Students of the Chinese Ink Painting class unfurled a painting of sunflowers onstage to wish everyone goodness and joy. （Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
“Mum, I’d like to join the Chinese Ink Painting class!” said eight-year-old Xu Mei Ning. The young girl’s mother was quite surprised to hear that but registered her daughter for the class after reconfirming her wish to learn the art.
On 24 May, 2014, Mei Ning came to the Jing Si Hall with her elder brother, mother, and grandmother to attend Tzu Chi Singapore Continuing Education Centre’s end of semester ceremony cum exhibition. They were there to support Mei Ning’s aunt, who had completed a semester of Yoga class. After viewing the works presented by students from the Chinese Ink Painting class, Mei Ning, who loves to do art, expressed her wish to join the class. Her grandmother, Lin Chun Feng, a Tzu Chi volunteer, even said that she would accompany her granddaughter to the classes.
The end of semester ceremony cum exhibition was attended by a total of 240 students and their family members. Selected students gave presentations of what they had learned in class to a full audience at the Buddha Hall, who showed their appreciation with warm rounds of applause. At the reception area of the Jing Si Hall, students’ artistic works were exhibited. Visitors were full of admiration for the exquisite works on display, such as calligraphy pieces, Chinese ink paintings, patchwork craft items, flower arrangement in vases, etc.
Tzu Chi Singapore Continuing Education Centre was established in 2005 to provide a human-centred education to members of the public. It encourages life-long learning while promoting a humanistic education to bring about a cycle of beauty and goodness in society. Nine years after it was set up, the centre now offers a variety of classes, including Chinese Tea appreciation, Tai Chi, Tzu Chi Sign Language, Chinese calligraphy, yoga, guitar, Guzheng, patchwork, photography, singing, etc.
Balancing the Body and Mind
“Everyone, please stand upright with your hands at your side and breathe deeply…” said Yoga instructor, Liao Xiu Tian. Instead of simply letting her students present yoga onstage, Liao guided the 100-plus audience members through an invigorating and relaxing yoga experience, so everyone could better understand the benefits of doing yoga. The simple yoga exercises brought much fun to the event, to the delight of all present.
Liao started learning yoga at the age of 50, after she fell and injured her leg. She came into contact with Tzu Chi after she started teaching yoga at the Jing Si Hall and is now a certified Tzu Chi volunteer. Yoga is an exercise that helps to balance the body, mind and spirit. During every yoga lesson, Liao will spend about ten minutes sharing with her students the Jing Si Aphorisms and Tzu Chi’s missions. The wholesome teachings and real life stories that she shared help her students to purify and balance their minds.
With the hope of helping her students better understand Tzu Chi’s culture, Liao worked hard to learn the teachings of Master Cheng Yen. “I often read Master’s books and watch her Dharma talks so I can learn more of her teachings. By sharing with my students the real life examples, they can learn and benefit from them. I have also gained much from the teachings found in Jing Si Aphorisms,” said Liao.
Giving an example of how she incorporated Master Cheng Yen’s teachings into her lessons, Liao said, “When we point our fingers upward, it’s similar to what the Master often says about working together with united hearts, with harmony and love. When the fingers are all stretched out, there is much strength. When we put down our fingers and keep them open, it signifies obtaining help from every corner of the world to overcome the most difficult problems.”
Apart from sharing the teachings, Liao also donates part of the earnings from her Yoga class to Tzu Chi. “I keep enough money for myself and contribute what I can to help those in need,” said Liao.
“I enjoyed the yoga experience very much,” commented Zhang You Xiang, a member of the audience. She felt happy and relaxed doing the yoga exercises taught by Liao at the Buddha Hall. It was the first time that Zhang, a student of the Tea Appreciation Class, had attended such an event. After viewing the artistic works of the students, Zhang commented that she had gained a deeper understanding of the different courses offered by the Continuing Education Centre.
Guiding with Care and Love
Li Qi Ming, a student of the Chinese Ink Painting class, and his classmate, Xiao Hao Yu, a young girl, did two paintings of sunflowers onstage within a span of 12 minutes. There was also a long scroll full of sunflowers painted by other students. The students slowly unrolled the scroll together onstage, revealing an image of blooming sunflowers. Another group of painting students also went onstage wearing shirts with paintings they did themselves, happily showcasing their artworks to the audience.
“Students’ paintings of living creatures on clothing can reflect their temperaments,” said Mao Ju Qing, teacher of the Chinese Ink Painting class. There were a number of young children in Mao’s painting class. She also watched over and guided her young students’ behaviour in class. Among her students were Li Qi Ming and his two sons, Li Hong Rui and Li Hong Xian.
