Dharma Drum University, located in Jinshan, launched the “Jinshan project” in 2010. It is expected that by bringing together the expertise of the four schools, a valuable action plan can be developed to help the Jinshan district.

Ever since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan, the Jinshan project  has prioritized environmental protection and disaster response in order to strengthen the general public’s judgment about disasters and their ability to handle disasters. A forum on disaster response and reflections was held in June 1, 2011 at the Dharma Drum Mountain Degui Academy. Dharma masters and directors from relevant departments in the Dharma Drum Mountain organization participated in the important discussion.

Instructors from the School of Environmental Studies and the School of Arts and Culture had conducted  comprehensive research on disasters and disaster response and presented their research results in the forum. Staff from Dharma Drum Mountain Social Welfare and Charity Foundation (DDMSWCF) and Dharma Drum Mountain Crisis Management Team were also invited to co-present the reports.

It was a great honor to have the Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain, Venerable Guo Dong, to give a speech before the forum began. The Abbot President shared with the participants the concept of spiritual protection promoted by Master Sheng Yen. One needs to constantly protect his or her spirit. By doing so, he or she might be able to face a disaster more calmly and peacefully should one occur. In peacetime, instead of feeling afraid all the time, one should prepare himself or herself for a crisis. Accordingly, unnecessary panic will be prevented.

As the moderator of the first session, the Dean of the School of Environmental Studies of Dharma Drum University, Professor Yu Yue-Hwa, explained the origin and planning of the Jinshan project. In particular, Professor Yu pointed out that a complete database was established with special focus on the geographic and humanistic environments in the Jinshan district. The concept of “prevention is better than cure” is adopted so that the public can learn to respond to complex and devastating disasters which they have never witnessed before, such as the Tohoku earthquake in Japan in March 2011.

The morning session featured two presentations from Dr. Shang Neng-Chou from the School of Environmental Studies and Dr. Chiu Ming-min from the School of Arts and Culture. By stating research data and the responsive measures adopted in Japan and Taiwan, the professors covered two major topics: Impact Assessment of Complex Disasters to the Jinshan District and Discussion on Tsunami Escape Routes and Public Space for Shelters in the Jinshan District.

Through field investigation and data collection, Dr. Shang indicated that with extreme weather becoming more common, the damage caused by disasters could be enormous. He cited mudslides as an example. When typhoon Xangsane hit Taiwan in 2000, the precipitation exceeded the warning level almost by two times. Furthermore, the coastal area of Keelung was hit by a tsunami before, in 1867. In terms of escaping and preventing disasters, although the Lion Head Mountain park in the Jinshan district can function as a shelter for lots of people to take refuge there, the transportation and routes to and from this park still need further planning. Additionally, Dr. Shang talked about the anti-seismic level of buildings, he gave an analysis of safe areas above 40 meters in contour line and invited the audience to think more about the issue.

At the beginning of his presentation, Dr. Chiu explained some basic information such as the distribution of population in the Jinshan district, official data from the Building Bureau and Society Bureau of New Taipei City, and the research results concluded by Dr. Jian-zhong Kong after interviewing principals of elementary schools and junior high schools in the Jinshan district about their disaster prevention and relief measures. Dr. Chiu then proceeded to talk about the Kobe earthquake in Japan in 1995. He explained the design and planning of facilities and reserve materials in disaster prevention parks in Japan and how citizens in Taiwan created their own disaster prevention manuals, such as the Fuxing community in Changhua city. These all provided us with a valuable experience to learn about. Finally, Dr. Chiu concluded by mentioning the Hyogo Declaration formulated by the Japanese government after the Kobe earthquake. He stressed that there must be “disaster recovery capability.” It is especially important to build a culture of recovery so that people will have the power to implement recovery plans after disasters.

The afternoon session was chaired by Professor Chu Wen-shen, Chief Secretary of Dharma Drum University. Manager Hsu Si-yuan from the Crisis Management Team of Dharma Drum Mountain, and Dr. Chiang Hong-chi, Director-general of DDMSWCF made presentations about related planning in the Dharma Drum Mountain system. Their topics included Current Crisis Management Mechanism in Dharma Drum Mountain and Current Operation and Future Development of Disaster Relief System of Dharma Drum Mountain.

Manager Hsu first pointed out that when there are major disasters, the Dharma Drum Mountain system can activate its self-protection mechanism as well as fulfill its responsibility to stabilize the society by taking good care of the physical and spiritual environment.  From designating a team to be in charge of contacting nuclear power plants, the five-point recovery process will be carried out step by step. In addition to monitoring disasters and providing disaster relief assistance, the DDM aims to carry out training and drill plans. Evacuation routes in the Dharma Drum Mountain complex in Jinshan will also be planned. The project was launched in May and there are still many details waiting to be mapped out.

Dr. Jiang reported on the origin and development of DDMSWCF. The DDMSWCF was derived from the Charity Club set up by Master Dongchu, with its main mission of helping the poor with materials. Since the 921 earthquake in 1999, the DDMSWCF was established as the designated institute in charge of providing disaster relief service in Taiwan and around the world. In terms of developing the organization, manpower and goals, DDMSWCF will focus on training volunteers to comfort victims and help victims recover, especially spiritually. On the other hand, DDMSWCF will continue to provide care for the victims with instant and long-term service. Dr. Jiang also explained in detail how the experience from the 921 earthquake had helped in establishing the consolation stations in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Sichuan. Dr. Jiang also emphasized that the disaster relief mechanism has always incorporated the spirit of Dharma Drum Mountain: from cultivating peace in mind to cultivating peace in activity. The future goal is to strengthen the professionalism of the system and its manpower.

After the four presentations, President Liu An-chi from Dharma Drum University acted as the moderator in the Panel Discussion session. President Liu concluded the four presentations and pointed out that though the School of Environmental Studies was responsible for holding the forum, the Jinshan project was actually executed by all four schools of Dharma Drum University. Serving as a platform for interdisciplinary integration, the Jinshan project follows the mission of Dharma Drum University: protecting the spiritual environment. The concept of protecting the spiritual environment was advocated by Master Sheng Yen and the project will help to promote the concept by improving the society, stabilizing the society and people, cultivating talents who care for others. Professor Pei Yang stated that in addition to current methods of helping people to cultivate peace in their minds, the DDMSWCF should interact more closely with the four schools of Dharma Drum University in order to provide a more comprehensive and professional service.

In addition to discussions during the sessions, Dharma masters and full-time management staff from Dharma Drum Mountain also exchanged opinions about the topics and future plans with instructors from the four schools after the sessions. The forum ended with everyone expecting to see a multi-faceted Jinshan project in the future. (Reported by Ai-lien Wang)