20170109傳法立宗度人間Walk the Tzu Chi Path to Give with Love and Inspire People
Everyone, we should dedicate our life benefiting all living beings with the power of love. In this life, we have the Karmic affinity to be together, with the same direction and missions to serve and help people in need.
You should all remember to cultivate diligently by following the Jing Si Dharma Lineage and walking the Tzu Chi Path.
This year, we have formally established the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism to pass down the Jing Si Dharma lineage. Since I became a monastic, I’ve been following the words that my Master gave me, work for Buddism and for all living beings.
Thus, I founded Tzu Chi with only a few people. While in spiritual cultivation, we lived a self-sufficient life and gradually developed Tzu Chi into what it is today.
After established Tzu Chi, we made efforts to inspire more people to join Tzu Chi and become volunteers for us to continue our charity work. We’ve been self-sufficient since the beginning when we did handiwork.
We still get up early to do the morning service and learn the Dharma. Besides being diligent in learning the Dharma, we’re dedicate to carrying out our missions to serve people in need.
Apart from their work, Dharma masters at the Abode also need to interact and guide Tzu Chi volunteers. Our Jing Si Dharma lineage is to diligently cultivate ourselves.
At the monastery, we live by a set of rules, which is a place of cultivation. Therefore, we make great vows to pass down the essence of Dharma. As Buddhists, we learn to be like the Buddha. Every Buddha make the ultimate vow, which is the Four Great Vows. So we must make great vows.
Our Tzu Chi School of Buddhism is also the Tzu Chi Path. We have actualized Buddhist sutras into a path for us to cultivate and share our spiritual cultivation with others for people to walk upon. Thus, lay practitioners should walk the Tzu Chi Path.
On the Tzu Chi Path, Tzu Chi’s four missions and eight footprints allow people to cultivate themselves by giving of themselves in the communities. This is how we pave the Tzu Chi Path for others to walk on. Tzu Chi volunteers an all do this in their daily lives.
That is why it is called the Tzu Chi Path. We must also develop infinite capacity to practice both compassion and wisdom. Tzu Chi volunteers should follow the Jing Si Dharma lineage and walk the Tzu Chi Path.
All of us must cultivate a heart of sincerity, uprightness, faith and honesty and practice the spirit of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.
Thus, we should all vow to help all living beings with sincerity, eliminate our afflictions with an upright mind, learn all the Dharma with deep faith, and have a true heart and vow to attain Buddhahood. Aren’t these the Four Great Vows? Yes
Thus, we need to be sincere, in joining Tzu Chi, we need to develop sincerity to serve people. This is why we make the vow to deliver all living beings.
We need to be upright. We need to have right views, beliefs, mindset, livelihood, etc.; we need to keep the teachings of the Noble Eightfold Path in our minds. With an upright mind, we can make the vow to eliminate our afflictions.
Otherwise, we will create and multiply our afflictions every day. Only with an upright mind and right views, beliefs, mindset, livelihood, etc.; can we eliminate our afflictions. Since afflictions are endless, we must make the vow to eliminate afflictions with an upright mind.
We also need to make the vow to learn the Dharma with deep faith because Dharma paths are innumerable. If we don’t have faith, how can we learn the innumerable Dharma paths? So, we must have faith.
When I gave teaching on the Lotus Sutra, I talked about the importance of faith many times. You need to have deep faith to learn the innumerable Dharma paths.
We also need to make the vow to attain Buddhahood with a true heart. The goal of emulating the Buddha, so we need to cultivate ourselves steadfastly. We need to have unwavering mind so as not to be affected by negative criticisms and then give up on cultivation.
Our heart needs to be true and understanding to truly attain Buddhahood. Each one of us needs to have a heart of sincerity, uprightness, faith, and honesty and practice the Four Great Vows. Does everyone understand this? (Yes.)
We practice the spirit of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. Having great loving-kindness without regrets helps us develop infinite Great Love. Having great compassion without complaints helps us aspire to great vows. Having great joy without worries helps us deliver infinite happiness. Giving of ourselves unconditionally helps us develop infinite gratefulness.
Indeed, we want to benefit people. We make great vows and dedicate ourselves willingly, so we have no regrets. When we help others with great loving-kindness, we have no regrets because we do what is right.
By helping others, we hope to purify people’s minds. If people’s minds are purified, they can transform themselves, make their families happy, and create a harmonious society. This is our goal, so we don’t regret.
With great compassion, we don’t complain. Bodhisattvas go to the aid of those in suffering. Thus, no matter how tiring the work could be, we don’t complain or regret but keep on giving of ourselves.
This is great loving-kindness and compassion. This is love arising from the strength of vows. Having great joy without any worries means we all dedicate ourselves willingly, remain happy in all circumstances, and be at peace and at ease. This is how we gain infinite happiness.
Giving of ourselves unconditionally helps us develop infinite gratefulness, and we should also be grateful to others. Bodhisattvas exist because there are people who are suffering in this world.
Thus, when we give of ourselves, we need to be grateful. We should serve people with the spirit of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Does everyone understand this? (Yes.)
We also need to work together in unity and with one heart to carry out Tzu Chi’s missions. I hope that everyone’s heart can be as pure and clean as a crystal.
I hope that everyone can be mindful in achieving this. A forest of bodhi trees grows from the same root of wisdom. Bodhi means to be awakened, so we need to be awakened to our Buddha nature and let wisdom take root deeply in our minds.
If everyone is like a large bodhi tree, we can use our roots to protect the Earth and create a bodhi forest of merits.
Our teams of volunteers, both male and female, need to work together in unity to cultivate a field of blessings. Coming together, we work together to cultivate the field of blessings to pave the Bodhisattva Path in this world.
We need to plant our roots of wisdom deeply into the Bodhisattva Path. To achieve this, we need to work together. Does everyone understand this? Yes.
What all Tzu Chi volunteers need to do is to cultivate a heart of sincerity, uprightness, faith, and honesty and practice the spirit of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. When we work together in unity, we carry out Tzu Chi’s missions with one heart. This is what we need to strive to do.
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