Master's Dharma Talk: Accumulating Great Love to Benefit All Beings

Time flies. It is again the time for our Year-end Blessings Ceremonies. For the first ceremony, volunteers from 10 countries

came to Hualien to be certified. They shared many touching stories. They have been dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to carrying out Tzu Chi’s missions in their countries for many years.

Through Tzu Chi’s spirit and values, they held activities that aim to purify people’s hearts. When a disaster takes place and people are suffering, senior Tzu Chi volunteers and new volunteers in gray and white uniform will go on streets to fundraise in an orderly manner. It is the same in every country, volunteers need to be in training for two or three years in order to be certified.

Yesterday, Mr. Lim, a volunteer from Malaysia, said, “It was not difficult for me to earn a Doctorate degree). But to get a Tzu Chi volunteer badge was not easy at all.”

He is the owner of a big company. But, like other volunteers, he also needed to visit shops with a donation book to learn how to introduce Tzu Chi to people. After he visited many shops, he collected only 36 Ringgits of donation. He said that this made him understand how difficult it is to be a Tzu Chi commissioner. He said Tzu Chi inspires people all over the world to give of themselves with love.

When people are mobilized with love and join their love together, they can do very meaningful things. He said that, his business has expanded all over the world, but that is to make money. Tzu Chi has also expanded all over the world, but that is to benefit all living beings. This takes the accumulation of love and strength of many.

In Tzu Chi, we can find people pooling together their love and strength. It is indeed not easy to be so humble. Yesterday, we also saw our volunteers from Africa. They are truly adorable. With tears and laughter, a volunteer from Mozambique shared her story with us.

“I was an orphan. I was married to a man who always hit me after a few drinks. It went on for many years until he passed away a few years ago, but I was still traumatized. I often fell into tears, worrying about how to sustain my family. I once considered suicide, but I immediately thought of my children. What would they do without me? They’d probably have to go steal or rob others. I knew I must live for them. Finally, one day, Tzu Chi volunteers came to my house. They knew I was always sad. They said, “Come join us! We’re a big, happy family! We can be your family too and bring you happiness.” I’m truly grateful for Master’s teachings. It gave me a new life. I have nothing, but I will do everything I can to help strengthen Tzu Chi’s work in Mozambique. Before, my heart was always dry. After I started listening to Master’s talks, it was as if I drank from a spring. My heart was cleansed and refreshed. It’s no longer dry,” said Roda, a Tzu Chi volunteer.

She had a really hard life, but after joining Tzu Chi, she transformed her life. There is a scene in our documentary where volunteers in Lesotho wore their Basotho blanket and when they turned around, they were in Tzu Chi’s blue-and-white uniforms. It symbolizes how they’ve transformed their life. Their heart is very bright. In terms of material possession, they don’t have much, but they still give the little that they have to help others.

When everyone’s contribution is pooled together, it becomes a great strength. They can still give even when they are poor; they’ve become the richest among the poor. This is very touching. Even those who have little can help others. They’ve walked out of the darkness into the light.

Similarly, a group of volunteers from Indonesia also came to be certified. One of them lived by the Angke River as a child. Remember in 2002, when a severe flood happened in Indonesia, Tzu Chi volunteers went into the poor neighbourhoods where they had been flooded for one to two months. There were garbage floating everywhere. So I asked volunteers in Indonesia for help, including Mr. Franky Widjaja’s father.

So, they came to Taiwan to discuss how to help these poor neighbourhoods. He was in charge of contacting the government, the military, and so on. Tzu Chi mobilized volunteers, and with other’s help, we cleaned up the river. We then built the Great Love Estate for people living along the Angke River. The kids playing barefoot on the riverside have now graduated from universities. One of them now works at DAAI TV Indonesia. He made a vow while he was on stage.

“I’m a child from the Angke River. I’m all grown up. I am also a Tzu Ching. I was president of the Tzu Ching club in Indonesia. I’m now working for DAAI TV Indonesia. I’m grateful for Tzu Chi Indonesia, for helping me become a child my parents can rely on.

I’m grateful to my parents for supporting me in doing Tzu Chi’s work. To me, Grandmaster is like a mother who accompanies me and guides me, while helping me cultivate my wisdom-life. I will walk on the Tzu Chi Path life after life, protecting and spreading the Dharma,” said Hasan Basri, a Tzu Chi volunteer.

This is really the happiest thing for me to hear. It’s been more than ten years since 2002. His life was transformed. He was able to attend school and graduate from university. He achieved a lot. And now, he made this vow. He was a Tzu Ching in college. Now, he’s a staff of DAAI TV Indonesia.

Seeing this gives us a lot of hope. With time, the accumulation of many people’s love creates strength. Therefore, like what Mr. Lim said, he runs a profit-making business; with volunteers’ love, Tzu Chi works to benefit many living beings. Indeed, with everyone’s love we can achieve many good deeds in the world.