20191202得福悟智唯入群Saving People to Gain Blessings and Wisdom
It was November 8 that I started the tour. It took 21 days, and I am back to the Abode , full of joy. The reason is that during the tour, I kept hearing many life stories of our volunteers who are truly compassionate living bodhisattvas of our times and have been doing good to benefit others.
I saw footage of Typhoon Morakot disaster relief showing that our volunteers from the North gathered up and traveled to Southern Taiwan to carry out clean-up efforts. After teams of Tzu Cheng arrived at the affected areas, they lined up in neat rows, so neat that the formation looks like a square dried bean curd.
Tzu Cheng team leaders came forth, gave their team members a heads-up to remind them which area they were assigned and how they should conduct themselves to greet the affectees with respect and gratitude. Our Tzu Cheng’s are self-disciplined, humbled and polite. They always treat people with respect.
I saw that on footage, the mindfully cleared away the mud with buckets one after the other. They did this for the whole day, and they must have been exhausted. When they finished and were just about to leave, the house owner went to see them off. Our volunteers turned around and did a deep bow to the house owner, then said, we are truly grateful.
They did this from the bottom of their hearts. It was a wonderful teamwork. From the time when Tzu Chi started Tzu Cheng and commissioners, everyone has been giving of themselves with sincerity and love. They did this without asking anything in return and were grateful. They were so sincere and selfless that I am truly touched.
I am beyond words. It is harder to put in words how Tzu Chi volunteers give of themselves. They never mention feeling tired; after serving today, they will go again tomorrow. Having courage, they are not afraid. Such are Tzu Chi volunteers. There are very moving stories, which we still have footage of them, and people still remember the details.
The value of Tzu Chi volunteers’ life was unleashed there. We see that, along with cleaning up, volunteers worked in Shanlin of Kaohsiung for 88 days to complete the project, including leveling the land and building the houses; they seized the days with good weather and persisted on the rainy days as well as the night.
We kept in mind the concept it of letting the land breathe, and went against using asphalt. Meticulously and mindfully, volunteers paved the streets with interlocking bricks throughout the village. We even prepared 88 housewarming gifts so residence would have everything they needed.
In the village, we also built two churches. At that time, I stood under a cross and gave a speech commemorating the inauguration of the village. Tzu Chi volunteers’ love is In the bricks and tiles; with the love from volunteers one after another, houses were built, and the streets were paved inch by inch.
Let us remember these eighty-eights; After the flood on August 8, volunteers took 88 days and prepared 88 gifts so affectees could move in and have a reunion meal in time for the holidays. After all, that was what Tzu Chi volunteer did. Wait events like that, let’s not forget that year.
Now, as I look back, that is what Tzu Chi has done in the past, with a little bits and pieces of love from people in our society; it came together bit by bit. So we see that, Tzu Chi is not like what some people believe: Tzu Chi only carries out international relief. With donations from other countries, we were able to build these houses and buildings.
These are what Tzu Chi volunteers have done. I hope, for those who did not take part in this would spend some time to look into it. Today, I’ve been talking about Tzu Chi’s disaster relief work for Typhoon Morakot. I hope to make my next trip which is traveling south. Now that I’m back at the Abode, I will try hard. I will not give up my next trip, which is to central and southern Taiwan.
In Northern Taiwan, Hsinchu, Taoyuan, and Taipei, I heard so many stories, which volunteers should record and organize. These are events in Tzu Chi. All the deeds done by every volunteer are important and worthy to be in Tzu Chi’s history.
We should also show the numbers. How many houses have we built that helped families to have a place to live? How many villages have we built? How many schools have we built that help children to receive an education? How many students have graduated from the schools we’ve built who then graduated from college and are working now?
Since the earthquake disaster in 1999, many who have graduated from college are working in high-level positions now. The schools have nurtured many talented people. Isn’t this nurturing talent for Taiwan? When Taiwan has a disaster, isn’t this how Tzu Chi volunteers quickly get involved in disaster relief?
Isn’t this how we‘ve created miracles in Taiwan? Tzu Chi volunteers have done a lot, how come it seems like they forgotten what they’ve done?
I want to tell volunteers, starting now everyone needs to refresh your memory. This is the value of our life. Don’t waste our life eating, fighting for things or taking things, or letting our minds be filled with afflictions. And then, one day, we leave the world empty-handed, taking only our karma with us.
For the negative karma we‘ve created, every day I hear people chanting the dedication verses and repent: May we eliminate all afflictions caused by the Three Obstructions. How are we going to eliminate our afflictions If we don’t know where they come from?
To attain the ultimate wisdom and truth, if we don’t go amongst the people to serve, how are we to grow our wisdom? So, only chanting the verses is of no use, we must put it to practice.
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