Denise Tsai, a Tzu Chi commissioner, distributes hong-baos to participants of a Tzu Chi Year-end Blessing ceremony held in Mozambique. (Photo source: Tzu Chi Quarterly Spring 2015)
Our world is filled with suffering. Once you have resolved to be a real-life bodhisattva, you must make altruistic vows, act on your compassion, and give with utmost sincerity to cultivate yourself and benefit others. As long as you firmly resolve to live out the Bodhisattva spirit, you’ll be able to overcome all difficulties and fulfil your wish of helping others.
Pure Land
Denise Tsai, originally from Taiwan, is the first Tzu Chi commissioner in Mozambique. In just over two years, she has inspired 900 people in that country to volunteer for Tzu Chi. Tzu Chi first started in Taiwan with volunteers saving up coins to do charity work, and the volunteers in Mozambique have followed suit. Despite the fact that they live in poverty themselves, they are committed to helping the needy.
Recently two Tzu Chi Year-end Blessing ceremonies were held in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, on land donated by Taiwanese businessman Chen Chun-fa. That piece of land had been lying idle for some time, and our volunteers weeded it, cleaned it, and set it up for the events. More than 2,300 people attended the ceremonies.
During the ceremonies, Denise Tsai gave out hong baos to the attendees. [Giving out these artistically designed small red packets is a tradition of a Tzu Chi Year-end Blessing ceremony. The money for making them comes from royalties from Master Cheng Yen’s books.] Each hong bao contained a Mozambican coin worth 1.5 American cents. Tsai explained that the hong baos were from Taiwan and repre- sented the best wishes from the Jing Si Abode, the spiritual home of all Tzu Chi members. It was a small gift to wish everyone blessings and wisdom.
In order to teach children the importance of filial piety, an activity was held in which children washed the feet of their mothers and served them beverages. Many mothers were so moved by the gesture that they took only a couple of sips before feeding the beverages back to their children. The atmosphere was heartwarming and touching. Through this activity, volunteers hoped to convey this message to the children: “Never delay in practicing filial piety and doing good.”
I was warmed when I saw the participants walk into the venue with their steps in unison, following the rhythm of the chant, “Sutra Opening Verse”. Some of them have been listening to my Dharma talks. Though they do not understand my words in Chinese and their understanding of the English subtitles is limited, they take in the Buddha’s teachings with a pure and simple heart and express their faith in what they have learned by practicing the teachings in their daily life, thereby dignifying the Dharma with their actions. Though the venue where the blessing ceremonies were held was simple and crude, their hearts were pure and clear. The purity of their minds transformed the place into a Pure Land.
When our minds are impure and tainted, they easily give rise to unwholesome thoughts, which can lead to all sorts of wrongdoings. The purpose of spiritual practice is to keep our minds pure and clear. When our minds are pure and unpolluted, we will be able to open our hearts to the Dharma and put it into practice to relieve the suffering in the world.
Firm commitment
If we want to purify and transform people’s minds in this world, we must have patience and forbearance. We must stay true to our commitment, do our best to overcome difficulties, and bravely go forward. Facing different kinds of people, we must use our wisdom to guide them according to their levels of understanding and lead them out of suffering. At the same time, we must keep our minds pure, in the same way a lotus flower grows unsullied out of the mud.
Walking the Bodhisattva Path, we need to practice the Six Paramitas: giving, precepts, patient endurance, diligence, meditative concentration (Samadhi), and wisdom. When we see others in need of help, we must quickly go to them to give them material aid, share the Dharma with them, and help rid them of fear and gain peace of mind. This is “giving”. By keeping the “precepts”, we observe morals and ethics and avoid misdeeds and wrongdoings. We practice “patient endurance” when we show good sense and remain unperturbed in the face of challenging conditions. We practice “meditative concentration” when we are not influenced by others’ bad habits or attitudes, and “diligence” when we cultivate ourselves assiduously every day without slacking off. Then, we’ll be able to help our “wisdom” grow. If we can live out the Six Paramitas, our resolution to practice the Bodhisattva Way will be firm and we won’t be daunted by any difficulties.
If the seeds of goodness can sprout in places full of poverty and hardship, more people will be lifted out of suffering. Knowing that, our volunteers in Durban, South Africa, have formed an international team to guide new volunteers in other African countries in doing philanthropic work and to help strengthen their commitment to walk the Bodhisattva Path. They often need to travel long distances for this purpose. Such work is hard.
One of the team members is 78-year-old Tolakele Mkhize. She joined Tzu Chi 16 years ago and has remained very dedicated to giving to the needy. Last November, she caught a cold after going on a trip with other team members to Botswana. But after resting for merely four days, she was off again with other volunteers to do Tzu Chi work in Port Elizabeth.
