The world of Tzu Chi April 2021 (Vol.133)

TZU CHI 133 49 REMINDERS UNDER THE SALA TREES a poisonous snake or a wild beast. A mind filled with poison becomes like a great fire—once it is kindled, there is no way to control it. Some people are ordinarily quite well-cultured, reverent in worshiping the Buddha, and passionate about doing things, but they get angry as soon as someone makes a small mistake. Once the fire in their mind has been ignited, they lose their composure and lose all merits from their previous cultivation. There are even people who are not only filled with hate for others, but also incite other people to hate as well. This is like a “great fire”—the longer the fire burns, the further it will spread. The Buddha used the most terrifying things in the world, poisonous snakes, wild beasts, vile thieves and great fires as analogies for the fearsomeness of the human mind. Nonetheless, even these are insufficient to describe it, and so he said, “nothing compares to it”. “It is like a person with a honey pot in his hand; impatient and eager, he sees only the honey, but fails to notice the deep pit.” Why is the mind like a vile poison? It is because of our indulgence in delusion and desire. For this reason, the Buddha made this analogy. There were many impoverished people in India, and sugar was hard to come by, let alone honey. If a person held a pot full of honey, he would be beside himself with joy. All he would see would be the honey in his hand, making him blind to the deep pit right behind him. People are like this in the pursuit of their desires: They run frantically around in circles seeking wealth, sensual pleasures and fame, unaware of the danger lurking all around them. People often tell me, “Master, I am envious of you all because you quietly spend your days engaged in spiritual practice.” Others tell me, “Master, I am envious of the Tzu Chi commissioners since they have time to learn Buddhism and also have the time to do the work of helping the poor!” I always reply, “Do you wish for this kind of life and to join this group? It all depends on how you use your time; if you really want to do it, then you will have the conditions needed to do so.” “Master, you do not know how busy I am!” So, I ask why they are so busy. Some might say they have a lot of socializing they need to do. There are also those who say, “In the environment around me, no one encourages me to do good deeds.” Our time is precious, so we need to seize it to do things that are beneficial to society. The value of a person’s life does not lie in its length but in the aspirations we form to do things that are beneficial to others. Thus, we need to make good use of our time and our abilities to contribute to society. There was a doctor from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital who visited the Abode with his wife to discuss the topic of life. I said, “As a doctor, you should know more than I do about ‘life’. However, we religious practitioners have another view point on life. There are 24 hours in a day. Some people work only 8 hours a day, some work