Date: September 7th,2010 (Tuesday)
Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Sowing the Bodhi Seed Within and Living Out the Teachings of the Sutra 善護心念鑄史跡
Dr. Lin Yuanhao said: “Some of our hospital staff have come to see why it’s good to have vegetarian and how delicious the food can be. I’m also working towards becoming a vegetarian myself.
A Shop owner said: “We can respond to the call of vegetarianism by eating vegetarian two or three times a week. (往後，也可以響應齋戒素食日，一個星期或許有兩餐三餐)
Every day, I speak of how we must take good care of our minds at all times and always be mindful of our thoughts, speech and actions.
By doing so, we can form good affinities with others, and naturally, there will be harmony in society and the world can be free of disasters year after year.
Isn’t this what we pray for as we sing “The Prayer” every day?
When we pray, it must come from the bottom of our hearts. We mustn’t just sing the lyrics mindlessly.
Instead, we must say the prayers with sincere piety that comes from deep within us.
(我們天天都在祈禱，祈禱是打從內心的誠懇，不是把它當成一首歌，是心靈的虔誠所表達出來的)
So, we must take good care of our thoughts, speech and actions in order to form good affinities with others and pray for the world to be free of disasters year after year.
(所以我們人人，要從身口意業多結好緣，祈求天下無災，歲歲年年)
To have harmony in society and a disaster-free world, we must work to nurture the Bodhi seed in everyone around the world.
In every one of us, there lies a Bodhi seed.
(那要社會祥和，天下無災，這都是要希望普遍，普令一切，發菩提萌，希望這粒粒的種子，都是菩提的種子)
When every one of us works to sow the Bodhi seed in the field of our mind and care for it, when conditions are right, the Bodhi seed will sprout and grow. (希望我們人人，把菩提種子播出去，粒粒都落在土地，因緣成熟了，就可以粒粒菩提種子，都能萌芽起來)
At the same time,we must further use our wisdom which is as bright as the sun and moon, and nurture the seed in a way that is in accordance with different seasons of the year. (同時，我們還要緊跟著，用智慧如日月一樣，「智慧日月，方便時節」，日月，智慧日月，方便時節)
What this means is that when we sow the seed, we must work to understand what season it is and what the best way to nurture the seed in this particular time of the year is.
This is how we can care for the seed we sow in the way that can help it sprout and grow.
To do that, we need to use our wisdom.
(意思就是要跟大家說，我們要運用智慧，我們的種子已經播上了，還要去了解這個時機，就是應機逗教，應這樣的時跟根機，我們要把握機會投以教育，這就是我們要用智慧的)
Likewise, when we bring aid to people, we must not say them:
“I am helping you, so you must listen to me”
We should not do that.
Nor should we say, “We’re a Buddhist group. Since we’re helping you, you must convert to Buddhism”.
We must not do that either.
Instead, we must bring care and comfort to people with a sincere, open, and loving heartand do so without asking for anything in return. (我們總是要用開闊的心胸，很誠懇的愛，我們陪伴他，膚慰他，沒有抱什麼特別的希望)
When we give with genuine sincerity, that is wisdom.
When we give of ourselves selflessly, that is also wisdom.
When we work to bring timely aid to those in need, we are sowing blessings.
When we sow blessings by bringing timely aid to those in need, this is true wisdom.
(真誠的付出，就是智慧。這種的無所求，能付出就是智慧，付出的同時，緊急付出那就是造福，叫做福田。應時機，我們去陪伴，這就是智慧)
Our wisdom is as bright as the sun and moon.
During the day,the sun gives us light, and at night, it is the moon that shines.
So, no matter what time of day it is, we have the sun during the day and the moon at night to bright us light.
The sun represents wisdom and the moon represents loving-kindness. (日表達是智慧，月是表達慈悲)
So, in people’s darkest moments in life, when they’re most in need, we must give of our loving-kindness, which is the same as the gentle light of moon. (所以當他在最黑暗的時刻，最需要的時刻，我們要用如月亮的慈悲去付出)
A victims, Hasmin: “Thank you for giving us blankets and sleeping mats. We can sleep much better now. I’m very happy. I just heard from the volunteers that these blankets were made of plastic bottles. From now on, I want to collect plastic bottles and donate them to Tzu Chi.”
When people have opened up their hearts to us, we must mindfully and patiently guide them to give rise to wisdom so that they can come to understand that life is about giving of ourselves with love without differentiating between races or religions.
We must open up our hearts so wide that we can embrace everything in this world.
(當人人都已經心靈打開了，我們要循循善誘，如何讓他有智慧，能了解到人生總是以愛的付出，不分種族，也不分宗教，打開，開闊心胸包容天地之間，這叫做心包太虛)
This is what it means to have wisdom as brilliant as the sun and moon.
With this wisdom,we’ll be able to promote the work of the Mahayana.
(所以這就是叫做，日月，智慧日月，就是要展開大乘事業)
Here in Tzu Chi,the work of the Mahayana is embodied in the Four Missions we carry out.
In our Mission of Charity, we serve people around the world unconditionally.
In our Mission of Medicine, we care for everyone regardless of their race and whether they are rice or poor.
What’s most important is to save lives, and to look after people’s health with love.
We do not ask if they can afford treatment or what their religion is.
All we have in mind is to relieve their suffering.
There is also our Missionof Education.
In this world, there must be hope.
The hope of ourworld lies in people, and the hope of people lies in education.
That is why Tzu Chi volunteers have built schools for children in impoverished areas in South Africa, central and south America, and many other parts of the world.
Apart from that, our volunteers also interact with the students’ parents and bring them the aid they need.
We do this only to inspire the love in people’s hearts, and bring hope to their lives.
This is our Mission of Education.
There is also our Mission of Culture, which aims to remind people that all ofus have the same wisdom as that of the Buddha, and that everyone has the same Great Love as that of Bodhisattvas.
There are the Four Mission of Tzu Chi which are also the work of the Mahayana as described in the Sutar of Innumerable (無量義經) Meanings.
See how Tzu Chi volunteers have put the teachings in the Sutra into practice.
Instead of just reciting them.
So, everyone, you must read the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings often to make sure that what we are doing is in line with the Sutra’s teachings.
And, for every thought that we give rise to every day, at every moment and every second, we must constantly remind d ourselves that everything that we do at each moment will become a part of history.
Indeed, every dayis a part of history. With what we’ve done we left a footprint in history, and all that we are doing now is history in the making. (總而言之，日日都是歷史，有過去的不可抹滅的歷史，也有今天還在進行中的，來年的歷史)
Therefore, we must take good care of every single thought, we give rise to at every second. (總而言之，我們每一秒鐘，每一個心念，都要照顧好)
So, please be mindful at all times. (所以時時多用心啊)
(Source:Da Ai TV 人間菩提)
首頁 
