20180117合心誓願廣度眾Walking the Tzu Chi Path to Benefit All
I am truly grateful to our elderly volunteers. I love every one of them dearly. Though advanced in age, if they see recyclables, they still bend down to pick them up. Every truckload is a collection of blessings.
While people toss them out; we collect them and reuse them by making them into blankets. We have made over one million blankets, and have distributed them to over 30 countries that have urgent needs, to the people who need them most. These blankets are made possible with the help of our elderly recycling volunteers. They willingly devote themselves in this way, regardless of the wind, the rain or the sun.
I am truly touched by the love these elderly volunteers show. I even learnt something new from my eye-opening experiences today. One recycling volunteer cut a recyclable item into small pieces and glued them into a book. When we open the book, we learn that a certain item is made from polyethylene (PE), which can be recycled and further made into a variety of other things.
This is why we need to classify the recyclables. In th book, we also learn about polypropylene (PP). Then, there’s a page on all kinds of garbage, which are to be delivered to environmental protection facilities to be further handles and processed. The book is truly amazing. I asked the volunteer how old she was. She told me she was 83. I truly can’t measure up to them.
The categorization of various recyclables quickly slips from my mind. How can I distinguish these (recyclables)? Yet, these senior volunteers know them very well, and they teach others in an effective way so that everyone can understand. Although I often speak about how we should uphold precepts and how they may benefit us, the society as a whole and our future lives, people still don’t understand.
It’s a pity that I don’t have such samples for people to follow. Instead, you can only feel it for yourself. If you listen to my Dharma talks, take the Dharma to heart, and gradually change your mindset, your lifestyle, and follow the right direction in life, you will have experienced it yourself. Not only will you have experienced it, others will bear witness to your transformation. That’s how we live out the Dharma.
I often say that management is based on precepts and love. How do we interact with others in harmony? How can we as a group work together in unity and harmony? The only way is that everyone upholds precepts and take good care of our minds. Precepts are for our bodies to abide by and love is what our souls follow.
So, abiding by precepts means that precepts serve as the guide for our actions, our direction in life and our interaction with others. Following precepts is the basic principle we must uphold in life. By following precepts, we can get along with one another harmoniously, lead a life of depth and breadth, and be at peace and carefree. That’s because everything we do depends on our minds.
A good thought that arises in our minds may make us bodhisattvas. But if we are indiscreet, an unwholesome thought in our minds may turn us into evil demons or lead us to enormous negative karma as well as lots of trouble. If we really want to help and inspire others, we should start with our own minds.
If our minds are filled with afflictions and ignorance, then we are ignorant ourselves. If so, how can we inspire others? So, I hope all of you can understand this very clearly. Every one of you who is certified today wears a ribbon that says: “With Buddha’s heart and Master’s convictions.”
Over fifty years ago when my master took me as his disciple, all he said to me was: “Work for Buddhism and for all living beings.” I have devoted all my life to carrying it out and I will keep work on in life after life. Even so, I still feel incompetent to fulfill my master’s wish.
Indeed, whether Buddhism can prevail in the world depends on whether we Buddhists can do all we can to live out the Dharma. Having taken in the Dharma, I am able to grow in wisdom and cultivate my wisdom-life. Only by doing this can we make Buddhism prevail. So, please join me in working for Buddhism and all living beings.
So, may we all make vows to pave the way of the Bodhisattva Path in order to inspire more people to join us. To “diligently follow the Jing Si Dharma lineage, we all need to cultivate together in paving the Bodhisattva Path. We also strive to inspire more people to join us in paving a path that is wide and smooth so that everyone can continue on this path. Do you understand? Yes.
This is the meaning of your ribbon that says:” With Buddha’s heart and Master’s convictions.”Including our most senior certified volunteers from the moment they became certified, they’ve been passing on my convictions. Today as you are certified, you must carry on all of Tzu Chi’s missions. Do you understand? (Yes. )
Well, then I hope to see you all carry out the Four Great Vows with sincerity to deliver all living beings. We need to cultivate sincerity, uprightness, good faith, and honesty within as well as loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity outwardly. This is how we accomplish the Four Great Vows.
I give you all my most sincere blessings, wishing you a good beginning in the new year. May we put all afflictions and ignorance behind us and start anew with a clean and pure mind. I hop all of you can walk on a wider, broader, and smoother Bodhisattva Path.
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