20150721聞聲救苦千處現 Bringing Aid to People in Their Time of Need
I’m grateful that for nearly ten years, Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture has been providing rice to Tzu Chi so we can further send it to many countries where our local volunteers will personally hand it out to those in need.
Thanks to this opportunity, our volunteers are able to inspire those we come across to give. They encourage people to save up spare change to help others by sharing with them that the aid they receive from Tzu Chi comes from people who have made donations to Tzu Chi, be it a dime or a dollar.
By doing so, we hope they’ll understand that everyone can give. We also see that erratic climate conditions have caused many disasters, such as flooding, wildfires, storms, etc., in many countries around the world.
Apart from natural disasters that occur frequently, there are also manmade ones, which are also very frightening. For example, last night in Taipei, a man randomly attacked people at a metro station with a knife, injuring a man and three women.
Upon learning of the incident, Tzu Chi volunteers immediately went to the hospital to bring care and comfort to the injured and their families. See, wherever there are people in need, Tzu Chi volunteers will be there to being them timely aid.
For that, I’m very grateful. We also see another regrettable incident. A fisherman who went fishing was missing. For days, rescue workers have been searching for him, but to no avail.
During this time, Tzu Chi volunteers have been preparing meals, drinks, etc. for the rescue workers and the family of the missing fisherman. But on the third day of the search operation, a rescue worker was drowned. Life is truly unpredictable.
See how people were attacked out of nowhere at a busy metro station in downtown Taipei, and how a fisherman went missing when fishing on the sea and one rescue worker was drowned in his effort to search for the fisherman. All this truly made us very sad.
We also see a man in Tainan who is ill and bedridden. Learning of his condition, Tzu Chi volunteers selflessly give of themselves to care for him. Learning that he hadn’t taken a bath for five months, Tzu Chi volunteers went to help bathe him.
See, without love, who could possibly do this? Such is the power of selfless love of living bodhisattvas, which is truly very moving. This is in Tainan, Taiwan. Not only in Taiwan, our volunteers in Malaysia are also the same.
On their way to visit people in need, our volunteers in Malaysia saw a barefoot woman with messy hair and bleeding toes. Feeling for her, they went over to her and offered to accompany her home. Our volunteers really wanted to help her, so they tried hard to understand her better.
It turned out that when she was young, for reasons unknown, she became mentally ill. She also had a stroke. As she was difficult to get along with, even her siblings couldn’t approach her. When our volunteers ran into her, they‘d decided to help her.
So, they went home with her, trying to understand her condition better. They asked for her permission before helping to bathe her, cut her hair, and clean up her place. See how she finally beamed with a smile.
Having done all this for her, our volunteers also took her to apply for a new identity card and do a health checkup. Later, they also celebrated her birthday for her. Such are Tzu Chi volunteers. They are truly living bodhisattvas.
They have not only changed her life, but also helped her to be close to her siblings again. See how Tzu Chi volunteers asked her to offer tea to her brother and sister.
Serve tea to your brother to thank him. This is for you. Great! What did she say? She said the tea is for him. You’ve waited for this for over 30 years. It definitely doesn’t come by easily. How do you feel after drinking the tea? I’m very happy to see her change.
This is Tzu Chi volunteers in Malaysia. Although they’re so far away from Taiwan, they’ve taken my teachings to heart. They’ve listened to my Dharma talk, so they understand that they don’t need to look for Bodhisattvas because they themselves are bodhisattvas who will not be daunted by any obstacles. Otherwise, who else would go near the places that require such a good cleanup?
They truly deserve our praise. No matter which part of the world they are, they really deserve our greatest commendation. There are indeed too many good people and good deeds to share with you all, and there’s too much work for us to do. So I need more people to share what you’ve done and seen with others and also do more good deeds.
We must do more good deeds as time waits for no one. Only when we serve will we learn and awaken. Otherwise, we’ll only be wasting our life without learning anything or realizing what our life’s purpose is. So, please live each day with great mindfulness.
首頁 