20240218大道同行恆精勤Age Knows No Boundaries
In Linkou, our volunteers are getting old as well. We started a senior care center in 2010, but there were not enough staff, so our elderly volunteers helped out as well.
In caring for the seniors attending this center, we make over 20 phone calls each month, but we feel that phone calls do not full express our care. We put together a “Thousand-Year-Old Team”, which has our elderly volunteer visit the senior attendees at their home.
I’m grateful to Sister Zhouqin. Linkou is on a plateau, so getting around could be somewhat inconvenient. Whenever I say, “I’m going somewhere at this time.” They’ll arrange for a carpooling. Hence, this “Thousand-Year-Old Team” of Linkou is very active. The members are all elderlies.
Master says that we are to look after the old. The old are not only for others to look after, but we are also to look after others as well. This is why when there is a Tzu Chi activity, I’ll take part without hesitation. If I’m free at the time, I’ll say, “I’ll be a part of it.” We try our best to set an example. Master, my heart to cultivates is as strong as before. I’ve been serving all the same since 1967.
We’ll keep on caring for our fellow volunteers in Linkou. We’ll keep on doing this together. Thank you, Master.
Tzu Chi volunteers truly cherish the time. They want to carry out Tzu Chi work, so they are always thinking about how to spread the Dharma and benefit others. I often remind people to be mindful of what they say, so when they have a moment or two, they’d think of telling people about good deeds. To whom do they tell these good deeds?
Nowadays, cell phones make this easy; by tapping on the phone, one can contact those who they want to speak, and share with them Tzu Chi’s work around the world. However, this takes up a lot of time and it might run up a high phone bill, so we can simply say to them, “watch Da Ai TV!” Da Ai TV reports news of real events.
Its job is to broadcast Tzu Chi’s work of love. Of our four missions, charity was the start, the founding basis. Doing work of charity sounds like we are helping people, but I’ve always been telling everyone to be grateful to the people we help. As we are helping others, we can truly say we’ve learning the Boddhisattva Way.
We are learning the Bodhisattva Way. The Buddha’s one great purpose of coming to the world is to teach us to walk the Bodhisattva Path. However, if on the Bodhisattva Path, there is no one we can help, as the Dharma is there but there is no path, there is no way!
We have the Dharma to deliver people, but there is no one for us to deliver; we want to help, but there is no one accepting our help. A bodhisattva’s mission is to form good affinities, without good affinities, one cannot attain Buddhahood.
We are learning the Buddha’s teachings, and that requires us to walk on the Boddhisattva; it is a must! So, with the Bodhisattva path there, if we do not walk on it, we can’t say we’re learning the Buddha’s teachings. When we encounter people or events which we can give of ourselves, let us truly harbor gratitude in our heart.
With gratitude in our heart, we’ll be joyful as we give. If we are forcing ourselves to serve, we’ll have afflictions. Afflictions become ignorance and habitual tendencies, and they will get thicker and thicker; this concept is easy to understand.
So, we need to truly understand principles in order to awaken our wisdom. To awaken our wisdom, we need to truly understand principles. To truly understand principles, we are to put the teachings into practice. Only when we put the teachings into practice can we walk the Bodhisattva path.
So, we need to know to put the teachings into practice. Time and action are to go together. Time is always moving, yet, when we stop moving, we would just be standing and stopping at a place. It’s like something flowing in water, if it gets obstructed by a rock, it won’t be able to flow with the current.
It's the same with us humans. In this world, we’ll encounter obstacles. Yet, once we’ve aspired to do something, don’t let obstacles obstruct us.
So, it’s all right to do good in little ways. Don’t underestimate something small and not do it. Don’t think in this way: “I only have this little. It’s so insignificant. Other people contribute a lot, I would look bad.” This is not the right mentality.
Whether someone has money or not, as long as he gives rise to a thought of wanting to contribute and contribute what he can, he’ll accumulate good deeds. I’ve talked about this in the past, and I’m talking about the same thing now. To say the same in the past and also now means that it’s the true principle.
I’m not good at talking, yet, for things I can do, I love doing them, and I work hard. Master has created opportunities for people to serve. Volunteers’ hearts are united together.
I’ve been served as a volunteer, a hospital volunteer. I’m 87 years old this year. I’m still volunteering now. When people tell me of a task, I would go and help out. I serve happily, and I’m very mindful.
I’m happy to see our volunteers healthy and serve in their communities. Their aspirations to serve in Tzu Chi did not fade away, and they keep on going. Yet, we are to serve harder than before. In the past, affinities had not ripened, so very few people know about Tzu Chi.
Now, we have many fellow volunteers, including Tzu Chi commissioners. So, we are to make use of our skills. Don’t let our skills go to waste nor let our time pass idly. Make good use of our time. We are to self-reflect on the value of our life.
If we don’t make good use of our life, we won’t make meaning out of it. So, while we are still able to move and has clarity of mind, we are to make full use of our life. Right now, in the area you live, if you know someone, invite that person to volunteer. People are usually very passive.
When they are motivated, they serve actively. After a while, their volunteering becomes passive. If no one invites them to serve, they’ll feel that they’re getting old. We have several senior volunteers here, and I wonder if they think they’re getting old.
Thank you, Master, for your blessings. I will keep on serving until my very last breath. I will definitely serve and spread Master’s teachings to various places.
Don’t forget that I’m old just like you elderly volunteers. Volunteers, time truly keeps on passing. As Tu Chi commissioners serve diligently, our Tzu Cheng members must not be left behind. So, please serve earnestly and diligently.
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