Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Face Challenging Conditions with Patience. (以能忍之心對治忍之境)
Over these last few days. I have been talking about Bodhicitta. It has to be developed over a long period of time through the practice of Six Perfections. Yesterday we spoke about patience. It is essential our practice. Without patience, even if we initially resolved to do good, and may have moved a few steps forward, we may be easily influenced by the world and lose our resolve due to ignorance and craving.
Therefore, we must have perseverance. Upholding precepts precedes patience. We must closely follow the rules. Without this kind of patience, we will easily violate the precepts and stray from the path. Therefore we must have patience and perseverance.
Patience is the will to endure. Challenging conditions are what we endure. With a will to endure, we can face challenging conditions, then we can prevent wrongs and stop evil.
Tzu Chi once went through very difficult times. Not only were our living conditions difficult soliciting donations was very hard. We started by asking people to donate just 50 cents NTD a day.
Not only was soliciting donations difficult, we also had to endure and hold firm to our resolve（to never accept donations for our own livelihood.） To do charity work we must be pure. If we cannot follow the rules, we cannot help others. Therefore, I insisted on maintaining purity. My principle “A day without work is a day without meals ” To keep our livelihood and relief work separate, to keep our finances clear we had to be responsible for supporting ourselves.
I always say that I am grateful because so many of you wholeheartedly share my mission and vow. You willingly contribute your efforts and abide by “a day without work is a day without meals” to support our home. Thus, we can forever separate clearly the finances for the Foundation and those for our livelihood. The Abode can actually support the Foundation. No matter how many people visit the Abode, we, the monastic residents, must proved for them.
Every cent of the contributions to Tzu Chi goes only toward our relief work. This is called upholding precepts. Even if some wish to donate (to our living expenses) we will hold firm to our rules. For this, I am very grateful.
Public and private must be kept distinct, without the slightest mistake. By holding fast to our rules, we can uphold the precepts purely.
To uphold precepts we must have patience and perseverance. If we have no willpower, we will quickly be tempted by wealth “We work so hard every day. Can’t we just accept monetary offerings? Then we wouldn’t have to work so hard.” But we have all remained firm. For so many people to share the same mission, the same direction and the same conviction, requires that we all share the same strength to endure suffering and hardships.
If we have the strong foundation of patience, we can persistently follow precepts and stay pure.
Besides practicing patience, we must also practice diligence. After we develop patience we must be more diligent. We cannot be complacent with where we are and stop seeking further growth. On the contrary we must diligently advance without wasting a single second. This is diligence. Our diligence will not only affect ourselves, but will ripple out to affect others spiritually.
Take a look at Mr.Lin Lian-huang, one of our recycling volunteers. His words have spread across the globe. Wherever there are Tzu Chi volunteers, people know this saying, ”Working till death beats waiting to die and doing nothing ” He was a cancer patient. When he had to undergo surgery his body was in the hospital, but his mind was still on the recycling work. Since he was a video documentary volunteer he did recycling work, and filmed others as well.
When Tzu Chi volunteers visited him in the hospital, before they said a word he spoke first, “How is the recycling going ? Is anyone filming it?” When he was in the hospital, Typhoon Xangsane hit Taiwan. So he quickly took the initiative to ask, “Is anyone filming these historic images ?” A volunteer replied, “Yes, but we need more people” Hearing that, he went himself. When I arrived at Guandu that day, he had just returned from Sanzhi. He wore rain gear and carried that tremendously heavy video camera. When I met him at the entrance, I took a closer look and asked, “Is that really you? Why did you go out into the rain and wind?”
He relied. “Master, this was a rare opportunity. If I did not film it, this bit of Tzu Chi’s history would be missing”
Indeed, time will pass and if we do not utilize modern technology to capture these events, images like those of the disaster in Sanzhi will fade and become hazy memories. Then we can only tell people, “Back when the typhoon hit Sanzhi the disaster looked like this or that. So many people were affected. There were landslides, etc. But we cannot show them images of how fragile the land was unless we record them with a camera.
