Today’s Vegetarian Elite will be presented in Chinese, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Nepali, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Thai.

I’m Lin Tsong-ming, the Political Deputy Minister of Education of Formosa (Taiwan). I’m here to call on everyone to work together. Global warming is getting more and more serious, and things that happen in one country can affect the existence of other countries. So I hope that we all work together – being veg, going green to save the planet. I hope everyone will join in.

Greetings beneficient viewers, and welcome to Vegetarian Elite. Today, we introduce the noble vegan statesman, Mr. Lin Tsong-ming, the Political Deputy Minister of Education in Formosa. Mr. Lin Tsong-ming has rich experience in the industrial, political, and academic fields. He served as the President of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology from 2001 – 2009. During his eight years of term, he promoted a number of reforms that led the University to become a model technological and vocational learning institution.

He has also put great efforts towards information technology in rural education, seeking to minimize the digital divide between cities and rural areas. Towards the end of 2009, he became the Political Deputy Minister of Education. He continually strives for the best education system for all students. Persevering through bouts of poverty and illness when he was younger, Mr. Lin knows very well the importance of health. He practices meditation and Qi Gong to nurture his body, mind, and spirit. Positive thinking and acting with kindness are two tenets he always emphasizes. Living as a model for what he teaches, Mr. Lin shared with Supreme Master Television how he became a vegetarian.

When I had just started my position as the president of Yunlin University of Science and Technology, I caught a cold. A doctor took a blood sample and found that my blood was very thick and murky looking. When he saw the sample, the doctor felt very bad and asked, “Is this you?” I sensed that he meant I had problems and that if I didn’t make some changes, I would have serious problems. That was one thing. The second thing was that I had started to do meditation. Every morning and evening I would do some meditation.

After a period of time, naturally I started to feel bad about the animals being killed. Now I don’t even dare to step on an ant. In the past, before I learned the Buddhist teachings, I didn’t realize how serious the law of karma is. When I started to learn the Buddhist teachings, I found out that many things happen because of the law of karma. Deep in my heart, I couldn’t stand to see the suffering of sentient beings any more. Sometimes I would think, “Suppose I were the animal and I was going to be killed and eaten. How would I feel?” How would you feel if you were the animal? So, gradually I couldn’t stand to eat the flesh of animals any more.

Deputy Minister Lin has been a vegetarian for eight years. Despite his heavy and busy workload, the diet has enabled him to become healthier and healthier. When he was President of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Mr. Lin inspired many teachers and students to forsake meat for the more compassionate vegetarian diet.

When I first started working as the president of Yunlin University, only a few people would eat vegetarian food with me. By the time I left the university, almost 10% of the people had become vegetarian. That’s how the director can affect the students, the teachers, and the staff. I feel that I can motivate others to follow suit. Because I was a vegetarian, when we would have a dinner together and they would see what I was eating, they would eat vegetarian with me.

After he became the Political Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Lin soon realized the severe environmental damages caused by the meat industry. He began to give speeches everywhere and actively promote educational policies regarding vegetarianism and environmental protection. In March 2010, the Ministry of Education issued a document to 3,398 elementary and middle schools throughout Formosa, encouraging all schools to choose one day a week as “Meatless Day.” On that day, schools should serve only vegan, eco-friendly lunches for all teachers and students. By doing this, Mr. Lin hopes that students in Formosa, more than 2.5 millions of them, can benefit from the healthy diet and adopt a green lifestyle at a young age.

It’s mainly because the global warming situation is very serious now. Also, natural disasters have become so frequent. Look at this year. Over a dozen major earthquakes have occurred around the world. We’ve never seen such phenomena before. From reading some reports I found out that animal agriculture is the main culprit behind global warming. So, under such circumstances, isn’t it wonderful to promote vegetarianism?

So because of this, when the Ministry of Education held a news conference at the end of last year, and the reporters asked me what my New Year’s wishes were, I said that I hoped to help promote vegetarianism. Because of this wish I have been actively participating in the campaigns. For instance, recently we sent a document to all the county and city governments asking them to help promote one meatless day a week. So far, we have had very positive responses and the local governments have been actively cooperating with us.

So I hope that from there we can expand the campaign to more cities and then to the regions. It is my wish to do everything in my power to help promote this campaign. Also, whenever we have the chance – such as at meetings with college presidents – we’ll provide suitable advice and guidance so they can understand the issue. I think if we try to communicate with them and help them understand, they will be able to accept the idea more easily.

