Helping Others is the Key to Happiness

Jing Si Education is one of Tzu Chi's core curriculum highlights. Jing Si Aphorisms are wise sayings that may be applied to daily life and inspire goodness in the young and the old. Through storytelling, experiential activities, reflection, practice, and discussion, young children understand the importance of these values and apply them to their lives.

Benevolence is the desire to do good to others. There are various opportunities for being benevolent, such as helping your parents at home, caring for your grandparents, cleaning your toys, taking care of your siblings, being nice to the animals, watering the plants, etc.

In this month’s Jing Si Education, we looked at different walks of life that are not so fortunate. With this activity, we increased students’ social awareness and instilled a sense of belongingness with the world. In the end, we discussed various ways of being kind. Their responses were truly inspiring! A student said, “I will give them medicine. The nurse will give shots.” Another student said, “I will sell food and give money.” These little ones have a lot of ideas for helping others.

We are lucky to be bestowed with two healthy eyes to appreciate our surroundings. In today’s activity, we pretended that we could not see and needed help crossing the room without stumbling. Through teamwork, students learned to care for and help each other. They carefully held the hands of their friends, guiding them on where to walk while avoiding the obstacles along the way.

Indeed, helping can start small, such as helping your family members and friends, and go as far as serving the community. As Master Cheng Yen said, money is not the sole factor in helping other people; the more important thing is to have the heart to help others.