20131004人間菩提 ~初心不變耕福田 Walking the Right Path Unwaveringly
“We couldn’t sleep that night as the wind was very strong. When we looked outside, we saw the sky in red flames. Children were crying and parents were yelling their children’s names.”
“When people fled to our house as we lived farther away and was not affected, we asked them what happened, and they said Danan Village was burned down.”
The Fire that engulfed Danan Village in Taidong occurred in 1969 on the night of the Moon Festival. That day, I was in central Taiwan. I heard on the radio that Hualien and Taidong in eastern Taiwan were battered by heavy rains. I listened to the radio all night. At one point, I heard that a major fire broke out in Danan Village in Taidong.
Worried about the disaster, I wanted to return to Hualien right away. But, many roads were cut off, so I had to change transportations all the way back to Hualien. It was truly an arduous journey. When I finally arrived in Hualien, I immediately gathered all Tzu Chi volunteers to discuss the disaster situation.
The coastal village of Xiulin in Hualien was affected, and Danan Village in Taidong also suffered severe devastation due to the fire. So, at the meeting, I decided to help those affected. But, everyone told me that we had no money. I said that we could come up with something as long as everyone was determined to help and would work with one heart to carry out relief.
I was very grateful that everyone responded by saying that they were willing to do whatever I decided. After that, our volunteers started soliciting donations from door to door. We also set out to survey the disaster situation.
When we arrived in Danan, Taidong, we saw scenes of devastation everywhere. How did a fire break out in the midst of a storm? It turned out that a grandma was cooking, and the embers from her cooking fire were swept up by winds, setting fire to her thatch house. The fire quickly spread from one house to another, burning down the entire village.
After coming back from Taidong, we quickly set out to prepare relief supplies. This was our first large-scale aid distribution. We even gave out famous-brand blankets, which were considered the best in Taiwan back then. This was the start of Tzu Chi’s large-scale aid distributions.
Apart from blankets, we also gave out clothing. We collected used clothes and asked our volunteers to wash and repair them if needed. We even prepared uniforms for children so they could wear them to school.
Around the time of Tzu Chi’s 30th anniversary, our staff from Tzu Chi monthly decided to trace the history of our early disaster relief efforts. So, they went to Taidong to visit those who’d been affected by the fire as there were few records about our work over 40 years ago. So, our staff went back to interview the villagers who had received our aid back then.
Among them was a man who told our staff that he was very grateful for the blanket as it was autumn then and he had lost everything to the fire. With the blanket we gave them, his family could have something to keep warm. The blanket had been used and washed many times.
So, after almost 30 years, the thick, fluffy blanket was worn out and become very thin. To express his gratitude, at Tzu Chi’s 30th anniversary, he returned the blanket to us to display. Before giving out the blankets, our volunteers even sewed a small strip of cloth to the blankets with “Tzu Chi Merits Society in Hualien” embroidered on it.
Fortunately, we had done that back then so people still remembered that the blankets were from Tzu Chi. See, at the beginning of Tzu Chi, even when we were poor ourselves, we gave people supplies of the best quality.
Looking back, what we did was truly not easy. So, everything starts with the first step on the right path. For decades now, we’ve never deviated from his path.
Over 40 years ago, when we carried out relief, we had very scarce resources. Up to this date, we’re still doing what we’d set out to do over 40 years ago. Our intention is very simple. We want to help people, and this is what we’ve been doing and we’ve never wavered on the path we walk.
So, I’m very grateful to Tzu Chi volunteers. No matter what I say I want to do, they’ll do it. For that, I’m very grateful to them. Only when everyone shares the same ideal can we amass greater strength. For example, when someone is pulling a cart, if others can help push it from behind, the cart will move faster and steadier.
Over the last few days, our trainee volunteers from 16 provinces in China were in Taiwan for a camp. Yesterday, they came to the Jing Si Abode to experience the monastic life by doing physical labor, such as planting vegetables, etc. They truly consider the Abode their home.
It is my hope that we can spread more seeds of love in the world. Everyone is a living bodhisattva. I hope more people can be awakened to this truth and dedicate themselves to serving.
During my Dharma talks these days, I’ve been speaking of how our world is gradually degenerating just like how an old house is slowly decaying. Our world is deteriorating because people’s moral ethics are disappearing. So, we must awaken more living bodhisattvas and inspire them to give rise to love from the bottom of their hearts.
The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings speaks of spreading seeds of goodness. Every one of us can serve as a farmer and seize time to sow the seeds of goodness
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