When we return, we will learn more about the vegan statesman, Mr. Lin Tsong-ming, the Political Deputy Minister of Education in Formosa.

Welcome back to Vegetarian Elite featuring Formosan (Taiwanese) Political Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Lin Tsong-ming. Apart from being a vegan himself, Mr. Lin also hopes to promote plant-based fare in schools with the support of government agencies.

According to your observations or any figures you may have at hand, do you know the results of the veggie campaign in the schools and the government agencies?

We do have a figure. A few days ago a staff member gave it to us. It seems that in most counties and cities the local promotion is going very well. Almost 80% of the schools and agencies are promoting it now. As for those that are not yet participating, we are continuing to communicate with them.

It means that of all the counties and cities, almost 80% of them are doing something. For example, in elementary and middle schools, veggie meals are offered for lunch every Monday or Tuesday. Also, I have discussed the seriousness of global warming with college presidents during my meetings with them. I have encouraged them to help promote one veggie day per week at their colleges and universities. So far, many colleges have participated in promoting this campaign. Colleges, after all, are more autonomous. But I found that once a few colleges started participating, then others started to join and the movement expanded. So I feel the results are pretty good.

Mr. Lin’s leadership is widely admired by teachers and students, and his promotion of plant-based meals in schools has received a wide-reaching and warm response. In 2009, as suggested by the teachers and students of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, he wrote a book entitled “Painting the Rainbow in Life with Joy.” Through these stories, Mr. Lin wishes to convey the importance of keeping positive and being kind.

While writing the book “Painting the Rainbow in Life with Joy,” I was very careful not to include any negative words. My hope is that our students, teachers, and other people will all develop benevolent thoughts. That’s why I tried to avoid all negative words in the book. During the writing process we carefully checked every word to make sure that it encourages positive thoughts and actions. I want these to be the golden keys for people to open the door of success.

Once I accidently disclosed the subject of my teacher’s research during a casual conversation with friends. My teacher, the director, got very mad. Because of what I had done he scolded me for two hours. At that time I was very humble and I accepted his scolding. I felt that I had made a mistake so I deserved his punishment. After two hours of scolding, the director realized that I had not put up any resistance so he felt embarrassed. When he finished, we went out for a walk and we talked.

During the walk, my director shared with me the story of his life’s journey. By the end, we had formed a very amicable teacher-student relationship. So, you see, it began as a very awkward situation, but because I was being very humble, I resolved the situation and changed the negative effect into a positive one. So, the reason why I’m sharing this with you all is to let you know that, no matter what you encounter, you must think positively. Also, whenever you do anything, think positively, review your actions, and consider ways you can improve. Finally, keep a heart of gratitude.

In the book you also tell the students that we have to be kind and do good deeds.

That’s right.

According to my own experience, no matter what we do, we have to have kind thoughts. I’ve used as examples some of the experiences that Dr. Masaru Emoto talked about. He discovered that the better looking the molecule structure was, the more beneficial the water was to human health. But when the molecule structure was broken, it meant it was bad water. He discovered that after dividing some water into two glasses, if he said praises and positive words to one glass, the water molecules in that glass would turn into diamond-like shapes.

When he said curse words to the other glass of water, the structure of the water molecules became very scattered. So he found out that even water responds to praises and positive words, thereby changing its molecular structure – not to mention the fact that we are humans, right? When we say a word, it can affect and change all the surrounding and even the universe in an invisible way. This could affect the cell structure of our body. Actually, in Germany, many doctors believe in this.

A group of doctors studied some cancer patients, and they concluded that almost 90% of the cancer case were caused by emotions. Our emotions and our body or our actions have causal relationships. So I tell the students that they must do good deeds and think good thoughts. In my book I talk about how the universe is like a reflection wall for our actions. When we project kind thoughts, the reflection wall reflects kindness back to us and thus positively affects us or our family. Then we’ll help build harmony in the society. This will also help us to become healthier.

Our salute, Mr. Lin Tsong-ming, for your gracious leadership and presence as a caring role model. We join you in praying that more and more people adopt a loving way of living with respect for all beings, and thereby, together we can create a vegan Heaven on Earth.

For more information on Mr, Lin Tsong-ming, Political Deputy Minister of Education in Formosa (Taiwan), please visit: www.moe.gov.tw

Happy viewers, thank you for accompanying us today on Vegetarian Elite, featuring Mr. Lin Tsong-ming, the Political Deputy Minister of Education of Formosa (Taiwan). Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television. Up next is Between Master and Disciples. May Heavenly lights illuminate your paths in life.