The world of Tzu Chi (Vol.109)

2019 • 04 44 harma Be content and grateful, cherish and create blessings L iving in Taiwan, where material goods abound, what do we have to feel discontented about? We are able to live on this blessed land because of the blessings we created in our past lives. Therefore, we should feel grateful that we have planted positive causes, the effects of which we enjoy today. I hope all of you can be content and grateful, and learn to recognize, cherish and create blessings. The only way to truly cherish blessings is to give rise to Bodhicitta and take every opportunity to express our love and to give of ourselves. Today, we are reaping the good fruits of our past good deeds, and we should continue to sow good seeds in this life to extend our blessings into our next lives. That way, we can again live in peace and happiness in a blessed land, where we can continue to walk the Bodhisattva Path. The universe is our university Every morning, 365 days of the year, we hold morning recitations in the Great Hall of the Jing Si Abode. Most people consider this “spiritual cultivation”. But is this really spiritual cultivation? Have we incorporated into our daily life the contents of the texts we chant? Do we apply what we have learnt to our thinking and conduct, and abide by the principles? Only if we answer “yes” can we say that what we do is spiritual cultivation. After we have studied a sutra, we must apply its essence to our daily living. If we can internalize the teachings and abide by them every second, then we are engaging in spiritual cultivation every second. As a Chinese saying goes, “Only the person who drinks the water knows whether it is warm or cold.” We can understand what something is like only after we have experienced it for ourselves. If we can practise the principles we learn from the sutras in everyday life, meaning that we constantly learn, uphold and practise the teachings, then we do not need to retreat deep into the mountains, cut ourselves off from society, or go into some particular monastery in order to advance our spiritual cultivation. I often say that each day is a blank piece of paper, each person is an essay filled with good teachings, and the universe is a university. Many of us do not realize that we are, in fact, students of this great university, and instead we look for teachings in life’s elementary schools. If we live in seclusion for the purpose of our spiritual cultivation and thus miss the opportunity to develop great loving-kindness and compassion, great courage and strength, then we are not making good use of our lives. I hope each one of us can reflect on ourselves and encourage each other on this spiritual journey. THE THIRD PRINCIPLE Give rise to Bodhicitta Believe in the karmic law of cause and effect Read and recite the Great Vehicle Sutra Diligently progress on the Bodhisattva Path