20190609守志奉道弘傳法Abiding by Our Conviction and Staying on the Path
The South African Tzu Chi volunteer Ms. Abegail Cetyiwe was a good disciple of mine whom I cherish greatly. Despite suffering from diabetes, she refused to give In to the illness and still traveled to other African countries to spread Tzu Chi’s spirit and do Tzu Chi’s work.
She traveled with other volunteers by car, and the journey could take several days. On the journey, she had slept under a tree. She endured a lot of discomfort and hardship during the journey like an ascetic monk.
Yet, when volunteers reached the destination, she became active and energetic. She danced like other people and sang like other people; meanwhile, she wanted to spread my teachings with others.
One day during the trip to neighboring country, her prayer beads somehow went missing. She felt bad about this and was upset. She already suffered physically due to illness, and felt sad furthermore at this instance.
At the end of 2018, she told others she might not live past the New Year. Then, she dreamed that I put a prayer beads on her wrist. She woke up and felt much better, and quickly phoned another Tzu Chi volunteer, I am so happy.
In my dream, Master puts the prayer beads on me. I am back to normal now. I feel better and energetic. So, she continued to do Tzu Chi’s work with other volunteers until her last day.
She stopped doing Tzu Chi’s work after she had taken her final breath. Abegail passed away, But, I believe that she had been reborn and come back to our world again.
There is also a volunteer, Ms. Getrude Shandu; volunteers affectionately called her grandma. She’s been volunteering with Tzu Chi for many years. She suffers from a very large tumor, but she introduces Tzu Chi to everyone she meets, and encourages people to donate to help the poor.
Last year, she could not come to Taiwan to be certified by me. Volunteer Mr. Pan said she truly has earned her certification, and has been serving and dedicating herself to Tzu Chi’s work for many years.
I asked volunteers to bring a volunteer badge to her. They returned to South Africa, and held a certification ceremony for her during a training retreat. She was very happy, but she had to travel to 60 km.
And the trip required taking several transfers. As she was walking to the venue, volunteers saw her and went to help her walk; someone even had to hold her head upright.
She had lost all her strength before getting to the venue and had to rest a bit. Then, volunteers helped her to her feet and they entered the venue; they helped her put on the formal uniform for commissioners, and she was so happy.
She was to receive the certification from Gladys, a senior volunteer. Getrude wanted to stand; everyone asked her to remain seated, but she refused. She wanted to stand for her certification. She was smiling, but everyone was crying.
How resilient she is! When she first joined Tzu Chi, She made a vow to me, that she will volunteer with Tzu Chi until she takes her last breath.
Getrude is, and Abegail was good disciples of mine. Ever since learning about Tzu Chi, They had never been apart from Tzu Chi’s Dharma, never been away from my heart, and often shared my teachings with people.
They genuinely engaged in spiritual cultivation, were diligent, and loved me. Abiding by their conviction, they truly walked the Bodhisattva Path. Taking the principles we’ve learned to heart Is abiding by our conviction and staying on the Path.
Neither wealthy nor healthy, the two of them were poor, yet they had helped many people. So, we need to be mindful in understanding that the living sutras are found in the world.
The Buddha taught us the method, but it’s the people who actually walk the Bodhisattva Path. After we learn and understand the Dharma, We put it into practice. We need to put what we know into action.
Regardless of people’s status, wealth, and where their live, they can all do this. With the Dharma in people’s hearts, they’ll know that life is impermanent, so they’ll make the best use of their lives to serve people.
There are many Tzu Chi volunteers in South Africa doing the same thing as Getrude and Abegail. Volunteers in South Africa keep making vows.
After they learned of my aspiration to help people in Africa, they made vows to spread Tzu Chi spirit and work to other countries in Africa, and made trip after trip to neighboring countries.
For example, volunteers had to travel three days and two nights to go to Malawi. They were not familiar with that country, so they had to start from scratch. It was very hard.
In sharing the Dharma with local people, they had to explain it to the locals for them to understanding and feel joy. They recruited locals to be volunteers.
Our volunteer, Mr. Pan, personally. put on Tzu Chi’s volunteer vest for the chief of a village. Such is their footprint in Africa and their Tzu Chi history.
Our South African volunteers have traveled to Malawi many times. Every time they return to South Africa from Malawi, They collect second-hand clothing or food for the people in Malawi.
They solicit donation of clothing or food from people in South Africa, who are also poor. They collect these goods and bring them to Malawi.
They are poor people helping other poor people. It’s truly not easy. There are so many stories from Africa that I can not tell them all. This is how we pass on the Dharma.
It’s truly not easy to uphold the teachings in sutras, write or read sutras, and pass on sutras’ teachings.
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