Life Wisdom: Creating a Holy Land by Preserving the Earth
“People in our community dump garbage here and I search for the recyclables. If burned, they'll pollute the air, so I take them to our recycling station. Recycling work is not taxing” said You Luo Yue-zi, a Recycling Volunteers.
“We are used to doing labor work and will feel uncomfortable if we don't do it,” We both had to do labor work when we were young. There are many kinds of recyclables. These six to seven kinds of recyclables must be sorted and put in different baskets. We're all used to collecting and sorting recyclables. I can exercise my brain by doing recycling as I have to place different recyclables in different spaces. There are many recyclable spaces and each space is for a different kind of recyclable. By doing recycling, I can also exercise my body and prevent Alzheimer's disease. If we take good care of ourselves and stay in good health, our children can be at ease,” said said You Yun-ju, a Recycling Volunteers.
“He's the oldest here. Although he's 87 years old, he's physically and mentally as young as those of us who are in our 60s or 70s. He's still very agile,” said You Luo Yue-zi, a Recycling Volunteers.
“I can still work,” said You Yun-ju.
Time always slips away second by second and cannot be stopped or retained. We can only seize the time we have and work hard. While time is invisible, we can see what people are doing. Take cleanup work for example.
Those who know to seize the time they have will complete the work quickly so they can continue to do other work. Yet, some people might dawdle over their work. Their life diminishes unceasingly and they let their time slip by in vain rather than live out their value in life. I often encourage you to cultivate with a focused mind and walk steadfastly on the path of cultivation so we can keep striding forward. If we do not strive for progress, we will always be where we are, living our life in vain.
I often talk about our elderly Tzu Chi volunteers. Lately, I've often heard them say on our Da Ai TV: "Master says that to enjoy good health, we must serve and work. By doing so, we can also benefit humanity. To protect the Earth, we must work hard to collect and sort recyclables so they can be remade into useful resources and less damage will be done to the Earth. This teaching from Master is truly correct, so we follow Master's words and do recycling with gratitude and joy. We are grateful to Master for encouraging us to do recycling. Working with other volunteers, we are not lonely and we can live out our value in life."
This is what I've often heard from our elderly volunteers. Indeed, they've been following my words by seizing time to give of themselves. When I hear them share about their work, I'm always very touched, for their words make me feel encouraged. The more I say, the more they will work.
Seeing them follow my words and work hard, I know I've created value out of my words and I will give more talks. This is a virtuous cycle that creates merits. By giving, we can create merits for ourselves too. Our volunteers have also said: "By giving of ourselves for the Earth, we are filled with joy. As Master told us how we can recycle, we've been recycling properly. We've been collecting, sorting, and cleaning recyclables to protect the Earth."
Just think, our volunteers never let time slip by in vain. They carry out recycling work step by step. They sort recyclables after collecting them so they can be made into different resources. Some can be turned into fabrics and some into pavement bricks.
Our volunteers' purpose of doing recycling is to protect the Earth. They clean recyclables thoroughly so they can be made into delicate materials. This is how our volunteers protect the Earth. And, as many recyclables can be reused, there is no need to extract resources from the land or the sea, relieving some burden on the Earth.
We can all create a pure land on Earth. It's best if we can use less resources. If we do so, excavation can be reduced, less products will be manufactured, and less pollution will be created. We humans must understand this and turn our knowledge into wisdom. Only then can we protect the Earth.
We must also extend our love to mountains and rivers and protect forests instead of felling trees or excavating mountains and lands. This way, we can live in harmony with Mother Nature and create a pure land of Bodhisattvas that is most joyful, peaceful, and wonderful.
If we can all protect the Earth, a pure land can be created in this world. Is this difficult? Let us all ask ourselves if we can do it. This is indeed doable for all of us. It depends on whether we are determined or not.
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