Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Seize the Time, Do Not Let It Pass Idly (把握時間不空過)
Time passes swiftly and Dharma also flows by like water. So I often say we must use our time wisely. If we do, we can accomplish things. Isn’t this principle universal? Speaking of principles, it seems that we are all aware of them, but actually practicing what we know is not very easy. This happens because we are lazy.
Our lax attitude often leads to our downfall, while we are unaware to our downfall, while we are unaware. It is a pity. Previously, we discussed how the “Four Forms of Birth may cause all wrongdoings” We can all recite them: womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, transformation-born. All sentient beings come from these Four Forms of Birth. There are many sentient beings in each category.
Humans are womb-born. Besides humans, there are cows, horses, sheep, deer and many others that are also womb-born. Animals are the same as humans, and their minds are the same as Buddha’s. Thus, Buddha said, “mind, Buddha, all sentient beings”, not “mind, Buddha, and all humans.” No. He mentioned all sentient beings, which means that besides humans, other beings also have Buddha-nature. Therefore the mind, all sentient beings and Buddha are all equal.
Among sentient beings, there are many foolish people, who are truly unenlightened. Therefore, although it was difficult, He returned repeatedly to the Saha World to enlighten, educate and transform sentient beings. However, sentient beings are ignorant and foolish, and lead a deluded life with habitual attachments, making Buddha’s work very difficult.
Remember that grandmother in Pingtong who forgot her name? Now we know her name and her life story. Throughout her life she had the good fortune to meet kind people. Her life could be divided into three phases. Before Taiwan’s liberation from Japan, she grew up in a well-off family. She was well-educated and had met a young Japanese man at school.
At that time, Japan sent many high-ranking officials to Taiwan, along with their families. Yet, discrimination existed between the Japanese and Taiwanese. Even if her parents were accepting, outside discrimination was unavoidable, so they still objected. Since parents on both sides objected, the young couple decided to elope. The boy intended to bring the girl back to Japan. They set a time to meet at the dock. The boat was about to leave. The girl was there but not the boy.
She waited and waited, as one boat left after another. She waited day after day, and her passion turned into delusion. It was very foolish. Her mind became clouded. From that time on, she could not think straight. Life is impermanent; gradually changes occurred in her family. The sister who loved her most eventually passed away. During this time, she suffered one misfortune after another. To protect herself from assault, she pretended to be crazy. Even though her mind was very clear, she was lost and miserable after her sister died, and she was unwilling to marry anyone. So she lived on the street, and wore dirty clothes so people assumed she was mentally ill.
She refused to talk to anyone, and never responded to questions. When she was in her thirties, she met a kind old lady in Pingtong, a humanitarian who could not bear to see this unbalanced woman wander the streets, subject to wind and rain, so she vowed to take care of her. She allowed her to stay under the balcony, and took good care of her. But the woman never revealed her real name, where she lived, or what relatives she had, etc. She simply refused. At night she returned to sleep under the balcony. During the day, she collected things in the street like a homeless person.
The years passed quickly. When the kind old lady knew she was going to die, her compassion spurred her to tell her son, “Even though we do not know this woman’s name, she has lived under our balcony for many years, she is like family. When I’m gone, take care of her for me.” The old lady’s son truly inherited his mother’s compassion and love, so he accepted the duty of caring for her. Another thirty years passed, and the owner of the house, Mr. Tsai, watched this woman age year after year.
Her health was also quite poor. If she died or became ill, what would he tell the authorities? Mr. Tsai happened to be a member of Tzu Chi. He approached one of our commissioners and said, “Tzu Chi has so many contacts, can you help us find her family members? Or her records?”
Our commissioners took on this challenge jingji and another senior Tzu Chi commissioner in Pingtong heard Mr. Tsai’s story and began the daunting search. They looked everywhere but there were no answers. Finally, in government files they found that a certain well-to-do family had a daughter fitting her description. But according to the records, she was deceased.
Since her death had been recorded, the only way to change her status to “living,” was to have a family member identify her. Then it took 15 months of intense investigation to locate a family member, they found someone and asked him to visit her, then gathered other in her extended family who record her story. All of the family had to be gathered to verify the validity of the story. It was not an easy task, especially since most of her immediate family was dead. She had only distant relatives so it had to be handled by the court, not the record office.
During this 15-month period they worked very intensely. Sometimes, Mr. Tsai traveled with them to track down leads. It was an amazing story with many twists. Finally, they found all these relatives and witnesses before starting the official process.
They were grateful to the clerk at the record office, who carefully examined 50 to 60-year-old files to find all the clues they needed for their search. Indeed, this was a complicated and rare case. Regardless of their age, Tzu Chi volunteers have similar. As long as they put their minds to it, they can do anything. So our senior commissioners were able to rediscover her identity, return her official status from “deceased” to “living”, and find her real name.
Once the local government had a record for her, we could apply for governmental assistance on her behalf. Then we helped her obtain admission into a nursing home. Every month, she could receive senior benefits. They told me that she treated Mr. Tsai as her own son. She gave him all her monthly subsidy for safekeeping. They also told me that she donated NT$10,000 after the Sept. 21 earthquake. She wanted to help people. She also became a member who contributes monthly. Now that her mind is clearer, we know that she pretended to be mad in order to protect herself from being molested.
Some say she was stupid, but that was a smart thing to do. Did she use her cleverness correctly? No. To protect her body, she pretended to be crazy. Though she lived among others, she isolated herself and did not interact with anyone. Look, did her not waste 50-60 years of her life? When she was young, ignorance and foolishness led to delusion. She suffered greatly for her infatuation. Then she pretended to be mad. Luckily she met some good people. So there is still kindness in our world. These loving people treated her as family, and took care of her for 40 years. This is proof of kindness in our world. The 40 years of care she received was not an easy task.
Tzu Chi’s Great Love extends to all sentient beings equally. See, Tzu Chi commissioners are truly living Bodhisattvas. They were not related to this dirty, disheveled woman and it was so difficult to find her relatives. They went to civil offices and counts for her sake. They are not afraid of difficulties as long as they can bring peace and joy to sentient beings. Look at this woman. She has her name back, a place to live, and a Dharma-family who selflessly help her with a pure heart. They visit her often and after she became a Tzu Chi member, they taught her to chant Amitabha. She speaks now and is in good spirits. She has resumed living an ordinary life.
Everyone, this is an example from our Tzu Chi Archive. As living Bodhisattvas, when we face suffering in life, or when we encounter those who are ignorant and lost in attachment or deluded love, we never give up or give in. Everybody, let us mindfully learn Buddha’s teachings. Time flies by swiftly. Our lives constantly flow by like water. If we do not make good use of our life to cleanse our minds, then we are truly wasting our life.
Life continues to pass away. If we do not make good use of time to cleanse our minds with Dharma, we are wasting our life.
Everyone, please remember that “Dharma is like cleansing water”. This water is used in our daily lives to cleanse our minds. Otherwise, ignorance and delusion will not be eliminated in this lifetime and we will suffer beyond words in the next. Therefore, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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