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 20101121--The True Meaning of Merit (真妙功德‧清流入心)

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20101121--The True Meaning of Merit (真妙功德‧清流入心) Empty
發表主題: 20101121--The True Meaning of Merit (真妙功德‧清流入心)   20101121--The True Meaning of Merit (真妙功德‧清流入心) Empty周三 11月 24, 2010 8:49 am

Date: November 21th, 2010
Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The True Meaning of Merit (真妙功德‧清流入心)
We see a scene of joy and celebration and one full of hope and promise.
It was the official inauguration of the homes Tzu Chi built in Guangming Village, Sichuan.
We built 91 new homes---white buildings with red rooftops, very vivid in color.
Yet, because of the thick fog, the roofs were not very visible yesterday.
Through the fog, we could somewhat see the greenery around the housing community.
It was like a painting, truly beautiful.
We have officially turned over the houses to the new residents.
Besides living in it, they now have the deed to their house.
When receiving the deed, they were very happy.
I heard one resident say that before, to make a living, he had to go far away to work, while his family stayed in the Guangming Village.
He returned home at most once a year.
But now, it is different.
Because he has this house now, he chose to work closer to home, in Chengdu.
He now can return home at least once a month to see his parents, his wife, and his child.
He says that having this home changes everything.
Mr. Jianiln Zhousaid:“Right now, my main goal is to save up more money so I can give my child a better future.”
“No matter how tiring it may be, I don’t mind.”
“The most important thing is my child and giving him better opportunities to get a better education which will help his job and career.”
“This would’ve been impossible had I had to buy a house on loans.”
“Tzu Chi’s giving us this house changes everything.”
I remember when we were designing the homes for this village, I told the architect that I hope these houses could be so nicely designed that people would love their home and want to return home often.
If we give them a nice home, they will naturally want to return home more frequently.
They could even invite their coworkers and friends to visit their hometown.
By returning home more often, they could spend more time with their parents, wife, and children and enjoy the warmth of family.
This was what I hope for when our architect was designing the houses.
Before, the old houses had been very old, over a century old.
As they were made of mud brick, they could not withstand an earthquake and collapsed.
The local people are mostly poor.
The younger generation would go work out of town very far away so the elderly people were very lonely.
It was a hard life.
But now, the younger generation came home often and their wives and children can stay at home with the elderly parents instead of living far away.
Yesterday, we saw the story of a family that was very poor.
The parents left their hometown with their son to make a living in the city.
This child is 12 and is very mature.
He understands how hard his parents are working to give him an education because only with education can they hope to leave poverty.
So, he is very studious.
The parents said that they are willing to work hard and endure hardship to give their child a better future.
But, they are street vendors and don’t make much money.
Life is very hard for them.
Bur look at the people with new homes.
Now they can settle down and find work nearby and return to a warm home at the end of each day.
In summary, this is the power of love.
When everyone contributes, together, we can do a lot of things that can improve people’s lives.
We also saw that the local media gave our rebuilding projects much attention.
They reported on the grand opening of as well as the inauguration of the housing complex Tzu Chi built in Guangming Village.
These two events made the headline news in the local media.
In one report, it said that Tzu Chi volunteers traveled a very long way to deliver love to Guangming Village, and because of love, there is hope.
This is what they said.
They also said that Tzu Chi’s environmental protection work is now taking root in Sichuan and they gave our environmental work much coverage.
One of the reporters said that she has learned Tzu Chi’s special terms for terms for environmental work.
(The reports of Deyang, Sichuan Evening News)
“Turn garbage into gold.”
“Turn gold into love.”
“Turn love into a pure stream that flows around the Earth.”
All the local people know how to recite these phrases.”
“As a reporter, I hope that we can do something to let more people know about what Tzu Chi has done in Luoshui Township.”
“I hope people in Deyang City, not just in Shifang, but all the people in Deyang City can have Tzu Chi’s spirit of Great
Love.”
We are very happy to hear all of this.
In giving, we seek nothing in return.
But seeing that the goodness in people’s hearts have been inspired and seeing them join together with love to help others in need---that is the best “return” that we receive.
I hope Tzu Chi volunteers don’t get caught up in the idea of merit.
When you don’t seek to gain merit, in your heart, you will naturally experience the wonderful fruit of merits.
Haven’t we experienced this today?
Can’t we see with our eyes the very real fruits or “merits” of our efforts?
We also saw our volunteers helping people in Lesotho.
The people in this country are very poor.
Earlier this year, our volunteers went to Lesotho to distribute food.
They also gave people corn seeds and advised them how to better grow the corn.
Now, they have an abundant harvest, which made them very happy.
So, they donated part of their harvest to Tzu Chi, to help others who are more in need.
“Tzu Chi’s volunteers come to help us.”
“We help other people.”
“Next time they help other people.”
Though they are poor, with the tangible corn seeds that we gave them, an intangible seed of love was also planted in their hearts.
After having an abundant harvest, they wanted to give back and help others.
All in all, what is true merit?
Instead of seeking to gain merit by making offerings to Buddhas in temples, we should know that all Buddhas of the past and present are in our hearts, and all living beings have the Buddhas nature so we should help living beings and not get caught up in the idea of gaining merits by making offerings to Buddhas.
We should pool together our efforts to help people in need.
Though Lesotho is far away from us, we can already see with our eyes and feel with our hearts the fruit of merit that has been created.
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