The spirit of Tzu Chi is summarized in the four terms "charity, compassion, joy, and release." Based on this spirit, they have built a multifaceted system of social assistance and reform that embraces charity, medical care, culture, and education. Tzu Chi places particular emphasis on developing local resources, which makes it markedly different from other volunteer medical organizations.
以「慈、悲、喜、捨」四個精神，建立融合慈善、醫療、文化、教育等多面向的社會援助與改造系統，並注重開發在地潛能，使慈濟相較於其他國際醫療救援組織顯得格外不同。