20200105傳承感恩匯聚愛Passing on Our Gratitude Along with Our Love
Hello, Master!
Master, they are elderly recycling volunteers from various recycling stations. When they heard you were coming, they were so happy!
Which was the furthest location?
They came from Guoshing, Puli, Jhushan, Caotun, and Nantou city. These recycling volunteers came from Puli.
I see. It’s quite far, you got here so early. I’m grateful.
I heard you were coming and I was so happy.
Thank you, I am happy to see you too.
Thank you, Master.
Have a safe and happy New Year.!
I wish you good health!
I’m once again visiting Nantou; this was a surprise visit for you. As my visiting here was announced on a short notice, I still saw many outstanding works. I feel Tzu Chi volunteers are truly close to my heart. Once I arrived, I was welcomed by a very gentle sunshine. While I was walking around, it was very peaceful. The place is big, but many people are here. I saw many elderly volunteers; they seemed very orderly, and they are recycling volunteers.
I kept walking, and arrived at the exhibition room. Dr. Hung let the way, and I saw many ants.
There aren’t many Jing Si disciples in Nantou, but we all have this one great aspiration, so, with this ‘ting ants under the Himalayas’, we hope to be like the tiny ants under Himalayas and work against negative karma, and work to move the Himalayas. We have a volunteer, Mr. Zeng Ruiming, who made these with box strapping strips.
Recycled ones? Yes, recycled ones.
They were made with recycled box strapping strips, and even if he makes them really, really fast, it would still take him 10 minutes. He’s skillful, but it takes at least 10 minutes.
It only takes 10 minutes.
He’s been making them for many years.
It’s nearly 13 years.
Mr. Zeng truly has skillful hands. He made deer as well as ants. Look at those hands, who would have thought they could make such detailed and tiny works of art? Event ants! While walking, I saw his work, and praised, “How incredible!” If I were to make them with my hands, I would “have no way” to begin. I don’t know how, don’t have the “steps”, so I can’t make them. Hence, I “have no way” to make them. “Master, can you make them? No, I don’t know the ways.” That means I don’t know how, so I can’t. There is no way to make them.
Everyone here “has the way”, they can work with various materials. Every time I come here, I am the happiest to hear and see such beautiful crafts, which were crafted with their hearts. A few days ago, I went to Taichung, I saw bamboo lanterns; they were truly beautiful. As I walked further in, at the lobby, I saw bamboo craft again; the sun and the moon pieces could move up and down.
Coming to Nantou, I saw ants, ants climbing the Himalayas. The ants and Himalayas symbolize one of the biggest, grandest things in the world, so big that cannot be described, which is the Himalayas, and the tiny thing, like the ants; the two are both displayed there.
Yet, coming here, I heard about our relief work for Typhoon Herb, which was in 1996. It has been 23 years since the disasters. Recalling the memory of Typhoon Herb, it was a Tzu Chi history where we mobilized a lot of volunteers for the disaster relief.
Mother Nature was truly powerful. In an instant, landslide displaced properties. It was only a typhoon, yet it caused such devastation. That was typhoon Herb. Tzu Chi volunteers took part in the disaster relief. They went to the disaster areas and gave of themselves to help, including volunteer in Nantou.
There was also the 921 earthquake in 1999. We should truly remember that year. Mentioning it is not to get people’s gratitude for what we’ve done. It’s to teach people. Nowadays, children in schools, such as elementary schools, do not know the sturdy, beautiful schools they go to were rebuilt by whom. They don’t know what organization or why such an organization would help rebuild schools damaged by the earthquake. They probably don’t know.
Thus, we need to recall Tzu Chi’s work from the past and how local volunteers gave of themselves to help with the disaster relief. Some volunteers were affected by the disaster, yet, they put their losses aside and took part in the relief work. They could recover from the disaster slowly. Yet, by joining other volunteers, collectively, they were able to help the affectees. We also need to recollect our memories of such volunteers and let everyone know of them.
People have the power of o love. By pooling together people’s power of love, we teach people about disasters of the past and let young people know what might become of the future. We are very grateful now for having recovered from past disasters. What about the future? Will impermanence never strike again? It’s hard to say.
All in all, we need to create blessings. Coming here today, I saw over 10 volunteers aspiring to be Honorary Board Members. Some of them work in the mountains. They have to work many years, take good care of their fruit orchards, and pick the fruits one by one to save money to make a donation.
Truly, I cannot describe my gratitude for this. It’s the same for volunteers who run shops, not just those working in the mountains. When I start urging people to do charity work, people have been doing all they can to support Tzu Chi. I’m very grateful. This is creating blessings for this world. We give of ourselves without asking anything in return while being grateful.
This heart of gratitude is giving selflessly without attachments. Doing countless good deeds in this way creates boundless merit. There are so many things to be grateful for. As time accumulates second by second, we use our life to accumulate deeds of benefiting people with compassion. This is making meaning out of our life.
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