(Photo source: Pexels)
No one can escape from suffering in life. Even the wealthiest person in this world will still experience certain sufferings in his lifetime. There is no such thing as a perfect life without any worries. Just like the hot weather, you can feel it, and so can I. Likewise, suffering is something everyone can feel. The suffering of old age, illness, and death are hard to accept by superstitious people. However, people who are enlightened can still feel the suffering, but they are more at ease in their minds as they have accepted this law of nature.
The greater suffering is the senseless troubles and ignorance arising in our minds that lead to disharmony among people and conflicts between countries. Many people have been affected by the Russian-Ukrainian war in the past few months. In addition, greed is rampant, consumption and waste are excessive, and overly-packaged commodities for the sake of exquisiteness are using up more and more natural resources. At Tzu Chi Environmental Protection Centre, stacks of unwanted new clothes are being "donated", with many still having the price tags intact. Not only is there excessive fashion waste but there is also a lot of food waste when many people around the world do not have enough food!
Rich countries pursue enjoyment, while poor nations are underdeveloped and face scarcity. But we are all living together on the same planet. If everyone is always contented with what they have and have fewer desires, there will be surpluses. If everyone does not eat to their content but fills up their stomach to only about 80 percent full, the remaining 20 percent can be used to help others and there will also be fewer hungry people.
The International Buddhist Society (IBS) of Nepal has collaborated with Tzu Chi to build a medical facility in Lumbini. In July, Tzu Chi volunteers from Malaysia and Singapore travelled to Nepal to follow up on the progress of the project as well as the operation of the dialysis centre. At the same time, they also visited the countryside. A few months ago, Dr Chen Ji Min from Malaysia was very shocked when he passed by a family in a Lumbini village and saw a little boy crawling and using his mouth to find a milk bottle on the floor to drink milk. Saddened by the sight, he held the boy up and fed him slowly with the milk bottle. The little boy's parents are both disabled and working part-time on the nearby farm while the little boy's sister is of school-going age. However, the family could not afford to pay for her school fee which was about NT$140 (est. S$6) per month.
This is the vicious cycle suffered by the locals where children drop out of school and become illiterate. When they grow up, they earn a very low wage of less than NT$100 a day. It is very difficult to make a living. Some people can only sit around every day and hope for kind people to give them a meal.
There are many tourist attractions in Lumbini, but how many can see the sufferings there and appreciate how blessed they are? Upon seeing the suffering, how many would develop compassion and extend a helping hand? When Tzu Chi volunteers came to know about the family’s plight, they immediately sent food to the family to solve their food shortage problem and then arranged for the little girl to go to school. There are so many people in this world, there must be a karmic affinity for them to meet each other. Those whose sufferings can be seen and reached out by Bodhisattvas are blessed. On behalf of the people who are suffering, I feel blessed for them and rejoice in their blessings.
Although I can't make it to the birthplace of the Buddha, I am grateful for a group of caring disciples who are attuned to me. They are getting there for me and fulfilling my wish to repay Buddha's kindness by making practical contributions and promoting medical care and charity there. With this group of bodhisattvas as my strength, I look forward to implementing the Dharma and returning Dharma to Buddha's hometown to make Buddha Dharma flourish again.
One of the main reasons for the Buddha to come to the human world is to gather people to relieve the suffering of all sentient beings. After more than 2,500 years, we must seize the karmic affinity by “taking teacher’s vow one’s vow and taking Buddha’s mind as our mind" and take up the responsibility of serving Buddhism and all sentient beings. We should open our minds and regard the happiness of all sentient beings in the world as our responsibility.
We can't save the world, but we can do our best. When one sees and realises the realities of poverty, sickness and suffering in this world, one should try to offer help to people with whom one has a karmic affinity. If the strength of one person is not enough, one can spread the thought through word of mouth. Use kind words to guide kind people. Together with everyone’s love and strength, we will be able to reach out to the needy no matter how far the journey is.
Tzu Chi volunteers have the compassion, will, and strength to give without asking for anything in return. They also express their gratitude sincerely by putting their palms together after serving others. Such beautiful ecology in this human world increases the value of life. Every time I see a picture like this, I can't help but feel touched and eager to say a big thank you! When there is love in our hearts, we are beyond wealthy (spiritually). We are blessing ourselves when we give love because we are cultivating our blessings by giving blessings to others.
We must implement Dharma in this human world. If we don’t put Buddhism into practice through solid actions but merely just talk about it, we will always stay put at the starting point. It is just like “casting stones to ask for directions” and in the end, the stones will become the obstacles of the smooth road. I have been calling out to everyone to unleash the power of love and requested everyone to strengthen and spread my words. Everyone should be grateful and contented so that we can extend and spread the love more widely and open our arms to embrace living beings. May everyone have the aspiration, karmic affinity, and power to create immeasurable blessings to relieve the poor, the sick and the suffering in this world!
Translated by Michelle Lim Cheng Wai
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