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Dharma Roots
Tzu Chi in the USA
1989 – 2014

uring Tzu Chi’s thirtieth anniversary in 1996, Dharma Master
Cheng set the second Sunday of each May as Global Tzu
DChi Day. In 1999, the second Sunday of May—already
celebrated as Mother’s Day in Taiwan as in the United States—was
decreed by Taiwan's government to be the official celebration of
Buddha’s birthday. From that time forward, Tzu Chi joined together
all three celebrations—Buddha Day, Mother’s Day, and Global Tzu
Chi Day—as a single celebration focused on expressing gratitude to
the Buddha, parents, and all living beings.
In the next couple years, Tzu Chi Global Headquarters in
Hualien held annual gatherings for global volunteers each May and
also celebrated the “three-in-one” holidays, while encouraging all
volunteers unable to return to Hualien to celebrate in their own
home countries. In 2003, due to the outbreak of the SARS epidemic
across Asia, Tzu Chi stopped holding the annual global get-together
for health concerns, but instead requested that volunteers hold
three-in-one Buddha Day, Mother’s Day, and Global Tzu Chi Day
celebrations in their own communities.

Since 2003, Tzu Chi volunteers all across the United States have
been holding these annual celebrations in offices, parks, city streets,
university auditoriums, and various other locations both big and

Buddha Bathing in Dallas.

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