I’ve been writing for Tzu Chi USA for a few months now, but since I work remotely, I don’t often get the opportunity to spend time with my colleagues, so this event was special. As we prepared before the audience arrived, setting up information booths and a sumptuous buffet of vegetarian treats, I felt a sense of joy: I was home, working with people whose interests and values truly echo my own.
The venue, the New York Institute of Technology Auditorium, steps away from Columbus Circle, was quite appropriate upon reflection. The heavily trafficked intersection, named after the colonizer Christopher Columbus, was an apt springboard to the topic of anthropogenic climate change. We would soon contemplate how economic factors and industrial technology contribute to this multifaceted problem. Several Native Americans, whose reverence for nature deserves emulation now more than ever, would also share their views in the films we would see.
As the public began to arrive, swelling to a crowd that filled the foyer to capacity, I mingled, sharing information about Tzu Chi, and discovered that each conversation quickly narrowed in on topics of gravitas – whether concern about the environment, or increasing frustration with materialism and the search for deeper meaning in life. This was encouraging: People are ready for change, and change is definitely what we need right now. It took several dims of the lights to coax everyone away from their discussions, but finally we were all in the theater.
The screening began with a short video about Tzu Chi’s extensive charitable activities around the globe and in the U.S., and may have left some baffled: They do all this? How come I never heard about this organization before? That’s exactly how I felt when I first learned about Tzu Chi. You wonder why it’s a secret: It isn’t … but sometimes it takes a while to get noticed. A presentation advocating a “compassionate diet” and revealing how industrialized meat production is a major culprit in global warming followed. I truly hope such concrete facts encourage people to adopt vegetarianism, if following their heart and a love for animals doesn’t.
