20191216跨越藩籬度無邊 Delivering Aid Without Boundaries
We see Tzu Chi’s aid distributions in Laos these days. In addition to the rice we are giving them, we have already given them oil, salt, and sugar to supply them nutritional needs so that before the planting season they have food to survive. We are also giving farmers rice seeds. With food to eat, They will have strength to do farm work. After they sow rice seeds, 100 days later, they will be able to reap the harvest. This is truly heartwarming. Recipients who came to the distribution thought they would only receive some small bags of goods. They did not imagine that the goods they received were quite substantial and heavy. They felt that the goods they received truly help them. Volunteers who gave out the goods were full of joy and felt that they truly help the recipients. I had a videoconference with the volunteers. Some came to the Abode to report while others took part from faraway places via videoconference. Some volunteers are in Laos to continue to carry out distributions in the local communities with compassion and altruism.
Step-by-step, I will serve as a bridge for the team. Your spirit has inspired us. We will learn from you and spread love to the whole country of Laos. Local entrepreneurs are now able to carry out Tzu Chi’s work in Laos. They have become bodhisattva seeds they have become Bodhisattva seeds and are serving as living bodhisattvas. There are several local entrepreneurs wearing Tzu Chi’s gray uniform. They now know that, when there is a need how to get a kind-hearted people together to help, how to prepare relief goods, and how to deliver them. In a Buddhist country, how do we introduce the way of Bodhisattva? With karmic affinity, we’ve started walking the Bodhisattva path and caring out works of compassion to benefit people there. Seeing this makes us very happy. There were also doctors who went on this international relief mission and provided medical care. The love within these young doctors was inspired.
Witnessing suffering and counting our blessings the saying was so relevant to me at that moment. Sometimes we can cure a disease, or ease its symptoms, though most importantly, we can give comfort to them. When we handed out letters of well-wishes, my lower back was aching from bowing, but I then realized, when doing this, we would exchange glances, when I did that, I hoped to give them a sense of comfort and support. Witnessing suffering, we count our blessings. So, in our daily life, let us be more grateful. When we do meaningful things with our life, the value of our life will be great. These doctors encouraged themselves and vowed: I want to go again next time. When people come to aspire on their own, there will be more and more living bodhisattvas in the world.
Keep on gathering kind-hearted people to do good is to purify the world, and to bring comfort to our world; by collecting people’s love together, good affinities are collected, which can mitigate disasters in our world. For the whole day yesterday, I heard volunteers reported on distributions in several countries; there were volunteers who were ready to go on relief missions. There were also volunteers who are currently caring out relief distributions, and volunteers who came to share as they had finished the distribution, basically, reports of places we have helped, we are helping, and we have yet to help, or distributions we have completed, the on-going distributions, the planned distribution, and places waiting for us to help.
This requires a continuous flow of love; by adding up love from many, a great power of love is formed, which is truly needed right now. Everyone ought to share what Tzu Chi has been doing. We have given aid to over half of the countries in the world. We are still waiting for the affinities to reach many countries. However, with these missions, one challenge is the language barrier. This time, I am very grateful; volunteers have expressed their multiple gratitude that, fortunately volunteers so-and-so came to help just in-time and served as translators. The countries all used different languages, so volunteers need translation to carry out relief. Such is the international disaster relief we carry out every year. Every year, overseas Tzu Chi volunteers come to Taiwan to take part in the spiritual retreat where everyone gathers together and learns together. This is necessary. All in all, during this spiritual retreat, if there is language barrier, it is a big obstacle.
This is why when Tzu Chi volunteers carry out aid distributions in other countries and want to interact with local people and build rapport with them, they need to communicate in the same language. Volunteers come from many countries have been inspired to do Tzu Chi work. They come to Hualien, the birthplace of Tzu Chi, to learn Tzu Chi’s history and partake in the spiritual retreat. During the visit, they take in Tzu Chi’s spirit, so they can apply it and give their power of love after they return to their own countries. Language plays a very important role. Communication is needed in order to provide classes that can convey the essence of Tzu Chi’s spirit and values. Then, they will be able to carry seeds of Tzu Chi back to their countries.
The framework of Tzu Chi’s volunteer structure can be set up in different countries. Now, we really need to bring Tzu Chi’s ideals and values and its strength of unity to countries where there are Tzu Chi volunteers. This is what we must strive to do. Volunteers, we must bring together our strength. We must inspire people whom we come across. Be it friends, relatives, or friends who can speak different languages, we can inspire them to know about Tzu Chi. When the time comes and we have to travel to places to carry out missions, they can join Tzu Chi and serve with us to do good. This way, the cultivation ground of living bodhisattvas can be developed in the international community. If we help and accompany them to see what suffering of life is, they will put heart into serving people. When we have many volunteers who speak different languages joining us, carrying out our missions and relief work will become easier.
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