20181004泓潤慧根大樹成Nurturing the Seeds of Kindness and Wisdom in Malaysia
Malaysia truly has good karmic affinities with Tzu Chi. I'm truly touched and grateful. Without the first seed of Tzu Chi, it would not give rise to innumerable seeds. Innumerable seeds come from that one seed. I hope all the volunteers can set up a goal of becoming a (bountiful) seed. Everyone must aspire to generate innumerable sees. Such is the spirit of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings.
Buddha's teachings should be lived out in this world. Everyone should be the kind of living bodhisattvas who respond to people's needs. I also heard that some of you have house helpers. Yet, you are able to personally partake in cleaning the houses of poor families. This isn't something money can achieve. You do this because you want to.
A living bodhisattva lives out the Dharma. (Bodhisattvas are self-motivated.) So, we need to devote our hearts and minds to giving of ourselves. You have carried out your aspiration. This is truly not easy. As I often say, it is difficult for the rich to walk the pat of cultivation. In learning the Dharma, the Buddha said, learning a broad knowledge about Buddhism does not mean we can realize the Dharma.
This means that if we listen to a lot of Dharma and want to learn this concept and that concept, and spend all our time learning the Dharma, we won't be able to take the Dharma to heart, nor will we put it into practice. This is why the Buddha said it will be difficult for us to realize the Dharma. What we need is putting the Dharma in action. We must actually walk the path ourselves in order to truly realize the Dharma. Such is how we realize the Dharma.
Is it difficult to be a bodhisattva? No, it is not, as long as you have the aspiration and are willing to carry it out. When our volunteer Mr. David Liu first visited our care recipients in Malaysia. Some have soiled theirs beds. He and his wife Ms. Echo Chien would bring their company's staff along, and together, they would help them change their bedding and clothing. They would laundry the soiled bedding and clothes every week. When they return, they would make beds with the cleaned bedding, and took home the soiled ones for cleaning.
Their staff are still in Malaysia. They've certified as Tzu Chi volunteers and also take charge of the Tzu Chi missions there. This is an example of one seed that produces innumerable seeds. They also laid down the foundation for Tzu Chi in Malacca. After they closed their factory, they donated it to Tzu Chi as a gathering place.
I always worry that this piece of history would be forgotten and hope that they will pass this on to future generations. We must retell again and again the stories of the volunteers who started Tzu Chi in their local community, how they spread Tzu chi's missions, and how they passed on Tzu Chi's values and spirit. We must keep passing on these stories.
When I heard you help the poor clean their homes, it makes me even happier than hearing you donate money (for good cause), because you're sowing seeds in your own field of blessings. Be a farmer and cultivate your inner-field. Every person has their own field of blessings. We should cultivate our own field and reap blessings from it.
Bodhisattvas aspire to deliver all living beings from suffering. Before attaining Buddhahood, we should build good affinities with people. Now that you have sown a seed of blessings in your own heart, we have to be thankful for this seed. All those in suffering are spiritual fertilizers in your inner-field of blessings, and you form good affinities with them. So the people you've helped today will be the ones who help you in the future.
I'm grateful to myself for having sown blessings and having formed good affinities with people for many lifetimes. This is why I have many disciples who are close to my heart. Wherever they are, when they hear people recount what I said, they are happy and aspire to sow blessings locally right away. They are really close to my heart, doing what I want to do and spreading my teachings.
This is the karmic affinity, without it, Tzu Chi would not be what it is today. It is the result of our affinities that were formed in past lives. Because of Mr. David Liu and Ms. Echo Chien, they began to sow seeds of Tzu Chi and inspire people join Tzu Chi. People began to cultivate each of their inner-field of blessings. They cultivate their own field, as well as sow blessings for others.
So we should work on cultivating ourselves spiritually. If our action is in line with the teachings of helping others, we will not go astray. Moreover, life is full of suffering; you have witnessed the reality of suffering in this world. So, as we live a life of abundance this lifetime, we should also create blessings for next life. Besides cultivating blessings for next life, we also need to dig a spiritual wellspring in our heart.
When I started thinking about building a hospital, I thought, "How do I ensure that Tzu Chi can go on helping those in need when I am gone? What if there's not enough motivation for people to carry on Tzu Chi's missions?" So, like digging a well, one must find one's spiritual wellspring that could gush forth motivation (to carry on Tzu Chi's missions.)
Tzu Chi volunteers in Malaysia, you have done well in discovering spiritual wellspring in yourself, cultivating together a land of blessings locally, and then digging mor spiritual wellsprings in people's hearts. Not only have you cultivated a land of blessings, but also have dug spiritual wellsprings. These spiritual wellsprings can ensure Tuz Chi to be deep-rooted and go on flourishing in Malaysia for generations to come.
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