20200302借鏡惜福聚眾力Counting Our Blessings and Gathering Our Power of Love
The termites grab the stick; when the cup is full, I go home to roast the termite. If I don’t have salt, I just eat and drink water, then I go to sleep.
Look at the footage from Zimbabwe, life is truly full of hardship there. Let us really think more about the great number of people in suffering. Needing water, they dig for it underground; the water is externally dirty, very muddy, yet, that is how they go on living.
Take a look and think about how they live, and how we live; if everyone can tap into their conscience, conserve every drop of water, and save every penny and coins, all of us can do many things for them.
In the past, we dug water wells in Zimbabwe. We dug for several dozen meters and hit water, but we felt it was too shallow and the water was not clean. We kept digging. But, at that level, there was no water; it was past the first layer of water. We kept on digging through several more layers of soil, and the water we found was clean.
Every year, Tzu Chi applies for humanitarian food aid From Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture; If the amount is not enough, we will purchase rice. We distribute rice there every year, but receiving the rice depends on the recipients’ individual affinity.
I am so happy. I haven’t had anything since I got up. Now I can cook some rice after I get home.
Today, when we cook rice for our children, they will be happy, because they have rice to eat.
Volunteers distributed some rice and oil. The local people were so happy upon receiving them. But, how many days can 10 kg of rice last? So, think about the suffering those people have, and then reflect on ourselves; what kind of life do we have?
In our everyday living, we should think about their suffering more often. Before, I called on people to eat 80% full. We should bear this in mind in our daily living and donate a little bit of money each day to help people in need; doing this, they can have help and be supported.
This makes us see that life is truly full of suffering. Look at the current situation of the novel coronavirus; with the convenience of modern travel, people travel from one country and get infected with the virus, and then return to their own countries without knowing they are the virus carriers. Because of this, more than 60 countries have been impacted by the spread of the virus.
This is why people are worried and anxious. Take the example of the two cruise ships, there were many passengers on board who were not allowed to go ashore and had to remain quarantined on board for half a month. Those days were really stressful. They suffered a lot, physically and emotionally; they were truly distressed.
Actually, we do not have to put ourselves in this kind of unnerving, suffering situation. We can be free and at ease. Living in an industrial society, the chance for everyone in the family to be together is truly rare; now people can spend more time with their families or Dharma families. Everyone calms down and have a chat with one another.
Also, for Tzu Chi volunteers, let us remain calm and share insights of wisdom when the gathering is small. Or, people can meet on the Internet for a large group. Study groups can be conducted with only a few people. People who live close by can get together to learn the Dharma. It can take part in volunteers’ houses. It can also take part at Tzu Chi’s gathering places.
The number of people can be small. Volunteers can share about the Dharma. It’s very worthwhile to refresh Tzu Chi’s spirit and values through learning Tzu Chi’s history, because that’s part of the Tzu Chi world.
Volunteers, we need to truly understand what’s going on around the world. Tzu Chi’s work covers around the world. Like what I have mentioned about Zimbabwe, people there eat termites and drink dirty water to survive. This is happening right now. Though they are far away from us, far away in terms of geographical distance, not in time, that’s the way they live right now.
Think about it, let us urge people to give love while we are still able to do so. Urging people to eat a vegetarian diet also creates merits.
You asked me why I become a vegetarian. Because treating animals nicely is treating ourselves nicely. We don’t want a third outbreak. That‘s right, we don’t want a third outbreak. The best way to prevent another outbreak is to eat a vegetarian diet and encourage others to do the same. Let us all take action! Go vegetarian for a better health.
This boy underwent two brain surgeries, and he is also a vegetarian. His families also become vegetarians one by one and are very healthy. So, don’t use the excuse of eating meat to be healthy and say that only by eating meat can we get enough nutrients.
I hope everyone can be more mindful in understanding life. Only by understanding our own life can we empathize with the lives of animals. Eating a vegetarian diet benefits ourselves and expresses our love to animals. This is wisdom-life. This is how we create value in our lives. Do more to benefit the world, speak more good words, and do more to benefit people; Doing these create merits.
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