Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

[Life Wisdom]
2012/05/18 Be Mindful in Our Daily Living
In her remarks to the morning assembly of volunteers on May 18, Master Cheng Yen spoke of her concern over disasters and hunger that is affecting millions of people around the world.

She spoke about a fire and explosion at a metal product factory in Changhwa county, southwest Taiwan the evening before. It left one person dead and 18 injured and took firemen five hours to extinguish. She also expressed her anxiety over heavy thunderstorms in Jiangsu in eastern China and the damage they caused to the lives of its people.

Then she spoke about food shortages; about 218 million people around the world do not have enough to eat. Conflicts in Africa have made these shortages even worse. “We can imagine what misery these people are enduring,” she said. “Lately, we have been promoting the practice of eating less and saving the rest to help others. We must work harder to promote this practice as many people are not aware of the situation of those who are suffering; they are still leading an extravagant and wasteful life. Seeing that, I truly feel very anxious for them as they cannot really see the suffering in the world.”

But, in South Africa, Tzu Chi volunteers feel for the suffering of others and have learnt the Buddha's teachings. For years, they have been working hard and hope to inspire love in more people there. “Now we see that many young people are serving as our volunteers,” she said. “Many of our collegiate volunteers have graduated from college and become certified Tzu Chi volunteers. On Earth Day, they went with experienced Tzu Chi volunteers as well as local Zulu volunteers to promote vegetarianism. Several children from local elementary schools also came to help. To help them better understand the event, our volunteers shared with them their knowledge that Mother Earth is sick and that, to help the Earth recover, we need to encourage vegetarianism, so that everyone will be safe and well.

"In order for everyone on Earth to live in harmony, we should inspire the loving heart of each person,” she said.