Vice President Annette Lu attended a ritual celebrating Buddha's 2250th birthday on April 8, and urged the public to learn from Buddha's life history.
Like the difficult and long path leading to Buddhist "pure land," the vice president said that Taiwan's own road to political enlightenment is equally challenging. "We ourselves are the light," said the vice president, "and only we ourselves can enlighten the society and the world where we dwell."
In her remarks, the vice president also reiterated her philosophy of pursuing truth, righteousness and beauty as well as respecting the heaven, the earth, and all of humankind. Therefore, in order to move closer to Buddhist "pure land," the vice president stressed "tender people, tender heart, and tender Taiwan."
To remedy public figures' unrestricted yet malicious speech, the vice president urged all the citizens not to defame or smear each other while pursuing truth, righteousness, and beauty.