Dharma Drum Buddhist Foundation

Holistic Caring for Life Education through Caring Services means caring for all members of society equally and universally through Humanistic Buddhism.   In a general sense, the Three Types of Education are covered under caring services. Caring for all stages of human life, from pregnancy, infancy, childhood, teenage, youth, adulthood, to old age, end of life and eventual death, as well as the many aspects of each of the stages, all fall within the scope of Education through Caring Services.   Protecting the Social Environment As part of caring services, DDM started in 1992 the movement to protect the social environment, with activities such as Buddhist-style joint weddings, birthday celebrations for the elderly, and funerals. The purpose is to lead and influence Taiwanese society through the concept and practice of simplicity, non-wastefulness, and cherishment of blessings. The Interior Minister praised DDM'S leadership on end-of-life caring and praying, and the Buddhist-style memorials, saying, "what we at the Interior Ministry failed to do, Dharma Drum Mountain has achieved." Every three months the DDM end-of-life chanting group collaborates with the city government of Taipei to hold a Buddhist-style joint funeral and memorial service. A departure from traditional funeral practice, the service is solemn, simple, peaceful, and graceful, filled with the calming chanting of Buddha'S name. Master Sheng Yen said: From a Buddhist point of view, not only birth brings endless hope, but death also leads to brilliant future ... The ending of life, though not a joyful event, is neither a depressing thing. It is a graceful Dharma event. The power of the Buddhist funeral memorial can overwhelm people attending one for the first time. They often leave expressing a wish that their own funeral will be like that. Zheng Wenlie, leader of the DDM End-of-life Chanting Group, offered this explanation: "Death prompts peop