20130904異國弘法‧孝善茹素Spreading Love in Mozambique
In this world, we can truly see bodhisattvas and feel their love. Take for example, Denise, a Taiwanese lady in Mozambique. Her husband is Mozambican. Last year, when she came back to Taiwan, she visited our office in Kaohsiung and was very touched by Tzu Chi’s work. Inspired, she vowed to carry out Tzu Chi’s work in Mozambique.
So, after she went back, she contacted one of our volunteers in South Africa and started doing Tzu Chi’s work. Apart from giving out supplies to help the needy, she also works to spread Tzu Chi’s spirit and the Buddha’s teachings, hoping that they can truly take root in Mozambique.
See how our volunteers from Africa traveled to Swaziland and Mozambique to guide our volunteers there. They brought them to visit the locals and then created a name list of those who were going to receive our aid. Apart from that, they also shared with our local volunteers in Mozambique, etc.
How Tzu Chi’s aid supplies do not come easily and how Tzu Chi started in South Africa and its seed has now been sown in Mozambique, etc. Under such guidance, our volunteers in Mozambique can now carry out Tzu Chi’s work on their own. They even went to other communities to help the people there.
See how Denise goes everywhere to share Tzu Chi with everyone she meets. Wherever she goes, she carries a laptop and a chair with her. She truly takes the Buddha’s heart as her own and lives out the truths she’s learned. See how she emulates the Buddha’s compassion and wisdom.
She truly takes the Dharma to her heart and put it into practice. Apart from that, she goes everywhere to she what she knows with the locals. For the distributions this time, many who had received aid last time also came to help. See how everyone gathered together to serve with very genuine, sincere love.
It’s truly very moving to see how they worked together with such love. They truly go amongst people with a heart of great compassion. Indeed, if Denise didn’t have such a heart, how could she have given of herself like this? She lives in the capital of Mozambique and her family is relatively well-to-do.
Her husband used to work at the presidential office of Mozambique. She could’ve stayed home and enjoyed life. But, in order to spread the Dharma and seeds of love in that land, she works so hard to share Tzu Chi with the locals. What she did has inspired many people to give and become spiritually wealthy.
She is truly full of wisdom and strength and see how she uses her wisdom and strength to spread true Dharma in Mozambique. What she has done has brought blessings and merits to the local community. Here in Taiwan, we have access to so much Dharma and people live relatively close to one another.
Can’t we do what Denise has done? There in Mozambique, many people are poor and they can do nothing about it. So, many accept their lot as it is. But see how Denise has guided them to see the spiritual wealth in their hearts. She can inspire so many people because she keeps the Dharma in her heart and that’s why she has the strength to do so much.
See how orderly their aid distributions are. It is truly admirable. At the aid distribution on Aug. 11, our volunteers not only gave out trice to the needy, but also shared with them the concept of filial piety. See how the young people knelt down to wash their parents’ feet. It was truly heartwarming.
This is something that they had never seen or heard of before. After they washed their parents’ feet, they also gave them a big bug. So, nothing is impossible. Seeing what our volunteers have done, I’m deeply touched. With love, they’ve not only guided the locals to be filial, but also inspired them to give.
We also seed Tzu Chi volunteers around the world encouraging people to eat vegetarian and not to kill animals for food. To satisfy people’s desire for meat, many animals have to be raised and slaughtered. If every boxed meal has a drumstick and I order eight boxed meals each time, four chickens will be killed.
But if order vegetarian meals instead, many chickens can be spared. So, I encourage my staff to eat vegetarian. I used to think that we didn’t necessarily have to do good or do recycling. But if we all have this mindset, our Earth will be doomed. If everyone believes they are indispensable, our Earth will have hope. In life, how can we live in peace and safety?
The only way is to harbor love in our hearts. Moreover, we need to take care of our minds so we won’t give rise to desires. The fire of desires can destroy our world. This is the result when desires arise in our hearts. So, when our hearts are impure, our world will not be peaceful.
In fact, eating vegetarian is good fro our health. Look at our volunteer, Mr. Wang, in Xinzhu, Taiwan. He is 54 years old. When he was in his thirties, he was already very successful. He used to travel by plane all the way to different places just to enjoy expensive delicacies, until he was diagnosed with cancer. The doctor told him that he only had two months to live.
It was then he reflected on this ways and switched to eating vegetarian and a new lifestyle. That was 15 years ago. So, he has lived 15 more years by now. He is now a certified Tzu Chi volunteer and he often shares with everyone how eating vegetarian has benefited his health. All in all, as long as w give rise to a wholesome thought, wee can do all that is good and lead a life full of love.
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