Dharma Master Cheng Yen was born in 1937 in a small town in Taichung County, Taiwan. When she was twenty-three years old, she left home to become a Buddhist nun, and was instructed by her mentor, Venerable Master Yin Shun, to work “for Buddha’s teachings, for sentient beings.” In 1966, she founded a charity, which later turned into the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, to “help the poor and educate the rich”—to give material aid to the needy and inspire love and humanity in both givers and recipients.

 

In recent years, Master Cheng Yen’s contributions have been increasingly recognized by the global community. In 2011, she was recognized with the Roosevelt Institute’s FDR Distinguished Public Service Award and was named to the 2011 TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people. In 2014, she was presented with Rotary International’s Award of Honor in recognition of her humanitarian efforts and contributions to world peace.

“May all people’s hearts be purified; may all societies be in harmony; and may the world be free of disasters.” Year after year, Dharma Master Cheng Yen offers these three prayers. In this book, she shares how her three prayers can become reality—by practicing good speech, doing good deeds and making good vows.

 

Through good speech, we can purify people’s hearts. Positive words bring blessings, and negative words bring misfortune. If we hope to purify people’s hearts, we must constantly speak good words as a way of blessing ourselves and others. Practicing good deeds brings harmony to society. The state of society depends on every individual; if everyone performs good deeds, then society will naturally be harmonious. Good vows have the power to eliminate disasters from the world. Forming aspirations brings blessings, and making vows brings strength. If all our thoughts and efforts are oriented toward goodness, and our prayers are followed by great aspirations and vows, we can eliminate the negative collective karma of sentient beings and, thus, free the world from disasters.

 

Master Cheng Yen hopes that everyone continue to create good conditions and nurture good affinities every day, every hour, and every second. If we can always be mindful of doing this, the world will be free from disasters, all societies will be in harmony, and every family will live in peace. Then everyone will be blessed!

證嚴上人於一九三七年，出生於臺灣臺中清水。上人服膺上印下順導師「為佛教、為眾生」之慈示奉持不懈。一九六六年創辦佛教克難慈濟功德會，自此展開「濟貧教富」的工作。慈濟世界在法師慈悲呵護下，數十年來，一步一步地堅實茁壯；發展為慈善、醫療、教育、人文四大志業，以及國際賑災、環境保護、社區志工、骨髓捐贈八大腳印，透過親手拔除眾生的苦痛，以善與大愛膚慰人間。

 

近年來，證嚴上人的貢獻獲得國際間一致推崇；於2011年獲美國羅斯福基金會頒贈「傑出公共服務獎」， 並被時代雜誌列為2011年全球百大最具影響力人物。2014年獲頒國際扶輪社「最高榮譽獎」，肯定證嚴上人對於人道主義精神與世界和平的貢獻。

證嚴上人每年總是祈願：淨化人心，祥和社會，天下無災難。透過本書，證嚴上人告訴讀者如何透過時時說好話、日日做好事、念念發好願來達到「三好與三願合一」。

 

口說好話可以淨化人心，好話是福、惡言是禍，欲淨化人心，就要常說好話，時時祝福自己與別人。身行好事即能祥和社會，社會的生態就在每個人的生活中形成，人人積極做好事，社會自然祥和。心發好願期能天下無災難，有心就有福，有願就有力，心念願力皆向善，以好心好願來祈禱，就能消弭眾生惡的共業，使天下無災難。

 

證嚴上人希望透過日行「三好與三願合一」：每人年年都要結好緣，日日、時時、秒秒都要說好話、做好事、發好願，每一秒都要連連用心，凝聚善緣福業，若如此，