⭐️五月是美國亞太裔傳統月！美國亞太裔外交官在美國國務院扮演重要的角色，在AIT的運作上更是如此！在整個五月份，我們將為各位介紹AIT亞太裔官員的重要貢獻。今天要和大家介紹的是政治組官員林宏美 (Joy Lin) 的故事。

1930年代時，我的阿嬤在台灣只接受了幾年日語教育，所以她不太會讀寫中文。到了我母親那一代，我媽媽中英文都能通，甚至遠赴美國攻讀博士學位，最後成為美國公民。從某些方面來說，我距離我母親卓越的成就還有一步之遙，我沒有博士學位，中文也不夠流利。但是，我可以很有自信地說，我實踐了媽媽的夢想，而她的夢想就是讓自己的孩子有選擇自己道路的自由。在我人生的前十年，我有一半時間住在美國，一半時間住在台灣，而這樣的經驗也培養了我對國際事務的好奇心。現在，我很自豪能代表美國外派到台灣，並且趁著在台灣的機會，從我家人身上汲取靈感，進而推動並彰顯女性的培力賦權。

照片是1990年代我住在高雄時，媽媽和我一起到墾丁旅行。

⭐️It’s Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! AAPI diplomats are a vital part of the State Department, and especially our AIT operation! All month, we look forward to featuring the important contributions of our AAPI colleagues. Today we are sharing Political Section Officer Joy Lin’s story with you.

In 1930s Taiwan my grandmother only had a few years of education in Japanese leaving her mostly illiterate in Chinese. A generation later my mother studied Chinese and English, earned a PhD and became a US citizen. By some measures I’m a step away from my mom’s excellence— no PhD and only semi-literate in Chinese. However, I am confidently fulfilling my mom’s dream for her children to have the freedom to choose our own path. Splitting the first decade of my life between the United States and Taiwan fostered a curiosity for international affairs. Now I am proudly representing the United States in Taiwan, where I can draw inspiration from my own family to advocate and celebrate women’s empowerment.

My mom and I pictured below from a visit to Kenting when I lived in Kaohsiung in the 1990s.

Karmapa on Europe's Changing Times - Exclusive interview: "Life is Change"
噶瑪巴為‘歐洲時代變遷’發言 – 獨家訪問：“生命是改變”（3 / 4）
The whole article is divided into 4 parts. They will be posted within this month. 全文共4節，在這個月之內刊登。
( PLEASE SHARE 請分享)

[Q / 問：] Pope Francis' style is changing the relation between Catholic Church and faithful in a way closest to the reality of people's lives. Do you think it's possible to adapt the traditional religious systems to the contemporary world without the risk of loss in terms of rules and doctrine?
教宗方濟各的風格改變了天主教與信徒的關係，令到宗教最能貼近人們生活現實。你覺得有沒有可能讓傳統宗教系統適應現代世界，而沒有喪失戒條和教義的危險？
[A / 答：] What I believe as a Buddhist, although Buddhism doesn't really have a belief system at all, so rather I should say what I understand, is that philosophies, religions, rituals, science, medicine, politics, economic science, agricultural science, all of these are just tools, nothing more, and at the end of the day, what we are supposed to do with these tools, or the nature of these tools, these methods, these means, is to bring awareness, to provide awareness to those who seek. All of these means are just a medium; all of these are languages. And we use these languages to make everyone aware of what is what, how things function, what is the nature of things, in the simplest of ways and the most elaborate ways, and that's about it.
作為一位佛教徒，我相信佛教並沒有一個信仰系統。那麼我寧願說：哲學、宗教、儀式、科學、醫學、經濟學、農業學，這些全部莫過於是工具。最終，我們應該利用這些工具或其性質、方法、途徑，讓在尋找的人得到覺知。這些工具全是媒介，全是語言。我們莫非用這些語言，最淺易、詳盡地，讓每人知道那是什麼、事情怎樣運作、事情的本質。
And so therefore, whoever practices being an example of awareness is an object of gratitude and respect, genuine gratitude and respect. Because what they are doing is bringing the inspiration that no matter where we come from, no matter who we are, no matter our background, no matter the language we speak, we can become aware of the meaning of this existence, the purpose of this existence, and so eventually, or in absolute, in ultimate, there is no doctrine to be lost, because there never was one.
因此，誰人值得我們效法為覺知的榜樣，我們也應該向他致謝、尊重，真正的致謝和尊重。因為他們能啟發我們，讓我們知道無論我們從哪裡來、我們是誰、我們說什麼語言，我們都能夠覺知道存在的意義、存在的目的。因此在究竟終極的層面，不會失去教義，因為它從未存在過。
All there is, and all there will ever be, is clarity, clarity meaning excellence in a way, like beauty or truth, which is not a doctrine at all but the nature of the way things are - that a person practicing compassion or loving kindness on one side of the world, and another at the opposite end of the world - both in their own ways, their own language, their own culture, no matter how different they may be, no matter how different they look - that excellence has no border. That quality, that beauty, that truth has no border at all. There is no difference - we cannot separate that excellence in any way, and therefore it is sometimes described as timeless. However, we do have lots of different tools, languages, mediums to describe that excellence. And so of course the languages or the tools or the means that we utilise will always be different of course. As life is always changing, that language will always change. For example, the English language has always changed, ever since its conception, one could say; and it will continue to change - in a hundred years time it will be very different from how we use the English language right now - very, very different.
唯有澄明存在。澄明代表卓越，像美和真。這完全不是一種教義，而是事物的本質。一個人在世界的一角修持慈悲，另外一個人在另一角同樣在修持。無論他們方法、語言、風俗、樣貌有多不同，卓越也是無邊界的。那質量、美及真是沒有邊界的。沒有分別– 無法分割卓越，因此有時候它被譽為是永恆的。但我們可以用很多不同的工具、語言、媒介來描述卓越。當然，我們一定會用各種不同的語言、工具或媒介。因為生命是無常的，語言也是無常。比如，英語從開始到現在，它已經轉變，也繼續轉變。過百年後，應用英語時會大大不同 – 非常非常不同。
So therefore, deep down there is no real need to worry that we will lose the doctrine as such, because there never was one - it was just a means, it was just a language. All there is that excellence, which is, in one way, clarity - clear, transparent.
因此，在深層裡不需要擔心失去教義，因為它從來未有存在。它只是一個工具、語言。唯有卓越，即是澄明 – 清晰、透明。
We cannot be bordered or gapped or separated by anything.
我們不能被包圍、破開或分割。
Compassion practiced by a mute individual and a very very literate one is the same. One might not be able to express it in words, but the experience and the expression is the same.
當一個啞巴跟一個語文能力很強的人同樣在修持，他們修持的慈悲是一樣的。可能沒法用言語形容，但經歷和表達是一樣。
[Q / 問：] What would you say to the Pope?
你會對教宗說什麼？
[A / 答：] I would like to express to him my deepest respect for carrying his responsibility for others' benefit.
我想對教宗作最深致敬，因為他執行利益眾生的任務。

英文原文：http://www.agi.it/…/karmapa_on_europes_changing_times_-_li…/
圖片來源：https://www.facebook.com/17th.Karmapa/
（中文翻譯由本FB翻譯小組負責。若有錯漏，請見諒。節錄或載列文章內容以原文為準。）