20130929《人間菩提》菩提路遠愛愈長The Journey of Awakening: A Path of Perseverant Great Love
There is flooding in Thailand now. The local government is looking to Tzu Chi to help provide hot meals, because relief workers and flood affectees all need food and water. So, Tzu Chi volunteers have begun their disaster relief work by providing hot meals.
Seeing such weather conditions that led to floods, we really should be on alert. In the media, we also see reports that in the future, Taiwan will be experiencing more torrential rains. Given this, we really have to be on alert.
We also see that the garbage in the oceans is harming the marine life. Why is there still so much garbage when in Taiwan, we already have so many recycling volunteers doing recycling? It comes down to the fact that one-time use, disposable tableware, one-time use, disposable tableware is still in wide public use. So, getting the public to change such practices appears to be not all that easy.
But, we can’t give up just because it’s tough. In fact, we need to be all the more active. in encouraging people not to use disposable tableware at all because their negative impacts is very big. When one, two, three, numerous people us them, the garbage produced is quite sizable. This garbage doesn’t biodegrade and ends up clogging the sewage system.
So, how could flooding not occur? So, the reason for flooding is not only torrential rain, but also the man-made factor of large amounts of garbage created from serving food and drink. So, all of us need to re-think our habits. Seeing so many disasters happening worldwide, we truly need to reflect on the causes and examine ourselves.
However, we also see many heartwarming news. In Indonesia, there is an Islamic school that we have been assisting for ten years, in hopes that these young students can stay focused and study well in the school. For nearly ten years now, students there study Chinese and learn Jing Si Aphorisms. They are very grateful for Tzu Chi help. Such partnership mutual help between religious organizations is so heartwarming, as we can see from the news.
Meanwhile, we also care for poor families in Indonesia by providing food aid. Such scenes of heartwarming interactions make us feel that as long as there is such love and caring in the world, even when life is hard, I believe people will receive so much love that they can let go of complaints and be more positive.
Life is never perfect. Our Taichung volunteer Qiuxiang started to develop an eye illness in 1999 and gradually lost her vision. She used to complain about her fate but she was fortunate to encounter Tzu Chi volunteers, which helped turn life around. Our volunteers were very mindful in helping and guiding Qiuxiang. She then joined Tzu Chi and learned to use her “inner eyes” to “see” the things around her by feel and touch.
Now, she can do house chores very well. She also participates in Tzu Chi activities, such as recycling, cooking, attending memorial services, and learning sign language. She also participated in the sutra adaptation of the water Repentance Text and attended the study group. Because she encountered Tzu Chi volunteers who provided guidance and encouragement to her in her most difficult period, she came to accept her condition, and learned to look at her life in a more positive way.
We also see Superintendent Han from China. He is very kind-hearted. He has an eye hospital, and every year he uses a portion of profits earned to help the needy. But one time, a few years ago, he had an opportunity to participate in Tzu Chi’s free clinic and was very touched by the volunteers.
There was both an aid distribution and free clinic. After the free clinic ended, we joined the distribution team. I was shocked when I learned that all the volunteers at the free clinic and at the distribution used their free time and their own money, and paid for their own food and lodging to come and volunteer.
Seeing how our volunteers did everything with such respect and gratitude toward others, he found it incredible that they were helping others with such humility and even felt grateful to the people they helped. He thought about his own past mentality.
Before that, when I did charity, I used to be very proud, thinking. I was superior because I could help you. I had this discriminating, arrogant mindset. But now it has changed. Firstly, I am appreciative and grateful. Grateful that I can help other people.
Secondly, I have learned from Master that besides giving people one-time aid, we must also teach them ways to help themselves.
He repented for his past, when he was doing good deeds, but with an arrogant mindset. In my Dharma talk this morning, I talked about the fulfillment of perfect enlightenment and the two-fold virtuous ways. Perfect enlightenment involves our own awakening and enlightenment and helping others to become enlightened. Only by enlightening ourselves and others both can we become full enlightened.
This is our path for learning. Isn’t Supt. Han like this? He used to fell very proud of himself for the charity work he did. Yet, witnessing Tzu Chi volunteers’ ways he was humbled and repented for his arrogance. He was very touched by our volunteers and started to join Tzu Chi. Besides volunteering himself, he also hopes his coworkers can experience what it feels like to help people.
At that time I thought, ”Why do I have to spend my own time and money to attend volunteer training? I don’t have the time!” And I thought, “I won’t sign up. Before I joined Tzu Chi, I disagreed and thought. I’ll just participate when there is an activity. Why do I need to attend training and travel all the way there just to sit in classes?
She did not want to go, but she still went, and ended up being very touched. In this way, more than ten hospital staff have joined volunteer training. It is truly not easy. He leads by example. See how he inspires others to do good deeds. Not only does he do it himself, he also leads others to do good deeds.
It is the same with the Buddha. On his long journey of cultivation through eons of time, the Buddha helped countless living beings. So, after attaining Buddhahood, people were willing to listen to him, respect him and follow his teachings.
So, cultivation is about dedicating ourselves to helping the people in suffering in our world. As we do this, we gradually accumulate the causes and conditions for Buddhahood.
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