New York, USA -- If we want to be free of the pain we inflict on ourselves and each other -- in other words, if we want to be happy -- then we have to learn to think for ourselves.

We have all that we need. All we have to do is to start noticing what is around us. That's when the spark of Right View begins to arise. The result of Right View is that Right Aspiration or Right Thought arises. This happens to us in various ways. I'm sure it has happened to everyone here, especially when we have a traumatic experience, or something helps us to stop and think and observe.

I’d like to speak about the practice of Dharma in daily life. The word Dharma means a preventive measure. It’s something that we do in order to avoid problems. The first thing that we need to do in order to involve ourselves with Dharma practice is to recognize the various types of problems or difficulties we have in life.

Dharma Master Cheng Yen founded Tzu Chi Foundation in 1966, with the philosophy of “helping others, helping yourself”, and emphasizing altruism. The four missions that carried by Tzu Chi members for more than four decades include charity, medicine, education and humanity.

The non-aggressive, moral and philosophical system expounded by the Buddha, which demands no blind faith from its adherents, expounds no dogmatic creeds, encourages no superstitious rites and ceremonies, but advocates a golden mean that guides a disciple through pure living and pure thinking to the gain of supreme wisdom and deliverance from all evil, is called the Dhamma and is popularly known as Buddhism.

The foundations of Buddhism are the four Noble Truths -- namely, Suffering (the raison d'etre of Buddhism), its cause (i.e., Craving), its end (i.e., Nibbana, the Summum Bonum of Buddhism), and the Middle Way.

Chanting plays an important role in the practice, preservation and continuation of the Buddha Dharma throughout the centuries. Various Buddhist traditions have developed Buddhist chanting over time either in Pali or other national languages in harmony with their cultural and ethnic traditions

Every man must have a religion especially one which appeals to the intellectual mind. A man failing to observe religious principles becomes a danger to society. While there is no doubt that scientists and psychologists have widened our intellectual horizon, they have not been able to tell us our purpose in life, something a proper religion can do. 

In the full-moon day of May  in the year 623 B. C.  there was born, in the Lumbini Park at Kapilavatthu, on the borders of Nepal, a noble Prince of aristocratic Saakya clan. His father was King Suddhoodana, and his mother Queen Mahaa Maayaa.

I would like to explain why, about fifteen years ago, I became interested in Buddhism and have continued to practice and study it since then. I am an American and was raised as a Roman Catholic. But by the time I was halfway through high school, I became disenchanted with Christianity and with all Western religions.