Dear Tzu Chi Bodhisattvas, greetings to you all! 

May 10th marked the joyous convergence of the Buddha’s Birthday,  Mother’s Day, and Global Tzu Chi Day, as well as the sixtieth anniversary  of Tzu Chi. We are deeply grateful to the senior monastics, Dharma  masters, distinguished guests from home and abroad, Tzu Chi volunteers,  and community members who gathered together to reverently and  solemnly take part in the Buddha Day Ceremony, sincerely expressing  gratitude for the grace of the Buddha, the grace of our parents, and  the grace of sentient beings. 

More than 2,500 years ago, the Buddha came to this world, shedding  light to the true principles, teaching us to give to this world with love  and goodness. We are grateful to our parents for nurturing and raising  us, and for teaching us the principles of how to conduct ourselves and  interact with others. We are grateful to our teachers for imparting  knowledge and learning. We are further grateful to people of all walks  of life working in concert with unity, each contributing their skills  for the benefit of others. Therefore, everyone must offer their most  heartfelt gratitude for all things. 

Many Tzu Chi offices around the world simultaneously held Buddha  Day ceremonies, joining together with hearts of sincerity, goodness,  and beauty to offer blessings to one another in a celebration shared  across the world. All the goodness in this world requires that we all  give of ourselves with a heart of love, a heart of goodness, and a  heart of gratitude, and inspire more people to be grateful at all times  and to practice goodness without ceasing. The truth of this world is  selfless love and sincere goodness: bringing purity to our own heart  and creating blessings for the world. 

Bodhisattvas in this world uphold faith, vows, and practice. Responding  to the cries of suffering sentient beings is the responsibility of every  Living Bodhisattva, and transmitting the Buddha’s teachings is not only  the duty of monastics; it is a mission that everyone must shoulder. Tzu  Chi volunteers carry the energy of love wherever they go. Wherever  there is disaster, wherever there is poverty, wherever their hands and  feet can reach, the figures in the blue and white volunteer uniform  appear. Take for example Tzu Chi’s efforts in Mozambique to rebuild  homes and schools after a major disaster; drilling and restoring water  wells and providing hot food for those in need in Zimbabwe; and  volunteers from Singapore and Malaysia sparing no hardship to grow  Tzu Chi’s various missions in the Buddha’s homeland. In all of this, Tzu  Chi volunteers always fulfill their mission. This is what it means to be  “Bodhisattvas in this world.” 

The sutras are the path; the path is a road to walk on. I am grateful  to Tzu Chi volunteers for walking the Bodhisattva Path, going among  those in suffering, relieving that suffering and bringing joy. Through  their every act of humble service, they seek only that sentient beings be  liberated from suffering, and never seek comfort for themselves. They  have brought the Dharma into everyday life and brought Bodhisattvas  into this world. They also seize every opportunity to pass this spirit on,  allowing this great love to flow and flourish in the world without end. 

We are grateful for the blessings of the senior monastics and the  affirmation and encouragement of distinguished guests from various  fields. Now that the sixtieth anniversary celebration of Tzu Chi has  been brought to completion, what follows will be the beginning of yet  another milestone. May everyone hold a heart of joy, give forth the  energy of love, and together move toward a future of goodness and  beauty. May Tzu Chi’s stream of purity flow on without cease, allowing  great love to reach all corners of the globe and benefit all sentient  beings. 

We pray that people may have purity in their hearts, that society may be  in harmony, and that the world may be free of disasters and calamities. 

With palms joined in reverence, 

Shih Cheng Yen 
Founder, Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation 

May 2026