Life Wisdom: Learning from Impermanence and Seizing Time to Serve
Recently, many places in China have been affected by natural disasters. Our Tzu Chi volunteers who are safe and we’ll have come together to provide relief aid. Feeling others' suffering as their very own and knowing that those affected had difficulty sustaining their lives, our volunteers, without being asked, brought comfort to them and gave them the supplies they needed.
Not only have our volunteers given of themselves without asking for anything in return, but they are also grateful for being able to help those affected and for learning the lesson of life's impermanence. We gave of ourselves to help the disaster survivors and they received our relief supplies with both hands. All this was possible thanks to good affinities.
The supplies we could provide were limited and we could only access some affected areas. With good affinities, we have brought aid and care to some disaster survivors. Yet, we couldn't reach out to other survivors even if we wished to. After we gave of ourselves, we were at ease and filled with joy, and when those in suffering received supplies they needed, they were grateful that we'd brought them love and that they were cared for instead of being on their own.
Indeed, this world is filled with love and warmth, and everyone can give with love to benefit others. Yet, simply harboring love within is not enough. The Buddha came to this world to teach us that we must also awaken to life's true principles. Impermanence can be seen everywhere. The natural environment, relationships between people, one's physical appearance, and everything else are all changing constantly. Such impermanence is a true principle of life.
Everyone and everything undergo changes that may be hard for us to notice. Indeed, with each passing second, we are getting older. Whenever I feel my age, I will always think of our volunteer, Cai Kuan. Although she is already 103 years old, she can still stand upright and serve with Tzu Chi. She has told me, "I can't go out on my own now. I'm grateful to Tzu Cheng members for picking me up. I'm also grateful to Tzu Chi commissioners for caring for me."
Indeed, our volunteers care for one another just like family. Our Tzu Chi commissioners often bring care to her, and our Tzu Cheng members drive her around so she can continue to take part in Tzu Chi's events and do Tzu Chi's work. She truly is a treasure to all Tzu Chi members. She and other volunteers in Zhanghua have been sharing Tzu Chi with everyone, including how they began Tzu Chi's work in Zhanghua a few decades ago and how they've been walking the Bodhisattva Path ever since.
Everyone, we must seize time to give, for we are getting older as time passes. Over 50 years ago, Tzu Chi began its charity work with a few people saving spare change daily. Even until now, this practice does not fade away. Many people around the world follow this practice as they understand how Tzu Chi began to help the needy through the accumulation of bits of money.
Recently, I've been saying that we must not underestimate any tiny thing. We see that our volunteers in Zhanghua brought handicraft ants to the Abode. What are the ants made of? Seeds. I said to our volunteers, "Look at the ants. I often say that one seed can give rise to innumerable seeds. A tiny seed, after being sown, will sprout and grow into a tree which is so big that it takes several people to hold hands to fully wrap around the trunk. This big tree grows from a tiny seed.
We see that the head and torso of each handicraft ant are made of three seeds. In fact, its two antennae, six legs, and two eyes are made of seeds too. How wondrous Mother Nature is! Nurtured by moonlight and sunlight, living beings develop their life force. Moonlight and dew at night, sunlight during the day, and rainwater nurture all living beings on Earth, giving them life.
Life is truly marvellous. Living beings include not only humans but animals. Even a bee, a worm, or a mosquito is a living being, too. There are countless living beings with different appearances. Animals are born as animals due to their karma, and when we pass away, we take nothing with us except the karma we have created. In all, we must all seize the time we have and always guard our thoughts so we won't deviate from the right direction in life.
We must always harbor a good heart and mind, give rise to good thoughts, and serve with sincerity, integrity, faith, and honesty. If we keep to the right direction in life by serving with sincerity, integrity, faith, and honesty, in our next lives, we will surely become living bodhisattvas who can form good affinities with everyone. We must form good affinities with all so we can sow blessings for the whole world.
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