Now, if we look for Typhoon Xangsane in our video archives, we will find clear images of how Tzu Chi volunteers braved the wind and rain to provide support and comfort for the victims. This is a credit to his perseverance. He had great endurance and diligence. Even his illness could not stop him from doing what he felt was meaningful. He wanted to record history for Tzu Chi, and bear witness to those times. This was all part of his practice.
Even though he just had surgery, he went out despite the wind and rain. From then on, he never wasted a second. Someone commented, “You are really daring. You just had surgery and you still went out.”
He replied, “Working till death beats waiting to die and doing nothing.”
Thus he boosted everyone’s morale and gave encouragement to many people. Yes, whatever will happen will happen. Our time in this life is limited so we should fully exercise the right to promptly use this body of ours, since we do not have the right to keep it. Once we understand this concept, we will naturally be brave.
The benevolent are brave. When those filled with love are willing to persevere, endure and be diligent, they will have many companions who share their mission on the Bodhisattva-path. This requires that everyone have such endurance and diligence.
Diligently practice with a joyful and courageous heart. Thus we raise others’ spirits, encourage them, and strengthen their will to practice and walk together on the broad Bodhisattvas-path.
This extends beyond Taiwan. There was a case from Kuala Lumpur that moved and toughed me deeply. In Kuala Lumpur, Tzu Chi volunteers discovered an old woman and her daughter who suffered from a hereditary disease. It caused them to develop grape-like tumors all over bodies, from head to toe. The tumors grew singly and in bunches, just like grapes. Not only did the old woman have the disease, her daughter had it as well. As a result, they felt very inferior.
Many people were frightened by the sight of them, but not Tzu Chi volunteers. Not only were they not scared, they felt love and compassion toward them and tirelessly tried to befriend them. Though the mother and daughter tried to avoid us, we persevered and continuously tried to get close to them. We did so though body language and well as kind and gentle words. Gradually, this old woman and her daughter opened up their tightly-shut hearts and allowed us into their world. Once a rapport was established, we began to counsel them.
Over a long period of time, volunteers counseled them with patience. Finally, the old woman and her daughter accepted our words and were able to stand up and support themselves. They set up a stall in the market to sell chili peppers since it was a local favorite. They chose a busy corner of the market to set up their booth. Though the passersby looked at them strangely, there were at ease. They always smiled and accepted other people’s stares. Slowly, people came to accept them and began to buy from them. Now they no longer have to worry about their live-hood.
This old woman was moved by the love of Tzu Chi volunteers, so she also made a resolution to get involved in collecting recyclables. After selling all the chili peppers for the day, she went around the market to collect paper cartons and recyclables. She went from someone who needed help to someone who helped others. See, isn’t this diligence?
We should be diligent once we are sure our direction is correct. We should open our hearts to give, but avoid becoming lost in the giving. Sometimes, wealth can harm our Wisdom-life. Craving for wealth, passion and possessions can bring about our downfall. So we should lead a pure and simple life. We must also uphold precepts. We must abide by precepts in our daily living. With perseverance, patience & endurance, we can withstand suffering and hardship. If we can persevere, and diligently move forward, we will not go astray. So we must strictly adhere to giving, precepts, patience and diligence.
If we have the correct direction in life, practice unconditional giving, adhere closely to precepts, endure suffering and hard work, persevere, and progress diligently, we will eventually be successful.
So the Buddha taught us that there is nothing that cannot be accomplished as long as we make that resolve. If we set an example, we can inspire others to join us and share our mission in walking this broad, straight path in life.
The Sutra of Infinite Meanings states, “The Path to Enlightenment is straight,” remember? The Sutra of Infinite Meanings states that this path to enlightenment is very wide, straight and easy to travel as long as we practice the Six Paramitas, the Six Perfections. If we can use these tools properly, we can safely cross the great waves of cravings and desires, those turbulent waves of afflictions and safely reach the other shore.
I hope that everyone will always mindful. We must take good care our will to practice. It is a rare and precious opportunity to be born human. Not only did we attain human form, we’ve encountered the Buddha-path. Now that we have found True Dharma, we must not go astray, even slightly. We must look after our will to practice. Therefore, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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