20150410患難時刻見真情Helping People with Love in Their Time of Need
“Master in Taiwan and Buddha, my daughter and I are going to have our meal. Thank you, Master, for caring for us.”
“I say this prayer every evening. Tzu Chi volunteers bring us supplies every month. How can we ever forget that?”
“Turn it around.”
“The old bed is too small for my son, and the new one has wheels. Thank you all so much. We’ve troubled you too much.’’ “Don’t mention it.”
“Tzu Chi volunteers are very nice to us. It’s hard to describe in words”
“I don’t believe what they say about Tzu Chi on TV. Tzu Chi helps people.”
See how people pool together their love to bring warmth to those in need. With their help, the suffering can receive aid in their difficult time in life. What a beautiful world it is. However, in this world we also see many incidents of impermanence that make us sigh. All these misfortunes are brought about by the unwholesome karma we’ve created over time. I often speak of natural and manmade disasters. They are the consequences of our actions. When people are affected by disaster they need others to help them with love.
For example, after the 3/11 Earthquake in Japan, Tzu Chi volunteers quickly went to carry out relief. Even now, they still regularly visit those affected three times a year. “You’ve come to see me, so I know that I’m not alone. Your images will forever live in my heart. I often use this blanket to remind me of Tzu Chi’s help.” This grandma is already 85 years old. She cherishes the thermal blanket that Tzu Chi gave her very much. She not only cherishes the blanket dearly, but also Tzu Chi volunteers’ love. She lost her home to the disaster, and her son had passed away. So, she lives all by herself now. She considers Tzu Chi volunteers as her family, whose presence has reminded her of the warmth of our world.
Seeing that, I’m very happy for her. Although she’d gone through hardship in life, there are now people caring for her. It’s good to see how she can enjoy such genuine love in life. This is really very remarkable. The day before yesterday, the victims from the Philippines went home. When they arrived at the airport, they were surrounded by the media. Many people went to welcome them, including our Tzu Chi volunteers, etc. The twins’ father and older sister also went. They have not seen each other for three months.
When the twins left the Philippines, they were still conjoined together and held in their mother’s arm. Since the moment they arrived at the train station in Hualien, Tzu Chi members in Taiwan had been caring for them with warm, genuine love. During their stay at our hospital in Hualien, to prepare for their separations surgery, our medical team had many meetings and never overlooked any details. In everything they did, they were very mindful. Our volunteers from the Philippines had been here with them for three months as the mother couldn’t speak Mandarin. Other volunteers from the Philippines also took turns to come to Taiwan to care for them.
Before they went back, the CEO of Tzu Chi Philippines especially came to Taiwan to accompany them while the vice CEO stayed in the Philippines to receive the media, etc and greet the twins at the airport. This is how our volunteers worked together with genuine love to arrange everything for the twins’ family, which is really very touching. Seeing how the twins have been separated and returned to the Philippines, I’m very happy. This is how Tzu Chi volunteers give with love and kindness every day. In nearly half a century, Tzu Chi has grown from a small group into a big organization. The number of volunteers has also increased.
Starting with a few volunteers Tzu Chi now has many volunteers in different parts of the world serving people regardless of religion and race. The way they give with genuine sincerity is very moving to see. Take for example one of our care recipients in Taiwan who is a Christian. In the critical moment of his life, Tzu Chi volunteers went to his aid and have been caring for him for over ten years. “Tzu Chi has helped me just like how the church has supported me.”
“The monthly monetary aid I received from Tzu Chi is all recorded in my passbook.”
He has the support of his church as well as the genuine love and care of our Tzu Chi volunteers. Such is the power of love. There are many examples like this. We also see how eager our volunteers are to learn the Dharma---To open our Zhongshan, office in Taipei early every morning, which is located in a building, so people can listen to my Dharma talk, our volunteers had communicated with the building’s security guards several times. Eventually, they found a solution without having to wake the security guards. So now, they can go to the office every day and listen to my Dharma talk on time.
Indeed, only when we take in the Dharma can we live it out by going amongst people to serve. This is how our volunteers have firm faith with discriminating against other religions. One volunteer even brings her dog to listen to my Dharma talk. See, all living beings share the same Buddha nature. The dog must have formed good karmic affinities with its owner before and that’s why she loves it so much and even brings it to listen to the Dharma. It comes every day and is very quiet listening to my Dharma talk attentively. This is very moving. It’s really amazing. Seeing that I feel so much at ease and peace and am filled with joy. Love is truly very beautiful.
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