Life Wisdom: Serving as a Living Bodhisattva with Gratitude in Mind
Seeing the situation of the world, we must give one another our best wishes. We see that there are truly many people suffering all over the globe. Yet, without affinities, there are still many people we have yet to reach out to and help. Even if we truly wish to help them, we can't reach them.
Many people around the world are still in suffering. I'm very grateful that our Tzu Chi volunteers have brought aid to more than 100 countries and regions. There are Tzu Chi's chapters, branches, offices, and contact points around the world. Wherever there are many Tzu Chi volunteers, when they are told of those in need, they will mobilize quickly to understand the situations of those who are poor or in suffering and then find ways to help them.
If the place is without medical resources, we will seek every possible way to hold free clinics. At free clinics, we see many who are both poor and ill. Apart from treating their illnesses and offering them medicine, we also pay home visits to them to understand the situations of their families so we can offer them relief on a long-, mid-, or short-term basis.
We care for some of those in need until their passing, for they are elders living alone. If our volunteers learn of the elderly living alone, they will bring aid and care to them often. This is how we carry out relief on a long-term basis. We carry out relief on a mid-term basis when we learn that something has happened to the bread earner of a family, and so, the family has no income.
When our volunteers learn of that, they will first visit the family and assess their needs, and then bring financial aid to them and probably help the bread earner to receive medical care for some time. This is how we carry out relief on a mid-term basis. We help those in need for some time, such as half a year, a year, or four months, according to their needs. We help them to get back on their feet and their lives back on track.
Those of you who are Tzu Cheng members or Tzu Chi commissioners have carried out such relief work often. Whether those in need are in the mountains, in rural areas, or around you, after you assess their needs, you dedicate yourselves to helping them. Not until they can make a living again and support their families will we gradually stop our assistance.
We bring them financial aid, care for them, and give them support until they can get back on their feet. Also, when there are people in urgent need, our volunteers always provide timely aid. When earthquakes, floods, wildfires, storms, or other natural disasters strike, or when an emergency occurs, our volunteers always reach out quickly and provide essential aid and relief.
There is much for me to be grateful for. I'm very content in this life as our Tzu Chi members have been helping me to carry out the work I wish to do. Yet, sometimes, I also feel suffering. Where does my suffering come from? The impermanence of my body. With time unceasingly passing by, everything about me will be taken away eventually.
My health is declining and my life is diminishing. Now, I have to exert all my strength to talk to you. It's truly strenuous for me to speak. Why do I still give talks? Because I wish to guide all to cultivate wisdom. Over the past two years, I've been saying that we must learn the crucial lessons taught by the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to remind people around the world to practice repentance.
We've all given rise to unwholesome thoughts and done unwholesome deeds. Who has never done wrong? So, we must repent with sincere piety. Let us repent to the heavens above and harbor gratitude to Mother Nature. As we want to live a healthy life, it's very important for us to go vegetarian. Only by going vegetarian can we enjoy good health.
The land provides us with abundant vegetables and grains. Let us harbor gratitude to the land. And, only when people from all walks of life work together can society be prosperous and peaceful, so we must sincerely express our gratitude to one another and give one another our best wishes.
Everyone, "thank you" is the best thing we can say to one another, for when we express our gratitude, we not only give others our best wishes but also express how touched we are. So, everyone, we truly must express our gratitude. Yet, we can't simply just say "thank you." We must also understand that the true principle of gratitude was expounded by the Buddha.
The Buddha's teachings encompass everything from the universe to things that are invisible to the naked eye. I often remind all of you that even the biggest tree grows from a tiny seed that contains genes invisible to the naked eye. When there is soil, water, air, and sunlight, a seed can grow into a sapling, and if we continue to nurture the sapling, it can become a big tree. This is how one seed can give rise to innumerable seeds.
This big tree blossoms and bears a lot of seeds every year, and these seeds can all grow into big trees. So, one seed can give rise to countless big trees and innumerable seeds. Innumerable seeds come from one seed. We must understand where this true principle comes from.
Everyone, let us all serve as living bodhisattvas and cultivate our wisdom by penetrating life's true principles and taking them to heart. We don't have to be Buddhists to do so. Let us serve as living bodhisattvas by taking action to do good. Let us reach out to the needy and relieve their suffering. This is how we serve as living bodhisattvas.
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