This website uses cookies and other technologies to help us provide you with better content and customized services. If you want to continue to enjoy this website’s content, please agree to our use of cookies. For more information on cookies and their use, please see our latest Privacy Policy.
On Laolan Mountain in the northeast corner of Taiwan is the Ling Jiou Mountain Wusheng Monastery, a place that exists in harmony with nature. The statues of the Guanyin Buddha, the Forest of Stupas, and the 500 Arhats stimulate a bright and clear state of mind, and the visitor will see how they are perfect companions for the surrounding scenery of mountains and sea, plants and trees. In view in all places throughout the monastery, amidst the mornings bells and evening drums, the mountain setting is melodious.
Embracing heaven and earth, cultivating the self, the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Education Park overlooks the Jinshan Plain, both high mountains and deep blue sea in glorious view. The park is interlaced with eight trails, and walking them is also a form of spiritual practice. Listen to the chanting stream waters, watch the breezes, and immerse yourself.
The magnificent stature of the Chung Tai Chan Monastery is a hard one to miss when passing through Puli Township, Nantou. Even its side profile mimics the outline of a praying monk. Its outward appearance appears stylish while still retaining the virtues and wisdom of Buddhism teachings and everyday life. Upon closer approach, one can feel its calming effects and find power deeply rooted in its tranquility.
The 48 Underground Palaces, a cycle of distribution spread over 4,800 years, the Eight Pagodas, and 4 paths to relieve suffering. A sense of grandeur is one’s first impression on entering Fo Guang Shan in Kaohsiung. Standing under the towering Great Buddha, amidst mountain and forest, one’s smallness is perceived, and humility is born spontaneously. Amidst Fo Guang Shan’s colorful aesthetics, the wisdom of people, of scenery, and of heaven and earth is borrowed. In achieving a state of tranquility, here no demands are made of these.
How does the grape ivy on the wall grow so exuberantly? And why is the temple’s main entrance so small?
Located in Dali, Taichung, the International Bodhisattva Sangha is an imperfect, flawed building. However, it is through its simplicity that one is able to experience the very essence of life.
If life were a mountain, then the International Bodhisattva Sangha would be the awakening power that accompanies people to the mountain.
The oldest Zen Buddhist temple in Daxi is the Zhaiming Temple. The environment here is simple and elegant, lush with flowers and trees. The complex is an integration of heritage site, culture, art, and religion, a place of blissful unity and serene perfection. The venerable century-old temple and adjoining modernistic fair-faced concrete corridor form a harmonious pairing. This new style of architectural aesthetics has taken deep root in people’s hearts, embodying the eternal at a glance.
In 2007, CommonWealth Magazine became the first financial news media in Taiwan to launch an English-language website. In the years since, it has presented stories of Taiwanese companies, industries and Taiwan’s political, economic and social environment to the world through comprehensive, in-depth reports. We provide news with a perspective.
Do you lie awake at night worrying you’re not getting enough sleep? You’re not alone – some countries are in the middle of a sleeplessness epidemic which has the potential to damage people’s health and productivity.
If you’re reading this with a niggling sense of dread, you’re not alone. More than a third of the world’s adults are worried or stressed, according to a new poll that’s found 2018 to be a record year for negative emotions.
Ask any motorist about traffic congestion and they will regale you with tales of long queues, wasted time, and mounting frustration. It’s a global problem with some of the world’s greatest cities also being home to some of the world’s greatest traffic jams.
A new survey of expats finds Singapore is the best overall destination, while relocating to Switzerland boosts earnings more than other country. Taiwan ranked ninth overall, which is the third highest ranking in Asia.
Focused on a target audience of decision-makers around the Chinese-speaking world, “CommonWealth All Access” features in-depth analysis of major economic, business and financial issues and also delves into political and social topics.
The shift in recruitment practices is taking place across a range of different sectors, with technology and accounting firms amongst those who have recently decided that a university degree is no longer a requirement.
Does playing violent video games lead to violent behaviors? Academics at the University of York say they’ve found “no evidence” that video games make players more violent.
Companies in Taiwan and the world are phasing out the use of plastic straws in the name of protecting the environment and marine life. How much impact could banning plastic straws really make? What is the best replacement for plastic straws?
The World Health Organisation is to include “gaming disorder”, the inability to stop gaming, into the International Classification of Diseases. By doing so, the WHO is recognising the serious and growing problem of digital addiction.
