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The first event of Volunteer Certification Ceremony and Year End Blessing Ceremony will be held in Hsinchu on 2 November this year. Time flies, and we are about to usher in the new year. If you think that 86,400 seconds a day is a lot, these seconds don’t seem significant. Just like a slide, they will pass quickly. Life will also pass by with the passing years, and the value of life may be lost if we don't make the most of it. We must cherish every minute and every second, and do what we should do every day with all our hearts.
From Taipei to Hsinchu, Taoyuan, and Taichung, every time I arrive at a place, I start to take roll call with my eyes. I see many senior volunteers who have been here from the beginning, from black hair to gray hair, and their faith in the Dharma has not faded. This is the most precious thing. Of course, it is inevitable that I will not be able to see some volunteers, and I always feel reluctant in my heart. But they must have been reborn, and return to the Tzu Chi family with the spirit of the Bodhisattva.
Although I felt many emotions, I was also comforted because I saw the Dharma being passed down. Three or four generations of families coming together, doing charity, and joining Tzu Chi together. The children not only supported their parents, but also joined them in volunteering. Great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents brought their young children to donate with heavy piggy banks. This is the education of wisdom. They overcame their desire for candy and used the money they would have spent on candy to help others. If they can cultivate this kind of love, the family will be blessed with wisdom.
Tzu Chi is the union of kindness and love, accomplished by the first generation of Tzu Chi volunteers. Not only do they actively recruit volunteers, but they also pass on kindness, love, and blessings from generation to generation within their families.
Every time I listen to everyone's sharing, I hear about the paths they have taken step by step with firm determination and team cohesion. There are also stories of how they were guided by other volunteers or their experiences leading new volunteers. There were many valuable lessons and methods for doing good. We learn from each other and inspire one another. "If they can do it, of course I can do it too." There is nothing that cannot be done if you have the will.
I can see that number of Tzu Chi volunteers increasing day by day, Bodhisattvas constantly coming to gather, the affinity of Tzu Chi in each country increasing, and the mission of Tzu Chi expanding. Although the days and months pass, as long as there are Tzu Chi volunteers, there will be good people doing good deeds. Born in this technologically advanced era, I have the special affinity to be with you all. I tell myself every day that I am very blessed!
More than 50 years ago, during the Tzu Chi bamboo bank era, 30 people saved 50 cents a day each to help a few people in need at the Hualien wet market. Now, the number has grown exponentially. When Bodhisattvas around the world help, there are tens of thousands who contribute. The footprints of charity have reached 136 countries and regions. This power is inseparable from the efforts of you, me, and all of us. We must continue to hold hands and bring kind souls into Tzu Chi.
There is Dharma everywhere, and sentient beings to be saved everywhere. Everyone is a Bodhisattva. Some people are highly educated and serve as good role models, worthy of praise. There are also people who come to me to confess, sharing their past confusion and mistakes, "leaking air to seek progress." They turn their lives around, transform the negative into the positive, and courageously correct their mistakes. This is also a valuable lesson for the public.
Although there are wrong habits, everyone has Buddha nature and can return to the right path and help sentient beings become Bodhisattvas. Without these stories from the past, there would be no Dharma in the human world to share with people. One who knows how to use the stories well makes the teachings the true Dharma medicine. A drop of Dharma water is like nectar, and a thirsty person desperately needs that drop of water.
The essence of Tzu Chi's Dharma is the Lotus Sutra, which opens the path of the Bodhisattva. The Sutra of Infinite Meaning is the essence of the Lotus Sutra. From the vast universe to modern life, its principles are simple and clear. The methods for managing society and family education are all contained within it and can be implemented in daily life. I hope that everyone will not only uphold it for life but also make it widely available to others, continuing it in every household and community, so that everyone can understand the Buddha's teachings and know how to promote the Buddha's education. In this way, the essence of the Dharma will enter both the heart and the home, and this sincere heart will spread throughout the world.
This time, I felt less physically fit than the last time. I also realised that life is like a slide that will soon fall to the ground, so I must seize the time to increase my wisdom, so I tried my best to speak. I have said it in the past, I have said it now, and in the future, it will depend on everyone to spread it and pass it on. I look forward to Tzu Chi's Dharma being implemented in the world. Birth, ageing, illness and death are natural laws. There will always be gatherings and separations in the world. In the impermanence of life, I don't ask for anything, I just want to seize today. When I wake up every day, my hands and feet can move and I can get out of bed, I have to do today's things well.
My wish is to "serve Buddhism and sentient beings". Now that we have this opportunity to work together in Buddhism, I will continue to pave the way and rescue sentient beings. With the path of the Bodhisattva, we will never go wrong and we can lead more people onto a smooth path. Please be mindful and do your best!
Translated by Tan Poh Ching
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