The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.115).

02 2019 • 10 houses, they were reminded that “having a broad heart is better than having a big house”, because with an open heart, they would be able to overcome adversities. Immediately after completing the housing project, Tzu Chi people undertook the construction of 51 school buildings, dubbed “Project Hope”. They launched the project not because they had the financial means to do it, but rather because they could not bear to see the children studying under intense heat inside the tents. Sometimes with the onslaught of rain, the tents did not provide an environment conducive to learning. Moreover, we could not delay or interrupt the children’s studies. Last June in Taichung, a group of young people came to the Tzu-Chi Jing Si Hall to share their experience as beneficiaries of Project Hope. Some 20 years ago, they studied in tents but later, they moved to new school buildings to continue their studies. Now that they have accomplished something in life, it is time to give back to society. It was indeed heart-warming to hear their success stories. Fortunately, in the aftermath of the quake, we built many new school buildings for the school-going children. We were also lucky to have so many Tzu Chi people making the project possible with teamwork. It would be too daunting a task with individual effort. Had we not launched the emergency relief efforts and carried out medium- to long- term missions such as building the Great Love Village and manning Project Hope, we would not have these memories of “that particular year”, and would not have formed such deep affinities with like-minded fellow volunteers. A selfless act originates from a good thought to help others. This is of utmost importance and hopefully, everyone will persevere and seize each moment to make life more meaningful. Without everyone diligently contributing their time and efforts to serve humanity, Tzu Chi’s missions would not have flourished to its current scale in fulfilling its responsibilities to society. Our body is unclean and impure, our feelings bring us suffering, our thoughts are impermanent, and all phenomena are without intrinsic existence. We are becoming older with each passing second. Thus, we must seize every second to give of ourselves so as to bring depth and breadth to our limited lives. Every passing second can accumulate to form a longer period of time. Likewise, events of the past form Tzu Chi’s chronicles of history. We shall document these happenings, thereby bearing witness to our time and the history of humanity. In looking back on our history, we must all the more live with vigilant care and sincere piety, and share about them with the younger generation so that they too can learn from past events. We must also uphold life’s principles, follow the law of nature and revere Mother Nature so as to sow blessings for the world. aster’s Teaching * Compiled from a collection of speeches delivered by Master Cheng Yen from June 30 to August 13, 2019.