Spread the Dharma with Sincerity and Love to Benefit Living Beings in the Buddhist Land by Chen Shuman

Sharer: Chen Shuman (陳淑滿)

Range: The Footprint of Dharma Master Cheng Yen, Autumn Volume, 08/26-09/01,2022

Translator: Xu Zhilong (徐智龍)

Reviewer: Li Shumin (李淑敏)

Proofreader: Georgia Frazer

Editor: Su Jihou (蘇紀豪)

We all know that Bodhgaya is the place where the Buddha practiced and became enlightened. From the map, it is on the same latitude as the Jing Si Abode. The straight-line distance between the two places is about 3,700 kilometers. We are grateful that the Buddha's teachings have been handed down, so that we can understand the true meaning and experience the truth. The vein of Jing Si Dharma lineage is the Buddha Dharma. Seeing that the hometown of the Buddha was still so poor, Master Cheng Yen was very sad. Master said: "This is a really big event, a big cause and condition that must be accomplished. I want to return to the hometown of the Buddha and bring the true teaching of Buddhism back to the place."

The Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal, although it’s now separated into two countries which still belongs to the scope of ancient India. For a long time, there has been a social stratification system in India, which is the caste system. Caste divides all people into different classes and ranks, and their status is different. The highest class is Brahmin, followed by Kshatriya and Vaishya, and the lowest class is Sudra. It is unbelievable that even it’s been more than 2,500 years away from the Buddha's time, the lives of the Lumbini residents do not seem to have progressed over time. The poverty and suffering that Buddha witnessed are still remain nowadays. Many families live on begging and suffer from poverty and illness generation after generation under such caste system.

In the video of [Life Wisdom] dated 20230309, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-M0LE0V0IY (1:15~3:06), Master Cheng Yen said, "No matter how hard it is, there is nothing like what the people in Buddha's hometown suffer. Their suffering is real suffering."

Volunteer Zhang Bolin: "His house leaks whenever it rains. So we are going to help him this time, adding an extra layer of iron sheet." 

Tzu Chi care recipient Bi Zu said: "It used to leak when it rained, but now it doesn't; the flooding would reach my knees before, it's much better now, I'm really happy, I'm really grateful, thank you!"

 Master said: "In some houses, you could see the back of the house when you stand in front, because they always use grass roots to build houses. If there are enough grass roots, the houses could be built very densely; otherwise, they could be built sparsely. If there are no grass roots, bamboo was used, or branches were picked up, or a few grasses to form a home. It is their life as you, as me, at this time. Therefore, everyone all over the world, we can sit here so easily, and our voice can reach the whole world. The world is blessed, and we need to show the Buddha dharma with wisdom."

We all heard Master's teachings. From April 2022, Tzu Chi members from Singapore and Malaysia started to go to Nepal in batches to carry out caring operations. The Bodhisattva on earth walked back to the hometown of the Buddha, following the educational spirit of the Buddha, hoping to turn the lives of the local suffering people around and open up new hope for them. Volunteers started from areas which most lacked medical care and education, and combined with the charity missions to launch a long-term plan to help the poor and weak. Most of the villagers are uneducated and mostly illiterate. Even if the children live next to the school, they cannot go to school because they cannot afford the tuition fees. Education is an opportunity to overturn poverty .From October 2021, Tzu Chi started subsidizing the Madhubani Preschool Education Center to provide free education for poor local children aged 3 to 5, so that poor children can also receive education. Local students often drop out of school due to poverty, and Tzu Chi volunteers act proactively to carry out door-to-door care to provide appropriate assistance to help them return to school.

Nepal is also known as the "Land of Snow Mountains". It is very cold in winter. Many local children can only wear thin coats because of their poor families; their feet are covered with loess, because they have no shoes and socks to keep out the cold. Tzu Chi volunteers sent warm winter clothes, shoes and socks, and conducted "Winter Clothes Distribution" on campus. It was carried out in nine schools for three consecutive days. A total of 3,217 children received warmth from society this winter, and their bodies were warmed up, and so is their heart. The winter was no longer cold. In addition to winter clothes, the education team also went to the school to distribute school supplies, and promoted humanistic education, conveying the concept of kindness, using the spirit of bamboo banks to inspire everyone's love and kindness, and following the example of Myanmar's rice bank, encouraging villagers to save love rice, not only the Masters in the temple responded, the care recipients like Ms. Sharada could also do it, regardless of caste or class, linking up love and driving a circle of kindness.

In the video of [Life Wisdom] dated 20230303, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aXzgrHZlLg (0:42~1:38), Citizen Su Wa said: "It doesn't matter even our life is difficult, but we have a kind heart. We save a little when we eat. The savings can be used to help many people. I also encourage my friends in this way."

Kindergarten principal Pranita said: "I have ten students who participated in the rice bank activity. They told me that they were very happy every day when they saved rice like this, because the rice could help poor people."

Hong Xuehong, a Tzu Chi volunteer from Malaysia, said: "Today, 25 to 26 residents took rice bank back, accumulating a total of 75 kilograms."

Volunteers in Lumbini also promoted the "Street of Good Words". The Jing Si Aphorisms were posted at the entrances of shops. The simple and easy-to-understand Jing Si Aphorisms bring the true essence of Buddhism to the people of the Buddhist country. Through the "Humanistic Education and Jing Si Aphorism Teaching" teacher training course, the essence of humanistic education is passed on to teachers in Lumbini.

In order to solve the problem of lack of medical resources in Lumbini, Tzu Chi not only provided free medical care, but also assisted the local area to build a comprehensive health center and a dialysis center to improve the medical level in rural areas and protect the health of the people. In Lumbini, if a patient goes to a private hospital, the cost is nearly NT$5,000 each time, which is almost half of a year's living expenses for a low-income family. Therefore, many people have to endure the disease. In November 2022, Tzu Chi held its first large-scale free clinic in Lumbini, serving a total of 3,200 people within three days to solve their illness. Prevention is better than cure. In order to promote health education, Tzu Chi volunteers also established the "Lumbini Medical Workshop" to train local volunteers to become medical seeds, led teams to the countryside for health checkups, and provided medical assistance to the poor to create hope in Buddha's hometown for the future.

In the video of [Life Wisdom] dated 20230303, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aXzgrHZlLg (5:09~6:19), Master Cheng Yen said : "There, the hometown of the Buddha, they will go to a designated place to engage in medical treatment and charity. There are doctors and entrepreneurs, so my wish could be fulfilled in the hometown of the Buddha. In order to find the footsteps of the Buddha, I found such a place of suffering. So all thanks to Tzu Chi, without this group of volunteers, we would not be able to go to the hometown of the Buddha.” (20230219 Tzu Chi Clinic in Lumbini, Nepal opened)

Guo Jiyuan, Executive Director of Tzu Chi Malaysia, said: "I was very touched when I came. Only with a family could we implement Master's four missions. The most important thing is that the Master hopes to carry out the Buddhism in the place where the Buddha was born."

   Master Cheng Yen said : "Hope for the future, create a hope for the future."

Love is a common language. In Lumbini, Tzu Chi volunteers spread the Dharma with sincerity and love to benefit all living beings, just like this passage in the "Sutra of Infinite Meanings": "In the Tathagata's land, stay firm, live in the power of vows, and broadly purify the Buddha Land".

Bless you all, thank you!