20130920人間菩提 ~愛在生命交會處The 20th Anniversary of Tzu Chi`s Bone Marrow Registry
This year is the 20th anniversary of Tzu Chi’s bone marrow registry, and I’m very grateful to see so many bone marrow recipients from other countries. It’s truly inconceivable how people of different ethnicities can be matched donors and recipients.
The Buddha teaches us that once born to the world, we are one family. Why do we limit our love to those related to us? See how the bone marrow of two unrelated people can match. This is the wonder of life.
Looking back, we not only encountered many difficulties in setting up the registry, we also underwent a lot of stress. At first, bone marrow was harvested with a needle inserted into the hip bones and the sternum of a donor. Thinking of the procedure, I was very concerned whenever a bone marrow harvest was conducted.
I was also criticized, experienced one obstacle after another, and was misunderstood by people. But that was nothing compared to what many have done for me
One time, a donor was going to Hualien by plane to have his bone marrow harvested. But due to a typhoon, after one last flight, all other flights would be cancelled. So, our Tzu Chi volunteer knelt down to beg the airplane staff and eventually got on the plane with donor. There are many stories to share. No matter how the weather conditions were, our volunteers still delivered the marrow, etc.
Also, to recruit potential donors, an elderly volunteer even went to the market and shouted, “Help”. If they didn’t set themselves aside, how could they have done this? There was also a Tzu Cheng member who walked around wearing signboards on his front and back to get the message across.
See how they humbled themselves to do all this. To save lives, they’d tried all kinds of methods, Thanks to them we’re able to set up a registry with so many potential donors today. So, what’s most touching is to know they’ve given me their support.
Thanks to their efforts, we’re able to recruit so many potential donors to help many people. So, my calling on you to help is nothing compared to the hard work of our volunteers. It is the effort of those around me that is truly remarkable.
Everyone, thanks to your efforts over the last 20 years, we’ve donated bone marrow to people in China, the U.S., South Africa, Vietnam, etc. and even to a boy who is half Italian and half Greek. But he didn’t come to Taiwan this time. All this is made possible by pooling many people’s love together.
It’s been four days since the annual convention of Tzu Chi Int’l Med. Assn. (TIMA) commenced. From our TIMA members’ sharing every day, we’ve seen how our medical volunteers worldwide reached out to people without needing to be asked. Wherever there are people in need, they’ll go there to help.
In Haiti, under the guidance of our U.S volunteers, the local volunteers can now carry out much of Tzu Chi’s work by themselves. Last year, learning that patients at the General Hospital in Haiti didn’t have enough to eat, the local volunteer who was informed about this started giving out hot meals to the patients three times a week. Although our volunteers are not well-to-do, they still do this to help the patients.
All this is possible thanks to our U.S Tzu Chi volunteers who took turns to stay in Haiti to guide our local volunteers there. When carrying out our medical mission, our volunteers also do charity work. They not only give people supplies, but also inspire them to give by telling them that although they’re poor, they can still save a little every day to help those worse off than them. That’s how they encourage people to give even just a penny.
When people love is inspired, they’ll enjoy spiritual abundance. Only when everyone is wealthy spiritually can their society and country be wealthy. So, for a country to prosper, everyone needs to live in harmony with one another and give of themselves with a loving heart. Only when people’s love is inspired can they become wealthy spiritually and their society and country prosper.
Over these few days, our TIMA members from around the world are in Hualien for their annual convention. I hope all of these TIMA members from over 20 countries and regions can take what they’ve learned back to their countries of residence and work hard to recruit more living bodhisattvas.
May our world be filled with living bodhisattvas and buddhas. May everyone emulate the Buddha’s heart and walk the Bodhisattva Path through giving.
Today is the last day of our TIMA convention. But I am very worried---Typhoon Usagi is approaching. It contains plenty of moisture, and the thick rain clouds around it are very worrying. Although it seems peaceful now and everything looks normal, we still must be vigilant and take it seriously.
Please do not let down your guard just because there’s no wind or rain right now. We should not take the typhoon lightly as it is still gaining in strength. Every Tzu Chi volunteer should heighten their vigilance and remember the lesson we learned from Tropical Storm Kong-Rey.
We need to be well-prepared and quickly set up disaster relief coordination centers across Taiwan. When we’re prepared, there’ll be less disaster. May everyone be vigilant and harbor a heart of sincere piety.
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