20180714轉識成智歸自性Returning to the Source of Our Innate Nature
Master, your morning Dharma talks are important source of spirituality for me. I am grateful that Master user various analogies, parables in the sutras, and the mission and good deeds carried out by Tzu Chi volunteers to help me immerse in the sutra so that I can clearly understand the meaning of the Dharma.
Master, you have used your own life to nurture our wisdom-life. Recently, you said that seeing us being diligent makes you want to work harder too. So, I now vow to Master: I want to be your good disciple and become truly diligent. I will abide by your teachings and put them into practice to help boost your energy.
Master often tells us that time is running out. All the time, you concern about the development of our wisdom-life. We are indeed grateful to Master, for you have persistently expounded the Dharma. We also feel that time is running out. Life is impermanent, how much longer can we hear Master expounding the Dharma?
We truly have no idea. Therefore, we cherish every possible time of hearing Master expounding the Dharma, and we attend Master’s morning Dharma talks every day.
Again and again, I hope through continuous reviews, I can memorize Master’s teachings. I am ordinary, not a gifted learner. I know I need to study Master’s teachings again and again, so that I can bear Master’s teachings in mind and take on the responsibility of passing on Master’s teachings.
Dear Master, we truly need your guidance. I vow to be a diligent disciple who helps give Master a boost.
I believe that after attending the Dharma talks, volunteers can now understand that the Dharma is closely connected to worldly matters. Before, I focused on serving people, which means to go amongst people to serve and gain insights from worldly matters.
Thus, the Dharma is closely connected to worldly matters. Our world needs the Dharma. Truly transform our consciousnesses into wisdoms is not an easy thing to do.
Yet, such wisdoms are within us. All the sutras tell us to return to our innate Buddha nature. This is our goal, which is to find our true self, our innate nature. After learning the Dharma, we should truly incorporate the Dharma into our daily practice, give of ourselves, and help people in need.
Through these practices, we truly make the best use of our lives. This is indeed not easy.
Tzu Chi volunteers make no distinction between themselves and others, nor are they attached to material goods; they just give of themselves. Basically, everyone harbors gratitude and is grateful to one another. Without everyone’s collective efforts, a single person cannot accomplish much good.
We also see a case about a homeless man. Our volunteers took care of him and encouraged him to serve, they helped him get rid of his bad habits. We help him with a monthly financial aid. Now, he is a recycling volunteer. He feels comforted and assured that for the rest of his life, he has love from Tzu Chi volunteers, and a place to find shelter and peace.
The more I do, the happier I am. I’m happy every day.
He’s very hardworking, he rides in the truck with us, sorts recyclables, and keeps the place tidy.
I come on the rainy days too. I live nearby so I just use an umbrella. Everyone is kind here; they are like my siblings.
In addition, let us extend our care to volunteers who have served for a long time, I don’t want them to end their good affinity with Tzu Chi; they need to keep serving. As long as they are able, we can ask, “would you please come do this with us?” Let us use love to encourage senior volunteers to serve.
They were the ones who inspired and encouraged you to serve, now it’s your turn to do that for them. “Sister so-and-so, let’s go do home visits together, I’d really like you to come with me. We can keep each other company.” This will help them from losing their sense of mission and getting dementia; they won’t feel useless.
It’s rare to see an elderly like me who wants to keep doing and work harder, and is self-motivated in doing so. The volunteers around my age, many of them think, “I’ve done enough and I’ve passed on my responsibility to the younger ones.”
I think that, as I am alive for today, it is a day to spend on strengthening our Dharma lineage. I can rest assured when I see and hear about the work you do.
I truly hope you will motive and encourage these senior volunteers to serve. When they were young, they gave of themselves in helping me to help people in suffering, when we were establishing our four missions.
If not for them, we would not have hospitals, nor would we have an education system from kindergarten to PhD programs, not to mention Da Ai TV. We have so many documenting volunteers serving for our cultural mission. They bear witness to our times and write history for humanity.
For the past 50 some years, Tzu Chi volunteers have given their efforts to establish Tzu Chi’s missions. Back in those days, senior volunteers kept on giving of themselves to pave a good foundation for Tzu Chi. Now that Tzu Chi’s four missions are completed, the younger volunteers need to spend more time with the senior volunteers.
Younger volunteers, you have the time to learn the Dharma now and have the skill to take notes as you listen to my Dharma talks. In fact, I work hard and am very mindful in preparing my morning Dharma talks. I need to think very hard to come up with the verses for each Dharma talk.
To prepare for the talk, I worry about whether the volunteers can understand the teachings. I want to make sure that they can see the teachings and feel them. Doing this takes a lot of effort. You have the chance to learn the Lotus Sutra now, an opportunity which the senior volunteers didn’t have.
Now, we have four missions available for volunteers to serve in, and Dharma for volunteers to learn; we have to cherish them both. After we learn the Dharma, we have to harbor great compassion, truly open our hearts, and apply the Buddha’s teachings in this world.
We also need to be gentle and forbearing. I hope volunteers can set examples of being a good person and a living bodhisattva. This is what I look forward to seeing you applying the teachings in your daily life.
All in all, through learning our Dharma lineage we can get in touch with our power of love, and experience the subtle and profound Dharma. Through applying the Dharma in life, we’ll realize the benefit of the Dharma to this world and experience what it is like to transform our consciousnesses into wisdoms.
When our six sense organs come in contact with the external world, how do we transform our six consciousnesses and our afflictions into wisdom?
I’ve explained all these in detail in my Dharma talks. We keep on purifying our heart until we attain a wisdom that is like a clear, great, round mirror. The Dharma will help us find our Buddha nature and keep our mind focused on spiritual cultivation while we deal with daily challenges.
Doing this requires making progress on the path of spiritual cultivation. We must find the source of our innate nature and return to it.
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