Hello, I’m Cheng Qing. Welcome to Relief for Life: Forty Introductory Lectures on Buddhism.

First, apologies for being late. Year-end work delayed updates for two weeks. Last week I spent two wonderful days with the Vistopia team. Since this program launched in May, I have formed a deep connection with these young friends. Our close exchange confirmed what a wise choice it was to accept: they are sincere explorers and sharers who treat hosts and listeners honestly, not merely sellers of knowledge. I hear they will make some entertaining behind-the-scenes videos, so please look forward to them!

In the previous two lectures I introduced the relationship between a bodhisattva’scompassionandwisdom.On the Mahayana bodhisattva path, compassion is not merely worldly goodness or gentleness, but must be closely joined with wisdom and awakening.

Even prajñā and compassion are insufficient by themselves to save beings. Every life has its own background and character; one-sided wishes cannot make everyone understand the Buddha’s wisdom. Mahayana therefore developed the vital idea ofskillful means,opening vast possibilities for bodhisattva activity.

Consider family and school education. Parents and teachers constantly wonder how to teach correctly: strictly or gently? There is no universal method because each person differs in knowledge, character, aptitude, body, and mind. Even long familiarity cannot reveal another perfectly. Adults invest enormous effort without the expected result, feel powerless, and ride emotional highs and lows.

Saving beings is ultimately education in awakening and faces the same problem. People’s capacities and needs differ greatly. Some seek profound Dharma and concrete practice; most enter temples under life’s pressure, seeking blessings, comfort, or smoother fortunes. Teaching impermanence, suffering, and emptiness may backfire: their lives already feel difficult, and hearing that all life is suffering may deepen the darkness.