21041105 Transforming People’s Lives with Love
I put the container here so I won’t forget to save up rice for the needy. In any case, we won’t eat the rice in the container, not even when we don’t have rice to eat, as it’s for the needy. The man we see is Mr. U Thein Tun in Myanmar, who had inspired me to come up with the idea of eating 80% full. In 2008, Myanmar was struck by a major cyclone.
In the aftermath of disaster, Tzu Chi volunteers went there to carry out emergency relief work as well as started to provide long-term aid to those in need. Many of the locals are farmers and some even have to borrow rice seeds from others in order to grow their own rice. But when they borrow one bushel of rice, they have to pay back two bushels after harvest. Because of that, every time, there’s not much rice left for themselves, not even enough to make ends meet.
That’s why we started to give them rice seeds. We not only gave them the best rice seeds, but also fertilizers. They all worked very hard to tend their fields and after harvest, many gave back to Tzu Chi, including this Mr. U Thein Tun. Every day, before he cooks every meal, he grabs a handful of rice from the pot he’s going to cook and save it in a plastic container.
When the container id filed up, he gives the rice to those in need. When I learned of that, I thought: “By doing that, isn’t Mr. U Thein Tun’s family eating only 80% full every day?” That’s how I started to encourage everyone to eat 80% full and save 20% to help the needy. Knowing that Tzu Chi is a Buddhist group and cherishes all life, he did not use pesticides on his rice plants.
Instead, he went to his field every day to pray and speak kind words and sing to his rice plants. Miraculously, he had better harvest than others even without using any pesticides. So, he decided to donate more rice to the needy. He first donated two or three bags of rice and is now donating more and more bags. Now, he doesn’t have to borrow an ox for farming because he has his own ox now.
He even rented more land--- He has four acres of land and this year, he rented five acres more. So, he has nine acres now. Tzu Chi helps the needy around the world, so want to help, too. I’ve been saving up rice every day to help the needy, but I think it’s not enough. So, I’d like to donate more rice. In the past, I thought I was very poor. But seeing those who are worse off than me, I want to grow and grow more rice.
I’m training to become a Tzu Chi volunteer because I want to help others, too.
See how much he has changed. Love can really transform people’s live. It’s truly very moving to see. We also see a moving story about a kindhearted lady, Xingfen, in China. More than 20 years ago, she came cross three young men, who had left their hometown to find a job. Unfortunately, their wallets were stolen.
So, they didn’t eat and had wandered for days before they met Xingfen. Learning of what happened to them Xibgfen invited them to her house, cooked dinner for them, and let them stay for the night. Before they left the next day, she gave each of them RMB$10. Over 20 years ago, that was one third of Xingfen’s monthly salary. But she generously gave them the money before they left.
One of the young men could not forget the help that Xingfen had given them in their time of need. Thanks to her help, he was able to become what he is today--- He is now a billionaire and the chairman of a big company in China. He wanted to thank Xingfen, so he’d been looking for her for years. However, he had remembered her name wrong, so he couldn’t find her.
Last May, he finally found her. He was very happy. To repay her, he wanted to give her RMB$1 million, which is about NT$5 million (around US$163,500). But Xingfen declined the money from him. She said that the fact that he still remembers her and was looking for her is worth more than what money can repay. So, she couldn’t accept his money.
Now, they are as close as brother and sister. Such love is indeed very beautiful. See, in people’s time of need, if we can give them a little help to tide them over their difficulties, they’ll remember what we’ve done for them. It is truly a very beautiful story. Such goodness in people is really wonderful. We also see a village in Jakarta, Indonesia.
AS the streets there were narrow and the houses were run-down, whenever a fire broke out, it often led to major disaster. So, Tzu Chi volunteers worked with the local government to help rebuild the houses of the villagers. After the new houses were built, people could also open a store, etc. to make a living and improve their own lives. The rebuilding project is very successful.
See how people’s living conditions have been improved. All this is made possible with the joint effort of our volunteers and the local government. Life is filled with impermanence and suffering. That’s why we need living bodhisattvas to reach out people in their time of need and relieve them from their suffering. This is very important.
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