20200504自度度他離苦難Helping People with Kindness in Times of Pandemic
Yesterday, we had a spiritual retreat where close to 40,000 Tzu Chi volunteers in 50 countries and regions participated via the internet for spiritual cultivation. This COVID-19 pandemic is giving humanity a great lesson. Although some people think that the pandemic situation should be calming down, we should never lower our vigilance against this virus.
We need to deeply repent to the heavens. We ought to know that this pandemic, which is a collective karma of humanity, is still going. The shocking part is not over. So, we still need to stay vigilant. This pandemic is giving us a great lesson, which is for humanity to start anew. Humans are born with innate kindness. Everyone has this innate kindness. This kindness is the Buddha nature.
So, everyone should return to their innate kindness. This pandemic is giving us a great lesson and a chance for us to start anew. Humans are born with innate kindness. It’s very important to return to living a lifestyle that is kind and good.
Acts of true kindness are shown in this pandemic. Tzu Chi volunteers around the world show us very touching stories. Take Ormoc City in the Philippines for example, when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, it caused great devastation and left many people without home.
The then mayor of Ormoc City came to Hualien. He said he would like to help his residents by donating a piece of land, and we started planning. It was very comprehensive with schools and other facilities, and we called it Great Love Village. Now, the village has a lot of greenery, with trees, flowers, and lawns; it is truly full of life.
There were plots of land where residents planted vegetables. Because of COVID-19, the vegetables could not be shipped to the markets; the lockdown has made deliveries impossible. Tzu Chi volunteers who live in this village heard that I said we are to help those who are less fortunate than us. So, this group of volunteers took actions; they said there aren’t people buying your vegetables; we will buy them. Volunteers mobilized to help; with their sincerity and kindness, they solved the poor farmers’ problem.
We are harvesting vegetables and we will deliver them to the elderly and needy families in Great Love Village.
I couldn’t ship my vegetables to be sold. Fortunately, Tzu Chi purchased them, and gave them to disadvantage villagers. This is great, of win-win situation.
They conducted the distribution respectfully. Keeping social distance, volunteers put vegetables in plastic basins, and recipients stood in front of their homes with a chair placed not far from the house. Volunteers placed the basin on the chair, recipients took the vegetables home, and volunteers then collected the basins. These are Tzu Chi volunteers.
Seeing this, I feel they are close to my heart and I am so touched. They used to make low wages, and were affectees of a disaster; with Tzu Chi’s assistance and support, they have a place to live and a livelihood. Now, they are volunteers serving with Tzu Chi; in their village, they found a way to help others without outside assistance; they provided support to their village.
This is an example of purifying people’s hearts and bringing harmony to society. Their hearts were purified, and they now serve as living bodhisattvas. They exercise their Great Love amongst people and always help those in suffering. It is a truly heartwarming story. This is a simple story, yet, it moves me greatly; because it tells how harmonious the community is.
Life is full of suffering. It truly makes us sigh with sadness to see people suffering and not being able to reach out to them; we are anxious in our hearts. Yesterday, I mentioned a story which is truly heartrending. It makes my heart very heavy. A Kenyan widow, a mother of eight children, raises her children alone. Her youngest child is still a baby. Her children had no food to eat, they kept crying out, I am hungry.
She heard the cries from her children, for they were really hungry. They truly cried for being hungry. What could the mother feed her children? The only thing she could do was to make a fire with twigs and put a pot on top of the fire. She plays the stones in the pot and told her children, mommy is cooking. Mommy is cooking.
Was she really cooking food? Inside the pot were stones. There are many people who died of hunger there. In the pandemic, why are many people died of COVID-19, more people died of hunger. It truly pains me upon hearing this. We have no way of reaching people there particularly at this time even if we hear of this story.
So, I share the simple story of what Tzu Chi volunteers in Ormoc have been doing. People can feel that life is still full of hope; when the lives of people in need are transformed, they can help other people. Everyone in Ormoc helps themselves and also helps others in need. People they helped then go on to help others. This brings hope.
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