(Photo source: Envato)
Fourteen years ago, Myanmar was devastated by Cyclone Nargis. Tzu Chi volunteers from several countries joined forces to carry out disaster relief and donate rice seeds to farmers in the hardest-hit areas. After witnessing how overseas Tzu Chi volunteers carried out emergency relief, aid distributions and companionship for disaster victims, local volunteers clung to this love and took over the baton to continue spreading Tzu Chi’s Great Love locally, creating a permanent Tzu Chi presence in Myanmar.
In its inception days, Tzu Chi started with the "Bamboo Bank Era", when Tzu Chi members saved fifty cents a day for charity. Today, the Foundation has grown into an international charity organisation that can provide disaster relief, poverty relief and emergency relief globally. The spirit of the "Bamboo Bank Era" is now practised in Myanmar’s countryside. Every day before cooking, local Tzu Chi members would grab a handful of rice and save it in a “Rice Bank”. Today, more than 57,000 households are donating to the "Rice Bank". The donated rice is enough to help more than 3,000 low-income households, elderly people without a family, and households with disabled family members who are unable to work.
Although these rice donors are also poor people, they can still go farming and produce food for themselves. When they join forces together, they can take care of more people as more people can be fed. A handful of rice per day would not affect the daily lives of the donors but do not underestimate such seemingly insignificant effort as when these bits and pieces are accumulated and combined together, the number of people who can be helped can be substantial. With a greater number of people doing good deeds together, people will have more confidence. And with confidence, one can create immeasurable blessings.
After planting the rice seeds donated by Tzu Chi, farmer U Thein Tun would utter good words to the rice fields every day. His persistence in not using any pesticide or chemical fertiliser paid off as his rice grew better than others. His life has since improved due to a bountiful harvest. He could then afford to build his house with red bricks and invited his neighbours to his house for Tzu Chi tea gatherings to spread the love of Tzu Chi and invite more people to adopt a “Rice Bank”.
Together with Tzu Chi volunteers, the villagers of Shwe Na Gwin Village helped three villages affected by the COVID-19 pandemic this year by donating rice seeds to more than 100 farmers, including Madam Duo Dan Dan Te (not her real name). She was touched by the Tzu Chi stories she heard and decided to follow in U Thein Tun’s footsteps. She no longer kills the golden apple snails in the fields. Instead, she sets aside a small area for the snails, telling them to only eat within that zone and leave other areas for her to grow her seedlings.
When one practices kindness, one will be able to touch the hearts of sentient beings. With faith and piety, one will naturally reap blessings. I believe that such blessings have given the lady bountiful rice to harvest and improved her living quality as she not only has enough to eat but also extra to sell.
Everyone enjoys equal wealth when people help each other and are full of love and kindness. When people create blessings, the world will be prosperous and blessed, and life will be smooth sailing. Therefore, blessed people live in blessed lands and do good and spread the dharma frequently to invite everyone to do good. When everyone is willing to give unconditionally and infinitely, such immeasurable blessings will spread across the world, and countries will be stable and prosperous.
People who are blessed should make great vows to contribute to others. With the advancement of technology, we can see the many sufferings in this world with just a few clicks on our electronic devices. In the same way, when all bodhisattvas are united in their vows, by appealing to more people to increase their strength, more people will have a higher chance of getting help. The more kind thoughts we have, the more peaceful the world will be. Spreading the seeds of kindness and love is my greatest wish.
All sentient beings possess innate wisdom and kindness as we are all equal in origin but differ in habits and abilities. For example, people who speak gently and encouraging words make others feel happy and grateful. For the same words, some people spoke harshly and turned them into instructions, making it difficult for others to accept and obey. Therefore, if we want to guide and transform sentient beings, we need to learn how to handle matters more mellowly so that everyone will be happy.
Everyone can walk the bodhisattva path as long as we are willing to vow to relieve and eradicate the sufferings of the human world. Do not refuse to appeal to others to do good just because you feel like you are doing it alone. In fact, the lonelier you are, the more you should appeal to everyone to do good. Not only must you talk the talk, but you must also walk the talk to let people feel the joy of giving and be inspired to be part of the charitable effort.
It takes many people to accomplish many good deeds. I often say that we need to evaluate the value of our life and recall the number of issues we have faced in the past. All that also indicates the number of things we have achieved and the number of people we should be grateful for. We must always have kind thoughts in our hearts, speak kind words and move forward in life. If we can do this, then we will always be on the bodhisattva path.
The world is so vast and heavily populated. There are still many things that I want to do but I can only express my regret that I am unable to fulfil them all due to my limited karmic affinity and limited lifetime. However, I will always remind myself to be contented. Through word of mouth and everyone’s efforts and strengths, everyone is writing their life history. When everyone combines their history, the Tzu Chi world is created, a world that spreads great love across the globe. As such, I always feel overwhelmingly grateful that I can never fully express my gratitude in this lifetime.
I have always encouraged myself to be diligent, and I also expect my disciples to follow in my footsteps to seize karmic affinity and never stop practising Buddhism. Make good use of time and never waste it even for a second. When we meet people, always share dharma and talk about Tzu Chi. I look forward to kindness in people to make this world a better place. Create values with your life. Always be mindful and do your best!
Translated by Michelle Lim Cheng Wai
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