20190927福慧並行菩提道To Learn the Dharma as well as to Sow Blessings 中英
My intention is to do something helpful. If I’m a match, I can also help someone.
It’s nice to have a chance to help people; this is like helping myself. We all live on the same planet and belong to the same big family.
By joining the bone marrow registry, we give patients a chance to live. We help save lives, and it does no harm to our body.
The Buddha spoke of donating one’s head, eyes, marrow, brain, etc. to another. This is the Buddha’s wisdom. We must believe in his wisdom. There are deep, wondrous affinities hidden in our human bodies. To be able to find a matching donor from over tens of hundreds of people is indeed not easy for a bone marrow transplant recipient.
The recipient and his donor are not related; yet, his life is strongly connected with the life of the donor. This is Dharma. The Dharma also includes worldly knowledge. In a modern world, with advanced medical knowledge and modern technologies, people have discovered new knowledge which verifies the truth the Buddha spoken of. People are able to do what the Buddha’s wisdom has told us. Still if it weren’t for Tzu Chi volunteers who raised people’s awareness on bone marrow donation, even with modern technology, very little could be done.
So, the world truly needs living bodhisattvas. To establish the bone marrow registry, we needed many people to come forth and join. Tzu Chi volunteer were truly wise; they humbled themselves and used many possible ways to promote this effort. I truly admire them for their dedication in supporting this marrow registry. Those volunteers are indeed living bodhisattvas.
Bodhisattvas are not statues carved out of wood or made from clay, they are human beings. With the spirit of Jing Si Dharma lineage, we can grow in wisdom-life; the Tzu Chi Path is for us so sow wholesome seeds in the world. Take a look at everyone here; everyone here is a seed. Senior volunteers have cultivated on fields of blessing that produce living bodhisattvas.
They are living bodhisattvas with experiences, who become farmers for field of blessings on Earth. So, you are brought up by this group of senior volunteers. And for some of you, it was the atmosphere that captured your heart. This atmosphere of Tzu Chi came from the efforts of many, many volunteers.
And for our four missions, each mission depends on everyone here as well. And for our volunteers around the world, we would not have this atmosphere if without them, or without you.
However, we are now in an era when the Dharma is in decline, and people’s minds have become confused and chaotic, so natural and manmade disasters are happening frequently. I hope that, as we are already serving on the Tzu Chi Path, we must be informed of the current events around the world. My days are busy and are often spending with little time to spare, so I hold on to each second of my day tightly.
For breakfast, I go to the dining hall with little time to spare and have my meal; true to be told, I don’t take time savoring my food. I am not even aware of what my food tastes like because I want to catch the morning news hour in my study after I finish my meal. The news hour in the morning tells me all the things that happened in the world on the previous day.
Everyone, of our four missions, the cultural mission is very important. As it takes people to spread the Dharma, to talk about events in the world in terms of the principles of the Dharma, one must know the Dharma as well as be informed of the events in the world. Everyone, I hope you have a good grasp pf the time in your daily life.
Lately, I have been saying that time is running out, because, every day, I feel time running out. As the world is like a burning house, we need to know that as we live our life, our ignorance is the cause which has its effects and retributions. Now, this burning house is deteriorating. This means that Mother Nature is out of balance and land keeps on being damaged. Those who are affected by disasters need kindhearted people around the world to help them. Let us encourage one another not to underestimate the tiny help we give.
So, we need to aspire to help people in need because when people give rise to ignorance, the collective negative karma created by people is very powerful. This is like the butterfly effect. Something tiny, like a butterfly flapping its winds, can have a big impact. All in all, I hope everyone seizes time to take the Dharma to heart.
Recently, I keep encouraging everyone to truly take the Dharma to heart so they can nurture their wisdom-life. Coming to this world, don’t come empty handed and then leave without gaining anything. This is my expectation for Tzu Chi volunteers. Every morning, I muster my strength to give Dharma talks. Volunteers, how can you not accept the Dharma?
Recently, I’ve been saying that I need to repay the kindness of people. Volunteers, you’ve given of yourselves with love, how can I repay your kindness? The only way to do this is to give you the Dharma. If you don’t accept the Dharma, I feel indebted to you because the Dharma I expounded is not suitable for you. That’s why you have not taken it in and accept it.
If you don’t accept the Dharma, I feel indebted to you. Yet, I still hope everyone learns the Dharma, for no other reason than growing in wisdom-life. We must believe in the Buddha’s wisdom. I hope that everyone can be mindful in learning the Dharma. Ignorance is the cause and love, hatred, and environment are conditions. Thus, ignorance can create much negative karma out of love, hatred, affection, and revenge. As such, people come to be against one another. This is how negative karma is created. Only by learning the Dharma can we eliminate our ignorance.
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