KUBIC, a cultural and creative market in Kaohsiung captures the eyes of both the city's visitors and residents. It is built by containers and will definitely challenge your imagination and concept of architecture.
The ASE Group has long seen “environmental education” as an essential part of a sustainable future, and the company is now a leading advocate in the field with the help of several initiatives that are raising environmental awareness.
Children in Taiwan can get their hands on french fries, fried chicken and pearl milk tea at any time. Now, one in four elementary school kids is obese.
Hundreds of thousands of fans make the pilgrimage to Mayday's concerts each year, bringing in hundreds of millions of Taiwan dollars. Mayday's success is due in no small part to the backing of its 100-strong support staff.
Averse to authority and often prodigal, the youngest crop of employees in Taiwan and China is giving companies grief. What managerial lessons are essential as enterprises approach the generational precipice?
Once known as a "gangster school," Hsinchu's Guangwu Junior High School has turned to "nature exploration" outings to bury its bad reputation and sell students on education.
Of Taiwan's biggest cities, only Tainan has insisted on preserving its historical roots and using them to draw a more creative crowd. But will that be enough for the city to regain its vitality?
In devoting her spare time to working with the blind, Sprinna Chiang has become a beacon of hope. Along the way in her journey of service she has been privy to a vision of happiness few sighted people will ever know.
A senior military instructor leads a 21-day extreme expedition up eight of Taiwan's most challenging mountains. The goal: to change the lives of troubled youths caught up in drug abuse.
Fourteen teenage girls, their features still childlike but their hands callused like construction workers, have shown the grit it takes to beat the most formidable athletes from around the globe.
As a person who achieved a lot in her life, Lucie Cheng hardly ever talked about herself. Many of her friends in Taiwan were unaware that she propelled the field of Asian American studies in a new direction as the longtime director of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA. Likewise, her friends in the United States did not know that she continued to help disadvantaged groups such as Asian migrant workers and immigrant spouses to make themselves heard in Taiwan.
Taiwan's annual "Spring Scream" music festival kicks off in Kenting on April 4. With a million visitors attending 20 such music festivals annually, an enormous spring-summer business op is blooming.
Does marriage become just a thankless chore once the love has gone out of it? Is marriage a burden that's just too much to bear in life? Or is marriage a sacred path to life fulfillment? What does a guy who's made a big name for himself in the world of business see as the essential truth behind marriage?
From too much dog poop on the lawns to insufficient tap water, a group of Taipei grade school students are proving daily through their actions that they can rely on their own efforts to make life on campus better.
Under the "hand in hand" buddy system at Jhuang-Wei Elementary School in Taiwan's Yilan County, the younger kids learn to adapt, third- and fourth-graders learn independence, and the older kids learn to take care of others.
Despite a dauntingly challenging market, a growing number of Taiwanese comic artists have found prominence at international festivals. How can they break beyond the barriers and make their mark in the profitable world of comics and animation?
At first blush, climbing up to the world’s highest mountain seems completely unrelated to a corporate performance. But when Wowprime chairman Steve Day took a team of top employees on an expedition challenging their stamina and will, what insights did they take back with them?
Children who grow up pampered, praised and protected often turn into self-indulgent, helpless adults. But as many of the most prosperous families have learned, kids who endure hardship can take setbacks in their stride.
What do 18 year-olds know about hardship? What kind of rite of passage can have a lifetime impact? Pingdong County's Mt. Dawu treks are an extreme test of physical ability and willpower, a study in humility and the true meaning of cooperation.
Insisting on light, healthy food and warm hospitality, former banker Felice Chen cooks up deceptively simple dishes with complex flavors that dazzle the taste buds.
Coming from an old family of New Taipei, bureaucrat Lee Chien-lung shares the dishes that take pride of place on his Lunar New Year table, and what makes them meaningful.
Some Lunar New Year traditions are being left behind by modern society, but few Taiwanese can resist their memories of the holiday's flavors and smells.
More and more students with good grades are deciding to enroll in Taiwan’s vocational schools, pursuing personal interests rather than attending a school for its academic prestige. These assertive students are challenging established teaching practices, and perceptions.
The ancient wisdom of coexistence between land, salmon and man is being reinvigorated through the cooperative efforts of Shei-Pa National Park and a local elementary school, as sustainable environmental education takes root.
After Typhoon Morakot triggered massive landslides last summer, Taiwan's tea farmers have begun to rethink their relationship with nature, interspersing trees among their tea plants to benefit the soil and the local ecosystem.