Since they would have to travel over a thousand kilometres, everyone urged her to stay home and rest. But she said that even if she didn’t go, she couldn’t rest with peace of mind, for every time she lay down to rest, she would think of how I worked even when I was ill. “I’m old,” she said. “There isn’t much time left for me. I must make the best use of the time I have left by working harder for Tzu Chi.” She also said that she felt reborn when she joined Tzu Chi 16 years ago, and so she is only 16 now.
Tolakele Mkhize is indeed very dedicated. Not even illness can slow her down. She gives of herself so wholeheartedly and willingly. By devoting her life to society, she has made a positive difference in many poor people’s lives.
Though our African volunteers are materially poor, they are spiritually rich. They have taken the Buddha’s teachings to heart, and the Dharma is like an inexhaustible treasure trove from which they draw strength. The process of helping others might be filled with challenges, but once they know they are going in the right direction, they stride forward cheerfully.
If we don’t commit ourselves but just march in place, we’ll surely never make any headway on the Bodhisattva Path. But if we bravely commit ourselves and move onward, we’ll find that it’s not difficult to walk this path at all. Let’s pave each inch of this road with love and inspire others to join us as we proceed on it. The world will indeed benefit if we do so.
Treasure trove within
On January 1, 2015, a raging fire believed to have been ignited by firecrackers engulfed 200 houses in Quezon City, Metro Manila, leaving nearly two thousand families homeless. Local Tzu Chi volunteers quickly went to help. After assessing the destruction, they distributed daily necessities and emergency cash to help victims get through this difficult time.
A fire survivor said that she had received help from Tzu Chi five years ago after Typhoon Ketsana. Some time later, Tzu Chi gave her rice and medical assistance again. This time, when she was affected by the blaze, Tzu Chi volunteers came to her aid again. The sight of our volunteers has made her feel very safe and warm.
Suffering abounds in this world. When a disaster hits, it usually falls the most heavily on the poor. I hope everyone uses their worldly wealth wisely. When you have enough to eat, think of those who are starving. When more people pool their love together, more suffering people will be saved. Please do not live blindly and damage the environment and Mother Nature for your personal gain. Even if we accumulate abundant wealth, we can keep nothing with us forever. What’s more, we’ll have to worry about whom to leave our wealth and treasures to after we depart from this world. We are simply creating troubles for ourselves.
Human beings rely on the Earth to live. However, instead of cherishing the environment, they keep damaging it to satisfy their desires. Such greed harms not only the physical world, but also their inner spiritual worlds.
Yushan Island in China’s Fujian Province used to be clean and beautiful. In recent years, however, the growing economy in China has boosted tourism, and tourists have brought a lot of pollution to the island; garbage can now be seen everywhere there. Local Tzu Chi volunteers have worked hard to pick up recyclable garbage and carefully sort it out for recycling. They have worked so hard that blisters and calluses have formed on their hands. In my eyes, the calluses on their hands are like gems—they are worth far more than the diamonds rich people wear on their fingers. I am really thankful to these recycling volunteers. They use their hands to clean up and protect the Earth. The well-being of the Earth is the well-being of us humans.
Everyone possesses infinite treasures in their hearts. All we need to do is open our hearts to good teachings and tap into that inner wealth. Then we will be able to benefit the world with infinite wisdom and love. Furthermore, unlike material treasures like diamonds or gold, our spiritual treasures can be found without drilling into and damaging the Earth. Nor do we need to rent safety boxes to keep them safe. When our time in this world comes to an end, we can even take them with us to our next lives. They are truly the most precious thing in life.
Time ticks by relentlessly second by second. We have now entered 2015. My biggest wish for this new year is for everyone to embrace sincerity.
Unbalanced minds and erratic climate conditions have resulted in a greater frequency of man-made and natural disasters. If we want to be safe and well, we can’t rely on praying. Safety and peace only come to us when we live each day with pious sincerity and vigilant care, when we accumulate blessings by respecting heaven, loving the earth, and doing good deeds.
I’m truly thankful for living in a safe place, for passing each day in peace and safety. Gratitude and pious sincerity are what make a society harmonious. Think positively, speak kindly, and do good deeds—that’s how we can bring happiness to the world.
I hope everyone starts with themselves and embraces sincerity, integrity, faith and honesty in their hearts. Respect your parents and older family members, love and care for your siblings and younger family members, and interact with all people with sincere earnestness. Doing so will create blessings for the world. When everyone has sincerity and helps love to grow and converge, the world we live in will be very fortunate.
Let us be ever more mindful.
Extracted from Tzu Chi Quarterly (Spring 2015)
Translated by Teresa Chang
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