20200724最美風光菩薩行Practicing the Bodhisattva Way by Reaching Out to the Suffering
Apart from water, we need nothing else. The women here are all tired of fetching water. After we finish our work in the mountains, we still have to come here to fetch water. It’s really exhausting.
Due to COVID-19, the water hasn’t been tested. If it is contaminated and people drink it, there’ll be a disaster.
We humans live under the same sky and on the same land. However, there are great differences in people’s lives. I often remind you all that we must count our blessings, harbor gratitude, and practice repentance. Indeed, we must harbor gratitude within. As we’ve lived in peace and harmony, and there are relatively fewer disasters here, we should often express our gratitude.
Recently, there are many news reports about the flood disaster in China. Many places there have been damaged by bouts of unexpected torrential rain. Life is impermanent and the land is fragile. The power of Nature is devastating, and disasters often occur in a fleeting moment.
Seeing the situation in China, I’m very anxious and worried. Now, there are many people waiting for help. Indeed, when there are people in need, we must always bring timely aid to them. Our Tzu Chi volunteers have gone to survey the disaster situation. Even though they had to walk on muddy roads, they pushed ahead unwaveringly step by step.
We could only come here by raft before due to the high floodwater level. Crops were nowhere to be seen as they were all immersed in water.
We stay in this small house as it doesn’t leak. Both of our two larger houses leak.
What did you stack up there?
Quilt covers.
The parts soaked in water before have peeled off. Can you see? This is a low-income family and he lives with his mother. What if the house collapses? We cannot allow them to continue living here.
Our volunteers truly are amazing. They didn’t have to bring aid there so quickly, but they insisted on doing to. They responded to the cries of those in suffering and brought them timely aid. They are living bodhisattvas who treat everyone with loving-kindness and also reach out to people who are suffering.
They are truly admirable and I’m grateful to them. However, it is very important for them to be careful when carrying out relief. Only when we are safe and well can we save others. So, I ask our volunteers to be careful. I’m very grateful that they are more than willing to give a helping hand. They truly are living bodhisattvas.
The Buddha’s greatest purpose of coming to this world was to teach the way of Bodhisattvas. Recently, I keep saying that to make an offering to the Buddha, we must practice his teachings by going amongst people to relieve suffering, sharing his teachings with others, and giving with love to deliver all living beings. This is how we can make an offering to the Buddha.
By practicing the Buddha’s teachings, our hearts are close to the Buddha’s, which is in the state of Samadhi. When we practice the Buddha’s teachings mindfully aspiring to make an offering to the Buddha, we can work together with utmost sincere piety. As we gather together to cultivate, we are close to one another at heart.
We can understand one another without speaking. This would not be possible, were it not for our sincere piety and our collective action to carry out our missions. It is truly not an easy feat to understand one another without words.
Even if our volunteers in China are so far away from me, I can also understand them without words. They are full of spiritual joy. They live out the way of Bodhisattvas and have heard my admiration for them. With a few taps on mobile devices, they can update me on the situations there. The supplies they give out are all familiar to us.
Thank you so much. You can use the blanket. Yes. It’s relatively cold in this mountain area. Thank you so much.
The blankets were made from recyclables out of love for Mother Nature. Thanks to the advancement of technology, we have turned recycled bottles into blankets and distributed them in our relief missions.
Without the portable beds and blankets you offered, it wouldn’t comfortable for the affected to stay here. They all said that these supplies are great.
All this has been made possible by our volunteers’ love and wisdom. When they carry out relief, they also share with people how we sort plastic bottles and process them into PET pellets and chips and how we extract yarn from them and weave the yarn into blankets.
This is how our volunteers share our recycling work with people. We truly need to share with others the work we’ve accomplished and how we’ve cultivated a beautiful heart and mind through carrying out our work. We must be very mindful.
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