20170125 - 見苦知福行大愛Relieving Pain and Suffering with Love
We still see many disasters in the world. In Chile, forest fires have lasted nearly one month. Chile is a long, narrow country, and the fires started and spread from its central and southern parts. The fires even spread to residential areas.
What’s worse, severe flooding hit northern Chile, causing mudslides and disrupting land transportation. The wildfires are yet to be contained, and the flooding came as anther hardship. Although Chile is more than 4,000 km long, it’s truly worrisome to see the country affected by both wildfires and floods.
Although we don’t have many volunteers in Chile, their safety really worries me. So, upon learning about the disasters, I asked if our volunteers there are safe and well. If they were not safe and well, they couldn’t go to care for those affected, who are really in need of our help.
Forest fires have also raged in Argentina for nearly one month. It is summer there, and severe drought has fueled the fires, which have raged through several provinces.
We human beings all live on the Earth, and we need to care for those affected as if they were our family.
Last year around this time, a strong earthquake hit Meinong, Kaohsiung City, and a building in Tainan City collapsed.
The quake struck two days before the Chinese New Year, namely the 28th day of the 12th lunar month. That night was the night before Chinese New Year’s Eve. Yet, the strong quake hit before daybreak, causing many injuries and deaths, and the pain of bereavement.
The instant the quake occurred, our volunteers quickly mobilized to care for those affected and the firefighters. Our volunteers from across Taiwan came to Tainan and lovingly cared for them. Apart from those affected, they also cared for those who saved lives.
Also, they went to hospitals and funeral homes to care for those injured and bereaved. They were so devoted that they had no time to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This is truly touching.
The Tainan City Government recently held a New Year reunion banquet for those affected in the earthquake.
The banquet was held in memory of the over 100 people who lost their lives. So, almost one year after the quake, the affected households were invited to the banquet. Tzu Chi was also invited to the banquet to again show our loving care to those affected and the firefighters.
Upon knowing we were invited, our Dharma masters and volunteers at the Abode began preparing steamed sponge cakes. With the help of the Taiwan Railways Administration, the cakes were then shipped for free to our office in Tainan.
Receiving the cakes, our volunteers in Tainan quickly packed them with the apples they had prepared.It truly warms my heart to see that as each cake and apple marked our blessings to the banquet attendees.
The New Year means we can start life anew with all suffering left in the past. So, we presented these gifts to those affected and the firefighters as our New Year blessings to them. It’s truly heartwarming to see that.
Indeed, if every one of us vows to do good, we can bring peace to society. Although we cannot avoid the natural disasters such as earthquakes, we can care for those affected with love and help them stand on their own feet again.
We also see that in our winter distribution in China, our volunteers gave much care to the elders and those in suffering.
One elder is hearing impaired and can’t speak. He can’t express how bitter he feels. Our volunteers accompanied him home and delivered relief supplies for him. Seeing what a life the elder lived, our volunteers felt grief for him. Learning that he felt cold, we placed a new quilt on his bed and helped him put on a new coat.
See how our volunteers give out of love and great compassion.
Becoming a Buddha is not that hard, and becoming a Bodhisattva is quite easy. As long as we take action to do good, we can make a great difference in the world as Bodhisattvas do.
Our volunteers have reached out to the whole world. So, our theme foe 2017 is “With love, we can come together to serve. With wisdom, we can see the world in a seed.” Its meaning is profound, yet its practice is very easy.
See one of our volunteers, Ms. Yang. Seeing an elder who lived alone, she cried out of great compassion. To keep the elder warm, she even knelt down to slip the elder’s hands into gloves. See how she gave of herself with love.
Seeing those who suffer, we should be grateful that we’re blessed. Taking action to help people is really easy, and by doing so, we become living Bodhisattvas.
首頁 