20150825普度眾生善耘心 Bringing Aid to the Needy and Sharing Wholesome Values with Them
All around the world, there are indeed many disasters. When there’s a drought, crops cannot grow. Drought is the result of the imbalance of the water element. When the water element is imbalanced, there may also be too much rain, which will lead to flooding, causing great loss and severe casualties. We do not want to see drought or flooding, so we hope that the water element can be in balance.
The land we live on needs water, but it only needs the right amount of it, which is possible when the weather is favorable. When the weather is favorable, everyone in the world will be safe and sound. I’m very grateful that the weather in Taiwan is relatively favorable, so each year we have a bumper harvest of rice and our government is even able to provide some of the rice to Tzu Chi to help the poor in many countries.
Take South Africa for example. See how well-organized the distribution of the rice from Taiwan was, and how our local volunteers joyfully gave of themselves with unconditional love to bring aid to the needy there. In fact, this group of our local volunteers are not rich materially, but they’re wealthy spiritually. They have a rich heart, so they’ve seen past their material poverty and become spiritually rich.
All of them have a loving heart and they serve happily. They’re truly very remarkable and doing better and better every year. See how they give with love like this, I’m really very moved. We also see our rice distributions in the Philippines. For the rice distribution in Tacloban, many locals who were victims of Typhoon Haiyan also came to help by serving as our volunteers.
Our local volunteers from Marikina also traveled a long way to be there to help with the distribution event. Together, they went from door to door to give out the distribution notices to our rice recipients in 138 barangays. This was truly no easy job. They handed out the notices to people one by one to make sure that all the needy would recive our aid. Having received the rice from Taiwan’s government, we delivered it to the people who are most in need of it and handed it to them in person without wasting a single grain of the rice.
Everyone knew that the rice came from Taiwan and they were very grateful. I’m also very moved to see that over 100 local volunteers mobilized to help with the rice distribution. It is now the seventh lunar month when many people will make offerings to spirits. By giving out rice to the needy, aren’t we also making offerings to them? They are in need of aid.
By delivering the rice to them in person so every family can cook and enjoy the rice, aren’t we making offerings to the needy and giving them the help they need? So, in the seventh lunar month, what we should do is to take action and bring aid to those in need with a very sincere heart. This is what everyone should do. During this lunar month, Tzu Chi volunteers will hold prayer services, invite everyone to attend, and share with them the true meaning of the seventh lunar month.
Once people understand, they’ll be free of doubts and won’t be superstitious anymore. Then, they’ll be at ease and peace. This is what it means to make offerings in the seventh lunar month. Apart from clearing people’s superstitions, we should also encourage them to practice filial piety and do good. This is what we should work harder to promote. And,, not only in the seventh lunar month, in every day of our lives, we should help people in need and be sincere in everything we do.
We see a mountain village in Miaoli, Taiwan where medical resources are lacking and some people lead a hard life. But no matter how out-of-the-way a place is, Tzu Chi volunteers will be there. They’ve been caring for people in the village for over ten years. Every month, our medical volunteers will go there to provide medical services to the locals.
Apart from that, they’ll also share with people knowledge about health. Our volunteers will also visit the locals to better understand their conditions and see what help they may need. Seeing that there are many young children in the village our Tzu Chi volunteers organize a class for these children to teach them proper etiquettes and engage them in fun activities as a way to help them nurture moral character.
So, apart from providing medical services to the locals, our volunteers have also organized a class for the children there. They also provide support to families in need. Learning that the children in a family there needed care and help, they’ve been bring them aid since the children were in primary school. They are now in college already.
The children in the family are very mature. See how they care for their grandfather and great-grandmother and have to do all house chores. In all, our volunteers have been caring for this family in the mountain and providing support to the children for over ten years. And now the children have grows up. This is what we’ve done over the years, and as we recount it now, we’re still deeply touched.
The children have all grown up, just like how little trees have grown into big trees. So, as long as we seize time to give, we’ll see the fruit of our effort. See how the children have been brought up so well! Some of them have chosen to study medicine-related majors in college. Seeing how they’ve grown up just like how the seeds we’ve sown have sprouted and grown into seedlings and big trees, I’m really very moved.
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