Date: July 30th,2010 (Friday)
Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Bringing Out the Bodhisattva Heart in All 悲智雙運‧通達妙義
What we see is a community in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In the evening of July 23, a fire suddenly broke out in an area where most of the houses were built with wood.
So, once the fire started, it spread very fast.
Altogether, 12 families were affected
Among those affected is one of our trainee volunteers.
When the fire broke out, she immediately thought of running for safety.
But before leaving, she grabbed one thing that she thought was most important --- her donation record book.
The next day when she returned, she found that everything was burned down except some coins blackened by the fire.
They were the coins that she had saved in the coin bank to donate to Tzu Chi.
And despite losing everything, she still donated the coins to Tzu Chi.
The donation may only be about US$6, but what counts is her wish to help others even when she herself was faced with such a loss.
See how she saw past her own misfortune to help others with a bodhisattva heart.
Upon learning of the fire, our local volunteers immediately mobilized to visit the survivors and see what they needed and gave out emergency cash the next day so that the survivors could purchase what they needed most.
Seeing what they’ve done truly moves me deeply. This is in Malaysia.
In Taiwan, we also see Tzu Chi volunteers going to people’s aid with the same selfless love.
The footage we see was taken in Taichung.
This elderly man (A grandpa’s name is Liao Wanjie) used to live alone and seldom interacted with others.
He was terminally ill, and the place he lived in was very small and messy as it was filled with the recyclables that he collected for a living.
He would not accept any help from others as he didn’t like to interact with others.
So it was very hard for others to get close to him.
In the end, the Social Affairs Bureau in Taichung referred his case to Tzu Chi.
With patience and wisdom, Tzu Chi volunteers slowly gained his trust and got him to speak about himself.
It turned out that he had an older sister and a younger brother whom he had not had contact with for 30 years, so they knew nothing of this situation.
Seeing how he began to open up, Tzu Chi volunteers continued to care for him and helped to clean up his home for him.
As this man collected recyclables for a living, when he could no longer continue, as his illness worsened, his home became piled up with recyclables.
So, our volunteers set out to help clean up his living environment and would also share with him Tzu Chi’s spirit and the Buddha’s teachings.
With our volunteers’ continued effort, he finally came to trust our volunteers and accepted their help.
When our volunteers helped him clear out the recyclables from his home, he decided to donate them to Tzu Chi, so the money from selling these recyclables could go toward helping the needy.
Not long after, because of his illness, he passed away.
As Tzu Chi volunteers knew he had family, they informed his sibling of his passing.
Now, two years after his passing as they family’s wealth had been distributed, he was entitled to early US$2,000.
So, his younger brother made a special trip from Taipei to Taichung to donate this money to Tzu Chi.
Mr. Liao Wanghuang (Mr. Liao Wanjie’s younger brother) said:
“Tzu Chi had been caring for my brother”.
“Although it’s not a big sum of money, I hope Tzu Chi can still use it to help others”.
Although his younger brother only learnt of this passing afterwards, his brother still helped him sow blessings, which is indeed very touching to see.
There is another case in Fengyuan, Taichung County.
This Mr. Zhang actually had good life before, running a business in the timber industry.
The business was very promising, but somewhere along the way help picked up gambling and ruined his business.
When his business failed, he lost about US$1.5 million.
This is how he lost hope in life and gave up on himself.
He was afraid to meet people, but he still had to continue living.
So, in the end, he would only leave his house at 11 p.m. to scavenge for food.
That was how he sustained his life.
When a Tzu Chi volunteer discovered him, he began looking into Mr. Zhang’s situation and found that he was truly living a hard life, which was very sad to see.
Since he’d given up on himself for a long time, Tzu Chi volunteers began caring for him and guiding him with compassion and wisdom.
Gradually, they were able to help him pull his life back together.
By helping to clean up his home and counseling him, step by step, our volunteers guided him to make use of his life and encouraged him to serve as a cleaning volunteer at our Jing Si Hall.
Later, out volunteers also helped find him a job.
A Tzu Chi’s volunteer, Mr. Jhang Jincai said:
“I’m much happier now and I work hard”.
“With the spirit of a Tzu Chi volunteers, I’ve done good job in everything I do”.
Last year, he attended our volunteer training program and is now a certified Tzu Chi member.
See how he has transformed from someone who gave up on himself to someone who can now serve others.
See, all we did was give him a hand and he can now give of himself to help others and serve as a cleaning volunteer.
Now, apart from working to support himself, he does what he can to volunteer and help others.
See how he has changed his deviant ways and is now practicing what is good
Indeed, to help people change for the better and correct their wayward ways of thinking, we must use Dharma and patience, as only then can we spread Great Love and grow in wisdom.
Everyone, this is what we must to do when we choose to walk the path of Tzu Chi as it is also a form of spiritual cultivation.
We must cultivate ourselves by emulating the spirit of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who reaches out to those calling for help and relieves their suffering.
There are many people suffering in this world.
As Tzu Chi volunteers, we vow to relieve people of their hardship as we cannot bear to see anyone suffer.
That’s why we reach out to them.
Such is the spirit of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva that every one of us should look up to.
After alleviating people of their suffering, we must stay by their side to offer them support and never give up on them.
Moreover, we must share the Dharma with them until they understand the teachings and open up their hearts.
This is how we help them learn the Dharma so that they can gain insight into all Truths and eventually transform to be like you and me, someone who can help others in need.
(Source: Da Ai TV 人間菩提)
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