這個大環境裡，最重要的還是自愛。
人助自愛自助者，慈濟人的愛心不只在台灣，全球包括馬來西亞，四川，江西…等地，都能看到藍天白雲的身影，發放助學金，要用教育所有困苦的家庭帶來希望。
證嚴上人開示：人世間，在這樣的大社會大環境裡，我們應該人人有責任，所以這分責任就是正確方向的用心，文明社會大同世界都不困難，怕的就是一些孩子方向偏差，那怕再富有的家庭，也教育不出好的孩子。
慈濟志工承擔起提燈照路的社會責任，以靜思法脈點起一盞盞的智慧心燈，遍灑愛的種子，用慈悲善念溫暖人間。
2009/02/09
Regards, Jenny
Today's Jing Si Aphorisms: People who are preoccupied with past achievements cannot humble themselves.
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