20131224勤閱人間大藏經Relieving Suffering with Love
In this world, there’s much suffering, and all this suffering is caused by the ignorance of a few people. On the mews, we see how Syrian refugees living in tents suffer from the bitter cold. They truly don’t deserve to suffer like this. Yet, due to the war in Syria, they had to flee for life.
Lately, the plight of the Syrian refugees in harsh winter has drawn the attention of the international community. So, many countries and aid groups are doing all they can to help improve the living conditions of the Syrian refugees in winter. This is no easy feat, but everyone is doing their best to help.
It truly warms my heart to see how people are giving with love to help the Syrian refugees. In these few days, our Tzu Chi volunteers from the Philippines are here with us at the Jing Si Abode. They shared with us many heartwarming stories as well as heartrending ones. One story they shared was about a young girl, and I truly hope she can recover from her traumatic experiences and be safe and well for the rest of her life.
This girl is 16 years old. When Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, it not only destroyed people’s homes, but also damaged a jail. So, many inmates escaped. They committed looting, robbery, etc. and, what’s worse, they sexually assaulted women. So, the girl was frightened and became silent most of the time. One day, she passed out at school, so our volunteer doctors quickly treated her.
They diagnosed her. With hyperventilation syndrome, a condition that involves rapid breathing and can result in fainting. The girl was traumatized by what happened, and her fear and anxiety have led to hyperventilation. So, Tzu Chi volunteers kept comforting and caring for her. Finally, she released her emotions and began to cry. We also saw her sing and smile.
Will she open her heart from now on and gradually recover? She is only 16 years old and still has a long way to go in life. Will her traumatic memories eventually be erased from her mind? It depends on whether her trauma, fear, anxiety, etc. can be completely swept away. We truly feel very sorry for her.
so, in every day of our life, we should mindfully give of ourselves to care for others with love. Every day, we see living bodhisattvas serving around the world. Wherever there are people in suffering or affected by disasters, Tzu Chi volunteers will be there to bring comfort to the suffering and give support to those in fear. This is what living bodhisattvas do.
Charity knows no boundaries and goes beyond religion. Wherever there are people in need, we should reach out to them with love and bring them care and comfort. This is what bodhisattvas vow to do and how they share in the joy and suffering of those they help.
At our aid distributions in the Philippines, we see how our volunteers guided the locals by example. Even on the muddy ground, the locals knelt down to pray, and this was because our volunteers had done the same. Together, they prayed for everyone to be safe and well and recover physically and emotionally soon. For that to be possible, we need to give of ourselves with love.
At our hospital in Hualien, we see a young lady from Fujian, China. She is 26 years old and is very pretty. Unfortunately, she was born with deformed legs. Despite that, her parents love her dearly, and that’s why she is very upbeat and open-minded. She has always hoped that one day, she will be able to stand and walk like others. This is also what her family hopes for.
It must be karmic affinities. Learning of her condition, Tzu Chi volunteers went to see her and bring her hope. That’s why she is now in Taiwan I’m sure our medical team will do their best to help her I hope she can recover like Xiadong, whose spine had bent nearly 130 degrees, and will be able to stand tall and straight when she goes home.
I hope we can help fulfill her wish and I wish her all my best. This is how Tzu Chi volunteers tirelessly give of themselves with love every day I hope our volunteers serving in our hospitals can consider the hospitals as cultivation grounds and cultivate themselves diligently.
I also hope that our hospital volunteers can continue to listen to my Dharma talks, diligently take in the Dharma, and then practice it when they serve in the hospitals. Every patient is a living sutra that teaches us about suffering, so we need to read every one of the living sutras very mindfully.
Please continue to listen to my Dharma talks. This is what I encourage everyone to do I also hope that all my monastic disciples at the Jin Si Abode can work to cultivate a pure mind within and benefit others without. As I said during my Dharma talks, within everyone, there’s a cultivation ground and we must keep it clean at all times.
We must work hard to clean our mind every day. When our mind is clean, we’ll be able to see all truths clearly. So, it’ll help not only ourselves, but also others. Please be mindful always.
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