20141205法法相傳淨世間 Diligently Passing on the Dharma
I’m truly very grateful and deeply moved. Every time I see our Tzu Chi volunteers, I’ll give rise to boundless confidence, willpower and courage. For that, I’m very grateful. Today, I see a big group from our Tzu Chi Youth basketball Team. For some children we need to guide them with sports, through which they can train to become more focused. That’s why this basketball team was organized so children can come in touch with Tzu Chi’s values and learn to be more disciplined and emotionally stable. This is also a form of education.
I also see our recycling volunteers. Environmental protection is an issue that concerns everyone around the world. My heart is always with our recycling volunteers. I’m very grateful to them and deeply touched by them. It’s not that I favor them more than others, but that I know every one of them is very dedicated to our recycling work and to promoting recycling in their communities.
Many of our recycling volunteers are advanced in age. They are very endearing. Throughout their lives, they dedicated themselves to our society and their families. When they are old, they don’t just retire. Hearing me call on everyone to recycle, they do as I said. I often hear our elderly volunteers say: “We’re very grateful to Master for asking us to do recycling. We’re very happy doing it.” See, I should thank them, but they thank me instead. Such a world filled with gratitude is indeed very beautiful.
A few days ago, at our chapters in Guandu and Sanchong, over 3,000 recycling volunteers too refuge in me and over 700 people became our certified recycling volunteers. Since they’ve been certified, they have to follow Tzu Chi’s precepts and give up their bad habits. So, doing recycling work is also a way to inspire people to better themselves. Seeing that, I’m very glad. Many of those taking refuge in me that day are our elderly volunteers. They share the same heart with me, and by taking refuge in me we’ve formed deeper affinities with one another life after life.
I also heard how our volunteers care for one another. Since we’ve joined Tzu Chi, everyone in this group of bodhisattvas is our Dharma family. So, when I heard how you care for one another, it warmed my heart and I’m very grateful. You’re truly caring for those whom I love. Because you love me, you also love those whom I love. I really love every one of you, and I hope you can treat one another as family.
As your Master, I’ll do my best to share the Dharma I know with every one of you. This is my responsibility. As my disciples, I hope you can know my heart. I ask nothing from you. All I hope is that you can take the Dharma to heart, so in our future lives, we can be reunited by the Dharma. Then, life after life, our affinities will bring us together and we can support one another with the Dharma. So, I hope you can learn the Dharma mindfully.
Having learned the Dharma, you need to live it out in your daily living. If you can put it into practice, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the Dharma. As I’m explaining the Lotus Sutra lately, I keep being amazed by its teachings. Ever since Tzu Chi was founded, we’ve been walking on the Bodhisattva Path as laid out in the sutra. From the very beginning, we’ve been working to benefit people and our society.
So, those we help serve as a cultivation ground for us, and so do our society and every one of our recycling stations. See, we have cultivation grounds everywhere. Every place, even your family, is a cultivation ground for you. But the most important cultivation ground is in our hearts. To dignify our cultivation ground within, we need to practice the Dharma in our everyday life---We need to take in the Dharma and use it to benefit people in society.
Our society is like a muddy lotus pond. But we must go into it to serve and like lotus flowers, not be tainted by the impurity in society. While we compare our society to a muddy pond, living bodhisattvas are like lotus flowers. Despite growing in muddy ponds, lotus flowers bloom beautifully without being sullied by the muddy water. When the lotus blooms, it bears fruit at the same time. This is the same with walking the Tzu Chi path.
From the moment people join Tzu Chi. We guide them to walk the Bodhisattva Path by serving people in society, which will lead them to the fruit of Buddhahood. So, I hope everyone can practice Mahayana teachings as they are like the lotus seeds in muddy ponds, but will not be contaminated by the mud they grow from. This is how we should serve people in society and not be tainted by the impurity in it. Only then can we keep our minds upright and remain on the correct path. If we can do that, we’ve passed the test.
Some people may think that cultivation is a long way to go. It is indeed a very long journey. Since beginningless time, due to their ignorance and delusion, all living beings in the five realms have been going through the cycles of rebirth, creating more and more negative karma. As their negative karma snowballs, they inflict more and more suffering upon themselves. Life is impermanent. We never know when our time is up. So, we must seize time to work harder now. I myself cherish time very much as I hope that I can share as much Dharma with you as possible.
When I can’t do that anymore, I hope you can pass the Dharma on so when I come back to this world again the Dharma is still here. So, please keep passing on the Dharma so I can learn it when I come back. This is how we can pass the Dharma on and also what I should work hard to do now.
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