Taipei City Government

Mayor Ko Wen-je attended a gathering at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall celebrating both Buddha’s Birthday and Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 8. He hopes that everyone can retain internal calmness when facing turmoil and wishes all peace and happiness.
The “Spiritual Conservation Stop.Relax.Enjoy” activity arranged by Dharma Drum Mountain kicked off in the midst of a thunderstorm, with the mayor joining the audience in experiencing the spirit of SRE (stop, relax, and enjoy) to experience the ‘living Zen’ and pray for the peace of the island and happiness to moms around the world.
During his address, Ko noted that spiritual conservation is not only an attitude for our daily life, but also an approach we can adopt in pursuit of advancement in times of stability.
The mayor also took the opportunity to write down an excerpt from one of the sutras and placed it within a talisman. He noted that he will give this talisman and another one – given to him by Dharma Master Guo Dong of Dharma Drum Mountain – to his wife and his mother.
When asked by the reporter what he felt like undergoing a spiritual training when he spoke in the middle of the rain, he replied that he doesn’t mind the rain. As for whether he felt the calmness when he copied the sutra excerpt, Ko said he is always at peace and often reads the copy of Diamond sutra on his table when he has time.