20180525分秒累積長慧命 Nurturing Wisdom with Each Passing Moment
We need to counter our blessings. Some practices in India now are still the same from the Buddha’s time, and we still can see suffering. By adopting an ascetic life in Bodh Gaya, we know that (the Buddha) was attentive, vigilant, and considerate to the world around him.
He was very mindful in his cultivation, seeking to discover the truth of life and to understand the society of the time. Through his spiritual cultivation, he connected life’s truth with the world around him and his innate nature become one with the Cosmos, and he attained enlightenment. There was so much he wanted to share, but it was hard for living beings to understand.
However, there was one thing that everyone could see and understand. What was that? What was the Buddha’s first teaching? “The Four Noble Truths.” Yes.
So, great truths are embedded in everyday matters; we should be mindful. The Dharma is wonderful and grand, but only few can truly understand and put it into practice. Without joining Tzu Chi, how big is your social circle? It would be limited to your family. Your life would just be about your family, your children and your career.
What will you do when your children are all grown? When your children are grown, have their own family and a successful career, what are you going to do? Your life would be confined to a small family, and that’s it.
So volunteers, Tzu Chi has truly enriched our life. At the Jing Si Hall in Hsinchu, I see that volunteers are diligent and you interact with and encourage one another to cultivate. How long has Tzu Chi been in Hsinchu? More than 30 years and you have quite a lot of volunteers.
Before, I would make unannounced visits to Hsinchu. As soon as I entered our Tzu Chi office, I would see volunteers doing recycling work, writing calligraphy and preparing delicious food. They had no idea I was visiting. I went around the building quietly, and maybe even to this day, many volunteers still didn’t know I had visited.
What I saw always reassured me. For this reason, I eagerly looked forward to the completion of the Jing Si Hall in Hsinchu. Back then, our Tzu Chi office was an old factory building. It was very big, but dim inside. I went around it quietly, as I saw the diligence of the volunteers, I wanted to give volunteers a suitable Tzu Chi office for them to carry out our work. I have absolute faith in my disciples.
你們如果沒有很真誠的心,沒有
辦法跟著三十多年,當然,有這一念恆久心,現在要精進的就是菩薩招生,所以期待新竹,因為新竹是一個科技園區,那個地方應該是最多人才的地方,所以只要有心,有心絕對會做得很好,只要大家精進起來。
If not driven by a sincere heart, you would not have followed me for over three decades. With this perseverance, what you need to do now is to diligently recruit new volunteers. I have expectations for Hsinchu because it has a major science park, where talents are gathered. As long as you have the will, you will be able to successfully recruit volunteers. You’ll be able to do this if everyone is diligent.
因為時間久了,難免時代變遷,這個境遷,人也在老化中,不管是壽量寶藏有沒有設立了,總是那一種年齡的心靈年齡,難免都會影響到了那一種的退休,在職業、事業退休,同時對自己的志業也會有退休感,這就是我最擔心。
As time passes, the world changes, and people get old. Even with the establishment of the age treasury and we feel younger spiritually, we would still reach the retirement age. Once you retire from work, you might want to retire from volunteering. This is what I worry about the most.
職業、事業可以退休,道心是不能退,因為職業事業是為了生活的資糧,生活的資糧累積到了,其實應該大家生活不必憂慮了。倒是慧命,慧命是自己,分秒都是自己的。
You may retire from your job or business, but you cannot retire from spiritual cultivation. You work to make a living. When your family is well-provide for, you do not need to worry about living expenses. Instead, you should focus on nurturing your wisdom-life with your time.
你的事業、職業,你的自己過去的積蓄,過去的持續起來應該也足足有餘,孩子長大了也應該都不必擔心,所以對生命的資糧無憂慮,這別人可以給我們,晚輩可以給我們,我們自己也應該有存積在那裡了。
You have save enough earnings from work to provide for yourself. Your children are all grown and can take care of themselves. You do not need to worry about living expenses, because your children can support you and you have your savings.
可是慧命不是這樣,慧命要靠自己的分秒累積,因為慧命是我們生生世世,這子絕對是做不夠的,絕對是不夠,你如果做夠了,都是覺悟者。但是測量自己,我們每一個人都還是自己,還沒有做到了,今生此世沒有做夠。
But wisdom-life cannot be not gained this way. We need to cultivate ourselves in order to nurture wisdom-life. It takes many lifetimes to nurture wisdom-life. Cultivating wisdom-life for just one lifetime is definitely not enough. Those who have developed enough wisdom will be awakened. Yet, examining ourselves, we know that we are still unawakened. We have not developed enough wisdom in this lifetime.
If we cease spiritual cultivation and stop volunteering, we would create more negative karma. That is because, day by day we use up our blessing, and every day, we give rise to unwholesome thoughts, which increase our ignorance and negative karma. So, if you cease your cultivation and no longer create blessings, your wisdom-life will suffer.
The Buddha also warned us about our thoughts. We need to hear the Dharma and spread it. If you are not diligent and careful, you may hear the Dharma incorrectly and consequently make mistakes when spreading it. To avoid this, we need to be mindful when we hear the Dharma. This is to grow our wisdom-life. To truly grow our wisdom-life, we need to take in the Dharma and seize the time to volunteer.
We need to put the Dharma we’ve learned into practice. The Dharma cannot be separated from the practice. So we need to practice the Dharma among people and keep nurturing our wisdom-life.