As the father attended the painting class together with his sons, he had more time to interact with them. In particular, he hoped that Hong Rui, could learn to settle his mind and cultivate patience through practicing art. Hong Rui, who paid little attention to his studies, has made a pact with Mao to complete his homework before attending the painting class so that he would not neglect his studies while pursuing his interest in painting.
Mao’s teaching assistant, Zhang Lai Yi, regarded Mao as her teacher and good friend. Having suffered a stroke, Zhang’s hand is too weak to hold a pen. Due to her condition, she once contemplated suicide. At that time, Mao gave her a lot of care and encouragement.
“I wanted to help open her heart and give her confidence so she wouldn’t be trapped in her negative thoughts,” said Mao. Under the loving care and company of Mao, Zhang was able to improve her temperament and has become more patient and confident. “Now I won’t get angry so easily with the children and my life has become richer and more fulfilling,” Zhang said with a happy smile.
A Spiritually Purifying Education
At the ceremony, teachers of the Guzheng and Tea Appreciation classes gave a presentation together for the first time. Accompanied by the melodious sounds of the Guzheng, four teachers of the Tea Appreciation class gave a demonstration on Tzu Chi’s Jing Si Tea Art. Jing Si tea symbolizes Dharma water while the tea ware represents “vessels of the Dharma”. In the process of brewing tea, one can settle his mind, cultivate his pure innate nature, bringing purity to himself and others. At the multipurpose classroom, volunteers served guests with Jing Si tea, allowing the latter to experience the calm beauty and elegance of Chinese tea art besides viewing the students’ artistic works.
Having taught at Tzu Chi Continuing Education Centre for six years, Guzheng teacher, Tan Chun Wen deeply felt the love and care among the students in class. She explained why she has continued teaching the class for six years: “Every week, I look forward to being with the students. It’s not just about teaching them Guzheng skills. The humanistic culture that prevails here inspires and motivates everyone to continue learning and practicing Guzheng. So it’s easy for the students to learn and put into practice what they have learnt. I also take hold of the opportunity to interact with people who share the same ideals of goodness and allow my mind to settle.”
The Tzu Chi Sign Language class presented a song from a Da Ai TV drama. The presenters moved in accordance to the music to show different group formations, their gentle hand gestures and elegant movements exuding warmth and beauty. These students had spent many hours during holidays learning the songs and perfecting their hand signs and movements.
One of the sign language students, He Shu Fen, had been practicing very hard at home. She said, “I came to know about Tzu Chi a very long time ago. My love for Tzu Chi songs and sign language is what that motivates me to continue learning and practicing.” Since joining the sign language class, she had been very active and diligent in learning the Dharma. She even bought two books on the “Sutra of Innumerable Meanings” containing explanations by Master Cheng Yen and spent some time every day reading them.
Venerable De Ge from the Jing Si Abode in Hualien, who recently came to Tzu Chi Singapore for a short stay, was invited to give a talk at the end of term ceremony. She said, “Through classes offered by Tzu Chi Continuing Education Centre, the truth, beauty and goodness of humanity can be spread to people in the community. With the effort of everyone, a cycle of truth, beauty and goodness in education can be created. Master Cheng Yen taught us that Tzu Chi’s humanistic culture is about giving of ourselves without seeking anything in return, and at the same time, being grateful for the chance to give.”
In light of the continued natural disasters that plague the world, Venerable De Ge reminded everyone that these calamities all originated from the imbalance in people’s minds. She encouraged everyone to play a part in protecting the environment by taking up a vegetarian diet. The Venerable also invited all present to join the ranks of Tzu Chi volunteers and work to bring purity to people’s minds and spread the spirit of selfless Great Love to every corner in society.
Guzheng teacher Tan Chun Wen and teachers from the Tea Appreciation class gave a joint presentation for the first time, filling the Buddha Hall with melodious music and the beauty of Chinese tea art. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
Yoga teacher Liao Xiu Tian (second from right) and her students led the audience through a yoga experience. (Photo by Bernard Ng)
Xu Mei Ning (right) developed such a keen interest in Chinese Ink Painting after watching the painting students demonstrate the art onstage that she signed up for the class that very day. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
Li Qi Ming (first from right) let his active sons join the Chinese Ink Painting class in hopes that they will learn to settle their minds and be more patient under the instruction and guidance of teacher Mao Ju Qing (first left). (Photo by Fang Ming Yin)
Members of the Tea Art class served the guests with tea so they could experience the calm, beauty and elegance of Chinese tea art. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
In her speech to the audience, Venerable De Ge from the Jing Si Abode highlighted the importance of the role of Tzu Chi Continuing Education in purifying people’s minds and encouraged everyone to join the ranks of Tzu Chi volunteers to help spread the spirit of Great Love in Singapore. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
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