Lecturer: Master Cheng-Yan
Subject:20130320---Taming Our Minds to Mitigate Disasters(眾生共業惑業苦)
Date: March 20, 2013
After a bomb exploded, we went out to clean up the debris. Then, another bomb was dropped and I was sent to the hospital.
When the bomb came down, I was breastfeeding my daughter, I was wounded and became unconscious.
See how manmade disasters can bring greater devastation than natural ones.
That’s why I’ve been hoping that everyone can purify their minds and give rise to the goodness that all of us inherently
have.
Everyone is born good.
So, I hope everyone can return to their kind, true nature within. Unwholesome thoughts arise from ignorance, and ignorance is caused by greed, anger and delusion.
All this is interconnected. So, all disasters originate from our minds.
When people give rise to ignorance bit by bit and act upon it, the negative karma everyone creates will aggregate to bring
about disasters in the world.
Take the civil war in Syria for example. A report estimated that around 2 million Syrian children need assistance.
How are they to grow up safe and sound?
Looking back on today in history—
Ten years ago on March 20, 2003, the American-led coalition launched was against Iraq.
The war has caused great casualties of Iraqi people. In fact, not only Iraq, but the U.S. also suffered great loss of lives.
It is truly heartbreaking to see.
These images from ten years ago truly bring back much pain and grief.
Back then, when the war broke out, Tzu Chi volunteers immediately mobilized to prepare aid supplies to be sent to Iraqi
refugees taking shelter in Jordan.
Knowing the refugees’ harsh living conditions as well as how cold it must be for them, our volunteers worked to prepare
blankets for the refugees to wrap around themselves to keep warm.
Before making the blankets, we even considered the refugees’ height so the blankets would be really useful to them.
All this required mindful planning. Also, to prepare foods that were suitable to the taste of Iraqis, we even asked a
volunteer’s friend from the Middle East to try out first.
So, be it foods or other supplies, our volunteers truly put much thought into it. We also saw that a reporter from
Taiwan went with our volunteers to cover the news on the refugee camp in Jordan.
When he saw an elderly man who had no shoes and socks and had to wrap his feet with plastic bags (to shield from the cold,) his heart went our to the elderly man.
So, he took off his socks and gave them to the man to keep him warm. This was what really happened back then. This
reporter was very loving.
He was truly a living bodhisattva. Although there were many people suffering unspeakably from the war, there were also
people who traveled a long way from another part of the world to bring them love and warmth in person.
As I look back now, those touching images kept surfacing from the depth of my memory. At the time, apart from giving aid to the refugees regularly, our volunteers also thought about what they could do to help relieve refugee children’s fear and give them a life as normal as possible.
So, our volunteers set up a playground for them. See how thoughtful our volunteers were. The Iraq War ended two years ago.
But now, due to the conflict in Syria, Tzu Chi volunteers in Jordan are again busy caring for Syrian refugees taking
shelter in Jordan.
Indeed, wherever there are people in suffering, bodhisattvas will out to them.
That’s what bodhisattvas come to this world to do. So, I’m truly very grateful to our volunteers in Jordan.
They not only give of themselves with love but also care for everyone with the same compassion.
They deem everyone they come across as a future Buddha and every refugee they care for as a teacher whom they can learn from.
Seeing all this, we can truly come to realize what the Buddha said about how we create collective karma with our deeds.
At the same time, we’re also inspired to serve as bodhisattvas and bring aid to the suffering. But, what’s most
saddening to see is how people create so much negative karma collectively, bringing about so many disasters in the world.
All this is due to our minds. Look at Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. sprayed defoliants in the forests and
the toxic chemicals left behind are still affecting people nowadays.
Many babies in the area are born with physical deformities.
According to the U.S. statistics, 4.8 million people in Vietnam have been affected by defoliants. Among them, 3 million
people suffer from cancer, nerve disorders, miscarriage, stillbirths, etc. due to direct exposure to defoliants.
Although the war ended 37 years ago, for those affected by defoliants, it’s not over yet. War is frightful. Living in
this world, we should abide by our duty (and cherish the peace we enjoy)
When we can care for one another with love, our world will become a Pure Land on earth.
So, living in these times, we should pay more attention to what’s happening around us.
Only when we see how others suffer will we count our blessings and sow more.
This is also how we can’t help to bring peace to people’s minds. To serve as bodhisattvas who bring aid to the suffering, we must first learn the truth of suffering.
Only then will we be inspired to sow blessings by walking the Bodhisattva Path.
This is how we can live out the Buddha’s teachings in the world.
So, please be mindful always.
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