Tamkang University Lanyang CampusThe reason to hold the speech is to use the wisdom of life in Buddhism to analyse this social phenomenon. Furthermore, instead of resisting it, the youths are encouraged to embrace it—to reposition themselves first by observing the world-weariness in their minds in depth, and then they could start afresh.
Gundelin Rinpoche delivered the speech in Tibetan. He showed appreciation for the university’s cultivation of a variety of talented people, which has contributed significantly to the human beings. After his visit to the Lanyang campus, he especially mentioned that Tamkang University has helped many foreign students learn professional skills in Taiwan, which has improved these foreign students’ local circumstances after they went back to their countries. As a result, their life has turned better and happier. Moreover, the brilliant learning environment on Lanyang campus is a great source of learning to achieve happiness. For personal and familial need, it is crucial for the generation to pursue mental happiness. But how can we get happiness rather than unhappiness? Socrates said that happiness is the ultimate goal of life. Eudoxus, once a pupil of Plato, argued that the pursuit of happiness is the sole happiness in life. As such, the definition of “happiness” could be traced from early philosophical thinking. Thanks to the development of technology, shouldn’t the materialistic progress make people happy? By contrast, modern prosperity seems to bring unhappiness and even harm to many people. The fact that people put too much emphasis on external things is the reason leading to unhappiness in life. In fact, happiness should be looked for from inside. Especially in the 21th century, among incessant natural and man-made disasters, humans should look inward to find the source of happiness. That is, to seek happiness in the right direction, and to think unremittingly, the amount of unhappiness could then be reduced. Only through facing the problem directly and then looking for ways to solve it can happiness be reached.
Another important issue is “contentment”. Contentment is the way to reduce discomfort. Gundelin Rinpoche offered many examples to explain it. As we may know, almost all the emperors in history could not refrain themselves from wars.
It was due to the fact the emperors were not satisfied with what they had, even though they had immense power and fortune at hand. Likewise, a person’s first salary would undoubtedly bring forth happiness. What follows is endless desire. Misbehaviours such as greed and fraud come from discontent. For example, once a wise man wanted to give the gift of happiness to the “poorest” person in the world. After his search, he finally gave it to the king because the king had never been content in his mind.
School education makes a country progress. At school, “respect” should be stressed. Good teachers treat students with compassion. In the same way, the students should respect their teachers. Teachers not only educate their students at the classroom, they also guide them through lessons of life. Therefore, it is important to be a student respectful to your teachers. Teachers should be respected as your parents. Finally, Gundelin Rinpoche gave the motto to all the students and teachers attending the event, “learn to think inwards, and happiness will be achieved”.
