20211010勤耕福田善綿延 Extending Our Affinities and the Path
I see that people in various countries have joined Tzu Chi and worked so diligently with the same goal on the Bodhisattva Path. We have accumulated affinities throughout several eons of time, advancing together on a long journey, so we have such a close relationship with one another. If you have always been listening to my talks, in your memory, you will find that for the past one to two years, I’ve been talking about the grand lesson and many things that are difficult to talk about.
Besides there are many things happening around the world right now, for some time already, I have been worrying, anxious and melancholy, these feelings have been a heavy load for me, and even now, I find it hard to talk about, not only about this heaviness on my heart, but also my physical strength. I have to be very mindful about it, especially for my energy. I am really exerting my energy and strength now.
Lately, I’ve been telling myself, I am willing to exhaust my physical life wishing that all living beings will walk on the Bodhisattva Path. Now, I see people from around the world being so diligent, let us all aspire and vow that we’ll walk the Bodhisattva Path together.
From the several lifetimes we’ve lived, we’ve come together now. As we’ve encountered the Dharma and called upon our compassion, we have loving-kindness for people we don’t know. We have been serving for the past several decades; the Bodhisattva Path has been paved longer and wider, hence, we have come together on it, and to talk about Tzu Chi with others.
Tzu Chi is our collective wisdom-life. We feel other’s sorrow as our own, and cannot bear living beings to suffer, so we don’t seek for our own comfort and luxuries; such is the mindset shared by all of us. Hence, innumerable eons ago, we have vowed together. Now, we have the same heart, the Bodhisattva Path with our affinity and spreading compassion that is long-lasting.
So, to pave our love around the world, our compassion must last a very, very long time. I don’t know how much time it took for us to have such a bonding affinity in this lifetime. Let us aspire together. We all have the same goal which is to bring a light, like the light of dawn, unceasingly and extensively into the world. Let us light up a candle so that those in suffering in the dark on the earth can see the direction and walk toward it.
We give people in suffering a cup of water and some rice so that they can pass through the difficult time. We hope to help the poor turn their life around so they can live a stable life. I hope we can create the Bodhisattva Path, pave it and make it wide. We pave this path for the world and pave it smooth. So, we create the Bodhisattva Path and pave it in this world.
Everyone, please make good use of your time. Over 50 years ago, I was still young. Without realizing it, time has passed. But I use my time now just the same. I hope everyone seizes your time and makes good use of your bodies. We also need be grateful to our body.
Recently, I tell all volunteers to be grateful to themselves and be grateful to their bodies. They have the karmic affinity to use their body to walk the path, so they ought to engage in spiritual cultivation in this life. Our body has allowed us to encounter the Dharma, which can turn our deluded mind around and help us head toward the path of enlightenment. Doing this relies on our body.
To walk the Bodhisattva Path now requires us to use our body to carry out the Dharma and walk the Bodhisattva Path. So, I would like everyone to be grateful to their bodies and take good care of their bodies.
For this pandemic, in our daily life, remember to protect ourselves well. In our daily life, we need to protect our body well. Yet, we must continue to walk the Bodhisattva Path not even taking a little break. Volunteers in every country, you started walking the path that I had created. The steps you’ve taken have left deeper imprints, and you walk more steadily than I do. So, I want to thank everyone.
Without so many volunteers, how can we have so many people walking on the path as time passes? Without so many people, how can the footprints on the path be deep? We want the path to be well-travelled, long and wide. So, we must extend our love to the whole world. People in suffering around the world are waiting for living bodhisattvas to help them.
For those whose affinity hasn’t ripened, they need the volunteers now to extend their affinities further and pave the path wider. This is how one can give rise to infinitely many. To form infinite affinities requires every person to extend their affinities as well as the path.
We plant seeds of blessings and cultivate the field of blessings. In the Lotus Sutra, there’s passage about sowing seeds of kindness and cultivating a large field of blessings. This is how we walk the Bodhisattva Path, the path in the Lotus Sutra. We’re walking the path in the Lotus Sutra, which never deviates.
I guarantee to everyone that this Bodhisattva Path does not deviate. Seeing everyone being happy while doing Tzu Chi’s work, that happiness is called Dharma joy. In walking the path, only when we serve without asking for anything in return can we experience Dharma joy.
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