20220330法潤心地智慧生Relieving Suffering and Inspiring Love
There’s no water source near our home. This is the nearest spot with water. I know people wash clothes and utensils here. Animals also use the water. There’s nothing I can do. Yet, I’m also afraid of catching cholera.
only two or three meters deep. There is not enough water. During these two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can only travel a long distance to fetch water from another village. We usually do so at midnight and have to walk a long way to find clean water.
We see Zimbabwe, Africa. How do people there live? We’ve seen it in the footages. We’ve designed water dispensers that they can carry stably on their heads with less discomfort. I hope that women in Zimbabwe can carry the containers on their head effortlessly. This African country is often affected by droughts, so we’ve dug wells and installed pumps for them.
To fetch water, the locals have to walk as far as 5 to 10 km. To find a water source, our team has made three trips. Each journey took two or three days. We wished to find quality water resources.
I often express my gratitude to our volunteer, Mr. Tino Chu. He had the good karmic affinity to do business and settle down in Zimbabwe. He has been living out his vow to benefit people there. I remember that over ten years ago, children there had scalp ringworm, so he shaved their heads for them.
Back then, I saw how our volunteers there transformed the lives of many children. They guided the children to practice physical hygiene and good conduct, provided them with food, taught them dining hygiene, etc. This wouldn’t have been possible without our volunteers.
Our first volunteer there has inspired many people to join our rank. As long as there is one person willing to guide the locals and help to cultivate the land there, he or she can inspire many people to pool their strength together to cultivate the land. Our volunteers have taught them to grow vegetables and other crops. Serving with determination, our volunteers have brought them together to cultivate the land. The crops can even be offered to the needy now.
People are the key to lifting a country out of poverty. If poor people don’t work, they will always be poor. By sharing ways to make a living, we can lift people out of poverty. We must also guide all to bring forth their innate love and cultivate the field of their mind. Love is inherent in human nature. After we inspire love in people, they will work for the common good.
We need to guide everyone to nurture the field of their mind by sharing the Dharma with them. See how our local volunteers in Zimbabwe have nurtured their hearts and minds and turned their knowledge into wisdom. Although they are not materially rich, they are as spiritually rich as we are. They are no less dedicated to benefiting humanity, and they serve with wisdom as we do. They truly are living bodhisattvas.
Whenever I see how they give of themselves despite scarce resources, I’m truly touched and grateful. I hope everyone can see how they serve and learn to do the same. We must shoulder the responsibility of benefiting people around the world.
Heaven confers great responsibilities on people. I think that Heaven has conferred great responsibilities on me, so I must shoulder them, like carrying rice with a shoulder pole. I carry two basketfuls of rice rather than one. The one in front symbolizes blessings and the one behind symbolizes wisdom.
It can also be the other way around. It can also be the other way around. Either way, it’s like how I sow blessings for all with one step forward and guide all to cultivate wisdom with another step. Let us sow blessings for all and guide all to cultivate wisdom forever and ever.
We should never say: Master, I’m advanced in age. I’ve done enough. I’d like to remind you that we can never do enough even if we serve life after life. As our goal is to attain Buddhahood, we must walk the Bodhisattva Path steadfastly. We must give without asking for anything in return and also express our gratitude.
Let us give of ourselves with joy and ease daily without asking for anything in return. Let us always enjoy giving of ourselves. When we are giving of ourselves, we are also bringing joy to ourselves. We must walk the Bodhisattva Path around the world to turn suffering into joy and lift people out of poverty.
This is not impossible. We must have faith in this, for faith is the source of all merits and virtues. Everyone, let us build our faith, vow together to walk the Bodhisattva Path, and live out our vows with faith and action. I’m always grateful to you all for living out your vows with faith and action. Please keep taking each step firmly and diligently as you walk the Bodhisattva Path in the world.