20230416堅定初心入法華 Living Out the Spirit of the Lotus Sutra
Time is always slipping away. I had kept thinking “pay attention! Pay attention to see day light to the sun setting, then to the evening.” Although I had been very mindful, our car kept moving forward, and in the blink of an eye, the sun set completely. Moments ago, there was still a little bit of the sun, and then, our car went under some trees, and the sun was gone.
Nevertheless, the time in a day going, and the sun goes, from being high in the sky to setting; time actually passes by very fast! This makes me think about humans and human’s body. Especially during the past two, three years, I’ve come to sense the changes of the human body and how it changes from middle ago to old age. When I take the stairs, after just one flight, as my feet stand on the steps, I find climbing to be strenuous. Grabbing the railings, my grips are weak.
So, such is life. I’ve never sensed it before, and now, I sense it all of a sudden. I contemplate about my life; while I was living in the small wooden cabin, I wholeheartedly immersed in myself in the sutras. I saw that the Lotus Sutra calls for people to aspire and make vows, it teaches us to benefit ourselves as well as others, to make vows gradually, to step into the world gradually, and we’ll accumulate good affinities with other people gradually, too.
In the beginning, I was very lonely; I want to work for Buddhism and living beings, but I was all by myself. All I had were two hands, ten fingers, and two shoulders. I can carry two rice baskets on one shoulder with a carrying pole. Even with both shoulders, I can only carry four rice baskets. But now, in addition to our four missions, we have eight footprints. With the eight footprints, each step we take every day, there will be progress made on eight paths, all at the same time.
This is why I’m very grateful to Tzu Chi volunteers everywhere. They have been following me for several decades, doing Tzu Chi work and walking the Path, and inspiring people to do the same generation after generation. These Tzu Chi volunteers harbor the thought and the mind to always work for Buddhism and all living beings. I have vows and my disciples act them out; this is the vow and action part.
I have such faith in the Dharma and my disciples understand it; this is our faith, vows, and actions. They are so close to my heart, and they work together in unity and harmony; I feel that I have a very valuable life. Despite I’m old now, Despite I’m old now, and I am not as agile as before, when I look behind me, I’d think, “What a long procession of volunteers! They give out a row of lights that is so neat!”
They are like fireflies appearing one after another, sparkling their lights, and shining their lights in darkness. This is like Tzu Chi. The era we’ve in now is filled with five turbidities and evils. People have ignorance in their heart and also have a lot of desires. Fortunately, there is a group of Tzu Chi volunteers who purify people’s hearts, bring harmony to society, and display truth, goodness, and beauty.
Thus, Tzu Chi was established through service. The Bodhisattva Path has to be created. We must practice the Dharma in order to reach the path’s destination. This is called spiritual cultivation. When we see the sun sets, we ae to enjoy the night sky. And, at the end of the dark night is the rising of the sun. After the sun rises, we start our day.
We are ready to create the Bodhisattva Path for the day by going to communities or villages to serve. Little by little, we invite people to serve as bodhisattvas. As people learn more about Tzu Chi’s spirit and values, their hearts are purified and society becomes more harmonious. For the past 50-plus years, this is the direction that I hope people will take.
Recently, I keep thinking back to the time when I was living alone in the small wooden cabin and hand copied the Lotus Sutra. In that wooden cabin, I used to hand read the Lotus Sutra. And now, I’ve embarked on the path and travelled far from eastern to western Taiwan. We need in the right direction. We head in the right direction. Not only do we cultivate ourselves diligently, We also guide people to cultivate diligently.
The Bodhisattva Path is long. In this life, in our next life, and in our future lives, we are to walk this path, we’ve formed affinities in our past lives, take them to heart, and walk with me on this path. If it weren’t for affinity, you wouldn’t do this. We have affinities with one another. We’ve formed. We still have a long path in the future. The treasure is near. Life after life, we go through Magic Cities. We need to journey through them. Lifetime after lifetime, we go through one Magic City after another to get closer to the treasure.
Everyone, I hope you cultivate diligently, seize your time, give encouragement to one another, and take care of your fellow volunteers. In this modern time, it’s inevitable that young people move to urban areas, or they are busy with their careers or studies. So, the older people get, there’s an increasing need for them to have other elderlies for company. Older volunteers are elderly bodhisattvas. Elderly volunteers are to keep one another company.
Volunteers in their middle age are to give love to these elderly volunteers. We are to regard people who are older as our elders. The younger generations are to cherish and to care of the older generations and pass on this tradition. So, our next generation will also cherish us. We are to pass on the light, connect hearts together, form lasting compassion, spread Great Love, and keep passing on the Tzu Chi spirit generation after generation.
This is my common goal, which is the common goal for all of us. This is also the instruction that my Master gave me: to work for Buddhism and for living beings. This is called Tzu Chi’s Dharma lineages. It’s our Jing Si Dharma lineage and the Tzu Chi Path.
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