20131108珍惜資源‧學習儀軌Cherishing Resources and Promoting Correct Values
In these few days, Tzu Chi volunteers from around the world gather in two of Tzu Chi’s complexes in northern Taiwan to cultivate together.
To learn Tzu Chi’s spirit and ideals, they have to start with learning Tzu Chi’s etiquette and proprieties in different aspects of everyday life.
See how mindful everyone was and how they patiently practiced again and again holding a bowl and chopsticks. Some may think that they’ve been using eating utensils for decades. Why do they still need to learn how to hold a bowl and chopsticks?
Actually, this is how mindful we can be in our daily living. I often say, “Please be mindful always”. By that, I mean in our daily living, be it our conduct or speech, we should be mindful. This is because everything we do can affect our lives and the environment greatly.
Look at how people nowadays use water wastefully. We’ve used more resources than the Earth can replenish. It is like borrowing money from our future generations.
Water is limited on Earth. But see how so many people are using water wastefully. Due to drought, many places have turned into deserts.
Also, industrial development has caused air pollution, which is bad for our respiratory tract, lungs, etc. So, we must look after our Earth. She provides us with mountains, rivers, etc.
Without water, there is no life. So, we must cherish water. When Nature’s water element is imbalanced, the air element will also be in disharmony, and so will the earth element as Nature’s elements are interconnected.
Such an imbalance of Nature’s elements is a result of people overusing the Earth’s resources. So, we truly must be mindful in our daily living.
When we turn on a faucet, we shouldn’t turn it on too high and should use the waters sparingly. When we have meals, we should wash our hands clean and use serving utensils.
I hope that everyone can also use serving utensils at home. This is very important, so we should encourage every family to do this.
At school, teachers will share with their students that they should wash their hands before having meals. But, most teachers only teach that. In fact, they should also teach their students to use serving utensils at home. If we use our own chopsticks for every dish, we might leave our germs in the dishes and pass them to our family members. This is what everyone should be careful about.
At every one of Tzu Chi’s training camps, we should adopt these sanitary practices. Not only that, we should practice them at home as well. This is what our trainee volunteers have to learn to do during their training period. After they become certified, they all the more should live out these practices in their daily living.
As I often say, we should live out the Buddha’s teachings and aspire to be a bodhisattva in the world. In our everyday life, we can make use of the Buddha’s teachings in everything we do. This is what everyone should learn to do.
We also see Tzu Chi volunteers in Europe giving with love to help those in need. Since Italy was hit by tow earthquakes last May, our volunteers from many European countries have gone there several times to provide aid.
Last month, as it’s getting cold, our volunteers went to Italy again to give our prepaid vouchers to quake survivors from low-income families, etc. The police and volunteers from the Red Cross also came to help. See how everyone worked together to bring warmth to the needy. It’s very heartwarming to see. They’re truly living bodhisattvas.
And in Shenzhen, China, Tzu Chi volunteers shared Jing Si Aphorisms with students in an elementary school, teaching them to cherish food.
“Only when we count our blessings will we work to sow more blessings and enjoy a blessed life”
Everyone, we truly must seize time to learn correct values, take them into our hearts, and put them into practice. This is what we can do and inspire others to do as well.
In our daily living, we must lead a simpler life, not be wasteful, and give with love. These are the practices we should promote not only in our community, but also in every part of the world. As long as we’re willing, in addition to those around us, we can share these practices with people all around the world.
For our annual Year-end Blessings Ceremony, we see the superintendents of our hospitals lead their staff to help with making hong-baos. See how much skill is required to make the hong-baos. They even had to glue three rice grains one by one in each hong-bao, which represent moral discipline, Samadhi, and wisdom. See how focused they were.
“We pick out bad rice grains and only keep the good ones. This seems to remind us to cleanse away impurities from our hearts”
The empty seeds or the bad ones had to be picked out and discarded. Doing so reminds us that we should keep only wholesome teachings in our hearts instead of afflictions, etc.
All in all, in everything we do, there are the Buddha’s teachings to follow. If every one of us can act in line with the Buddha’s teachings and live them out in everyday life, wouldn’t we lead a life of abundance?
We’ll have an abundance of love and wisdom and lead a blessed life. Isn’t such a life most beautiful and blissful?
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