20191125步步正道行法華Every Step is a Step on the Bodhisattva Path
I see and hear living bodhisattvas everywhere; in my eyes, they come from all 10 directions like Bodhisattvas emerging from the ground. Within everyone’s heart, there’s a jeweled stupa. Yes. Bodhisattvas come from the abode of Buddhas, the hearts of the Buddhas. Every one of us has the Buddha’s heart, and together, where are we going? We’re going to where living beings are in suffering, because we have made vows with the Buddha’s heart. We have aspired and made vows to serve amongst people on the Bodhisattva Path. Living bodhisattvas reach out to help people in suffering. Indeed, there are many people suffering in the world. When I blink, when I close my eyes, images of great suffering come to my mind; with my eyes closed, I see hell.
Over 2,500 years ago, on the Earth, the Buddha came to see the suffering of living beings, so he set out a direction for his life, which was to look for life’s principles, and discover how to alleviate living beings from their suffering. Suffering does not come from lacking materially, but most importantly, it’s lacking spiritually. However rich a person is, having money, he suffers nevertheless. It is because though he has one, he wants nine more. At the end, he will still pass away empty-handed. Looking back on the land that we’ve travelled to, have we sowed one seed on the land, a seed for grass, flower, or tree? Perhaps, we have sowed a seed of grass or flower, but not a seed of a tree, which can produce innumerable seeds. Perhaps, in the past, we had the affinity to sow that one seed which could produce innumerable seeds.
Now, look at this moment, we have over 4,000volunteers here, Tzu Cheng’s and commissioners, at the Jing Si Hall in Xindian, looking so neat in their uniform. How beautiful this is. Not only is the image they’ve formed beautiful, most importantly, their hearts are united together, showing the beauty of one heart. To have unity, speaking about it is not enough. We also need harmony. When people are together, if they are harmonious, when they clap their hands together, they will produce one sound, a synchronized, loud sound. With unity and harmony, what do we do with them? We love one another. Let us promise each other to have the same direction, which is the Bodhisattva Path in this world.
We need to have concerted efforts. In Chinese, they are called xieli, which means to gather everyone’s strength. This is what xieli is about. Xieli Is composed of four strengths, Three from xie and one from li. Concerted effort needs harmony. If people get together without harmony, it results in chaos. There is so much suffering in this world. It‘s easy to recover from natural disasters, but the destruction made by mankind is horrific. Look at our world, it is not healthy. The land has become fragile. Rivers, mountains, and lands are polluted. Mother Nature is ill. In fact, when Mother Nature is ill, living beings are in suffering.
From Nature, we sense currents in the air. What we can do now is purify people’s hearts and the cherish Mother Nature. Bodhisattvas are beings with courage who go forward and serve without a hesitation. Like the great ship captain described in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings who delivers people to the other shore. Volunteers, I hope you understand that that the reason of your being certified today it’s not about how much Tzu Chi work you have done so your receiving certification today marks the end of your efforts. It is not like this. You are being recognized today for having the right direction So you can become a certified Tzu Chi volunteer who is able to take on The responsibilities of Tzu Chi’s missions. When you came and stood before me, I held your hands and urged you, Be diligent. You have to be diligent, and your both hands can make things possible. Creating the Tzu Chi Path relies on everyone’s feet and hands. We must not deviate from the path, or do wrong things.
We must do the right things, walk the right path, and set our hearts onto the right direction. As Master’s disciples, we vow that we will emulate the spirit of the Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva and be always humble. We will be united like a bundle of rice dumplings to pass on our Dharma lineage and spread the Tzu Chi path. Dear Master, we cannot bear to see you work so hard. You expound the Dharma with your life, we will learn and take it to heart, and put it into practice as an offering to you.
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