Abbot President of DDM Attended the 20th Anniversary of the “LIGHT UP” TV Program Press Conference
A press conference was held on 30 December 2013 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the TV Program, LIGHT UP. LIGHT UP is an educational talk and interview show that focuses on the positive aspects of humanity and emphasis the preciousness of life. The karmic ties between DDM and LIGHT UP began twenty years ago when Chang Guang-Dou, the producer, invited the late Venerable Master Sheng Yen as a guest of the program. The present Abbot President of DDM, venerable Guo Dong, who then served as an entourage secretary of the late venerable Master Sheng Yen, had accompanied the Master to the studio for the interview recording. Thus, he was specifically invited to attend the press conference and provided blessings of virtue and gratitude to people from all walks of life.
Chang said that he created karmic affinity with the late venerable Master Sheng Yen via this program and subsequently, has converted him from an atheist to a Buddhist. When the program faced with the risk of cessation of broadcasting, the late venerable Master Sheng Yen told him, “If one day, Dou, you leave the program, LIGHT UP will continue”, to encourage him to keep up the good work and persist through the low period of his career. The program is about to greet its 20th anniversary this year for producing great stories on gratefulness, being grateful for mankind and grateful for society and the land.
On top of that, Abbot President quoted an old Chinese idiom, “Unattached to luxurious life and fame manifests noble character; only serene mind achieves great goals”, to confirm the contribution that LIGHT UP made to society. He also mentioned that apart from producing and broadcasting life-respecting stories, LIGHT UP also founded LIGHT UP FOUNDATION that visits juvenile detention centers, prisons, and remote schools and engages in various social activities. Through everyone’s effort, the virtue has gradually pervaded society.
The Abbot President used the “Eight Kinds of Power for Joint Perfection” (the power of great compassionate vow, the power of inspiring intelligence, the power of brainstorming, the power of working together, the power of endeavoring jointly, the power of showing potential, the power of perseverance, and the power of perfection) to encourage participants. He also encouraged the public to be grateful for life, be mindful of the “Ten Kinds of Power” (the power to devote all you can, the power to try your best according to causes and conditions, the power to turn pressure into the power to assist you, the power to explore your potential and the power to remain persistent, the power to facilitate solidarity, the power to demonstrate vitality, where there is a vow, there is power to help each other) when face with good and bad times in life, maintain the attitudes of being grateful for accepting positive and negative karmic affinity and creating good karmic affinity by means of devotion and repaying kindness towards life. Let gratitude be extended to future generations and light up the “lamp of mind” that emanates heat and illuminates light within ourselves, in others and future generations. Let virtue be extended endlessly.
(Translated by Tom Hsieh/Edited by DDM Australia Editing Team)
