20200210淨心正寶遍人間Pure Hearts Are Treasures in Our World
The novel coronavirus outbreak is truly devastating; it is one of the three calamities. The virus causes an infectious disease. The disease is communicable and has caused a serious outbreak which is a disaster. We do not know who is infected or how exactly one becomes infected. It is difficult to find out, so we become worried and anxious.
On the whole, across the world at the present, there are more than 20 countries where there are confirmed infected cases, and the number of the confirmed cases has been increasing continuously. In our times, traveling is truly easy, so the wise decision has been made to stop the virus from spreading by suspending flights to and from infected areas.
This is one of prevention measures against the outbreak. Like what we do in Tzu Chi, we have stopped holding large-scale activities to reduce the chance for the virus from spreading. If a few Tzu Chi volunteers want to cultivate together, we may be able to do it after a thorough planning and preparation.
We should keep our cultivation going. By doing so, we are able to remain on our correct path and make the path continue on. This way, the Dharma and our aspiration of cultivating will continue. The virus outbreak has resulted in a disaster and people are restless and anxious.
Yet, we should still stay calm. Only by being calm can we keep the situation under control until the outbreak eases off. First, it is important to guard our own hearts and minds. We must not pass on misinformation. This way, people can remain calm and feel safe.
When people stay calm and safe, they are able to think carefully about whether they should change their lifestyle and have a good reflection on whether they should abstain from eating meat for a while and eat a vegetarian diet. Why don’t we do this, let us pray with sincerity on behalf of many others.
Every religion calls on its followers to put their worries at ease, calm their hearts, and repent, and reflect on their actions to see whether they are within their precepts. Perhaps they have crossed the line. Now is the time to be calm; if our actions were out of line, let us shape up, calm our hearts, and truly abstain from eating meat.
Furthermore, if we were to go to a hospital, remember to wear a face mask properly. Let us protect ourselves. For those who are not going to the hospital, we can be prepared with cloth masks. We can put our creativity and skills at work.
At Tzu Chi, there are many recycling volunteers; I’m grateful to them because during the Chinese New Year, when everyone was enjoying a relaxing new year holiday, recycling volunteers of all ages were working extra hard, and working much later than usual. They have made such vows, for one, to ensure a clean neighborhood, and two, to love and protect our Mother Earth. Such love is genuine and sincere.
Therefore, these recycling volunteers of mine truly make people want to cherish them. These elderly volunteers do recycling for their health and well-being, so we are to help them be healthy and well; let us be thoughtful and considerate of them. These are things we should pay attention now.
I’m grateful to volunteers, though the new-year has come and gone, they have not stopped giving of themselves. Specifically, at the Lantern Festival in Taichung, Tzu Chi volunteers in Taichung were invited to take part in the festival a month and a half before the festival began. They felt that, since they were invited, they would take part in.
The venue was very beautiful, in a month and a half, our Tzu Cheng and commissioners worked to light up the whole venue, which was over 500 square meters. How did they light up the place? They did so with various recycled materials. Volunteers brought life into them; every single item was recycled. However useless it seemed, volunteers took it, and made it into something with their creativity, skills, and wisdom.
Trim it to create a curve, like a lotus flower; be careful not to cut your hands.
Standing up, I can cut with more strength. For the lantern, we want to make an extra effort.
We try our best to recycle and reuse items, and present them in a beautiful way.
As we dry the PET bottles, we don’t want to use electricity, so we let them dry on their own by shaking off the water in them.
With the concept of prolonging materials life to reinforce the idea and let the public see that these items aren’t useless, we just need to know how to use them.
Back in January, the weather was very cold. Our Tzu Cheng volunteers started setting up the display since early in the morning and worked until after 10 PM.
These things are new. They have not been tested. We have to test them on-site to see if they work. Everyone is happy doing this. The festival is approaching. No matter how cold it is, we come here on time and work until night-time to test the lights. Then, we leave.
Volunteers worked long hours to set up the display. Seeing them working outside in the cold, devoting themselves to this lantern festival, my heart goes out to them. Finally, they’re finished the display. It’s very solemn.
We have sky lanterns displaying Jing Si Aphorisms. The fabric dividers also have Jing Si Aphorisms on them. There is another section. It’s the Tzu Chi section. We call it Tzu Chi because it shows our recycling effort.
We see volunteers’ creativity and wisdom. They’ve turned useless garbage into various displays. On our Earth, there is nothing that is useless. Everything is precious. There are so many things to be grateful for. Every person is useful and has a specific function. They are treasures.
Humans, animals, and all the things on this earth are treasures. When the Buddha foretold his disciples will become future Buddhas and that their lands will be full of treasures, I think those treasures are like the treasures in our world. People are treasures. Material things are treasures. Everything is a treasure.
We are grateful. It turns out that everything in our world is a treasure. However, this treasure comes from our hearts. When we bring forth our pure heart with correct views and correct directions, that is wholesome treasure in our world.
Every day, we need to bring forth our sincere piety. For our prayer in the afternoon, hospital volunteers, please encourage patients and their families to join in and pray together. Thank you. Let us pray for peace in the world.
首頁 