Life Wisdom: A Direction for All of Us: Love and Goodness
This is the first time a charity organization has come to help us. I’m truly grateful to Tzu Chi for assisting five villages in Sumpango. I often talk about bodhisattvas. Since there are people in suffering in this world, we need bodhisattvas in this world. The term bodhisattva comes to be because there are people in suffering.
All in all, bodhisattvas reach out to people in suffering and help them. People in suffering need kindhearted people who have the heart and the strength, and the willingness to help them. Love is (promoted by) all religions. The purpose of religion is to give love. (It) teaches people to go in the direction of love and goodness.
I believe that all religions have this common direction. In this era, now is the time to learn the grand lesson, which is for different religions to work together toward the same direction and take action to help living beings in suffering. Most importantly, it’s to educate people. Besides providing aid, religions also need to educate people.
Some people say, “I’m barely getting by. How can I help others?” I often tell people about the story of saving a handful of rice in Myanmar. Before cooking, a person takes a handful of rice from the rice pot and sets it aside for donation. If he were to eat 100% full, he would now eat only 80% full, and that handful of rice is the 20% set aside to help people. For a family of four to eat 80% full, the 20% saved rice can feed another person. When people eat only 70% to 80% full, four people together can help feed a person. When people pool their strength together, they are able to help people in need. Even though every volunteer may live in a different environment, we all have the same state of mind and a common vow. Love is always in our state of mind.
Lately, I often bring up the idea of taking an inventory of our life. How long have we been with a common goal on the path of Tzu Chi? I think I’m the most senior one of all, as I’ve been on the Tzu Chi Path for over 50 years. Recently, I’ve been taking an inventory on my life, however, I’m the most grateful, and feel the most accomplished, when I think about so many volunteers serving with me. Without you and without each and every one of us, it’ll be hard to say that Tzu Chi has done something. (Without people, Tzu Chi cannot do anything.) It can, because there are so many of us who share the same mindset.
So, I always say that when many little droplets come together, they can form a stream or a river. Everyone, you’ve taken in my words and you’ve been sharing them with others. That’s right, we can bring moisture to lives on earth; living beings are now very thirsty and drying out, and there are many people living in hunger. Though there is a group of us giving of ourselves, one cup or one bucket of water is not enough for the people in suffering to even wet their lips. This is why we need to recruit more living bodhisattvas, and ask everyone to eat a little less, and save some water, because it is not enough that we do it alone.We need to encourage others to do the same.
So, when we come together, 10 cups of water can become 12 cups of water, and ten people can (save up food) for one person or two people. As long as we are determined and give forth a little more effort, we can help more people.
We see, in Haiti, ten, twenty years ago, we learned of their condition. Now, ten, twenty years later, many people still struggle and they suffer even more due to the increase in population. Therefore, how do we transform the life of people in suffering? When I think about it, I feel that there’s a heaviness on my shoulder. However, we need to have faith. Everyone, may we aspire and make vows. With the strength of one person, two or ten people together, everyone shares and shoulders the responsibility of helping people in suffering. Shouldering such a responsibility does not only require one person or few people to give of themselves, but many others give their strength together, this can reduce the load for everyone; only when a lot of people do good can natural disasters be reduced.
People say, when more people doing good, blessings can be created and disasters can be reduced. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global disaster. We all have to take care of ourselves and keep our body healthy. Facing this wave of pandemic, we must take full protection measures to remain physically healthy and continue to have love and kindness; we should do our best to stay safe and well while continuing to carry out aid distributions with love. It takes all of us to use wisdom to give of ourselves with love.
This is called taking an inventory on our life. myself take an inventory on my life every day, I also urge all my disciples to do the same to take an inventory of what we have done in life. I also encourage them to do good now and keep on doing it in the future. This is what we truly must do mindfully. I hope that everyone can promote vegetarianism. Apart from protecting our own health, we hope that others can stay healthy too by becoming vegetarians. This is the best solution. Adopting vegetarianism is the only solution (for ending the pandemic).
So, let us work hard together. Besides protecting our health, we must also promote vegetarianism. All this is what we have to currently work hard for. When we encourage others to eat vegetarian meals, we ourselves must also eat vegetarian meals. If all volunteers become vegetarians, I am much at ease. Because, eating vegetarian food can keep us from being infected with the virus, which is the safest way to keep the virus away. So, everyone, please be mindful in protecting yourselves, giving with love, and keeping society harmonious and safe. Facing the pandemic, what we have to do at this critical moment is to learn the grand lesson which is the direction for us all.
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