On Halloween night, October 31, 2000, Singapore Airlines flight 006 burst into flames and killed eighty-two people at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Airport. The tragic news took the world by surprise, as it broke the airline's excellent safety record of the past forty years. Some people pointed fingers and asked how this could have happened. But there was a group of people who, instead of looking for someone to blame, felt the grief of the victims with all their hearts. They immediately dashed out to the airport, through the wind and rain, to extend their love and bring light to the world. In this article Lissa Shih, a student from Stanford University who is currently doing research on Tzu Chi, shares her observations with us.

What is a bodhisattva? A bodhisattva is a being that helps others without a thought for himself, whenever others need help, no matter what the circumstances are. I've seen that Tzu Chi volunteers are real-life bodhisattvas.

At 11:18 on the night of October 31, a Singapore Airlines plane unexpectedly burst into flames as it was taking off from Chiang Kai-shek Airport near Taipei in the middle of a typhoon. Soon after, headlines appeared on television screens around Taiwan. Seeing the news, Tzu Chi volunteers immediately sprang into action. Within twelve minutes they were already at the scene of the crash, rescuing people from the wreckage. When victims were sent to different hospitals, Tzu Chi volunteers were already there to greet them and stand in for their family members, who had not yet arrived. How they managed to drive through the storm and arrive in such a short time truly amazes me. They must have just seen the news, picked up their raincoats and left. But even their raincoats could not protect them from the driving rain. As soon as they stepped out of the car, their clothes were already soaking wet. The wind was so fierce that rescue team members had to link arms to walk onto the site, lest the wind blow them over. One volunteer said, "I weigh eighty kilograms [176 lb] and even I couldn't walk steadily toward the crash site in that gale!"

On that dreadful night, when most people stayed in the comfort of their homes, Tzu Chi volunteers ventured out without hesitation. Indeed, these people not only help others in their spare time, they even risk their lives to do so.

Like the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, who has a thousand eyes to see those in need and a thousand hands to reach out and help, Tzu Chi people help wherever they are needed. They took on different tasks this time: some pulled bodies out of the wreckage; some organized the bodies inside the airport so that family members would be able to spot their loved ones more easily; some went to hospitals to take care of survivors; some comforted family members in the airport or at nearby hotels; some chanted sutras for the deceased; some prepared ginger tea and hot food for the rescue teams. There were so many people involved in so many different jobs, such as looking for ingredients for food, finding dry clothes for people to change into, or finding stores still open in the wee hours of the morning. I am sure the volunteers did many more things that I cannot think of.

Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is so compassionate that as soon as anyone cries for help, she goes to their aid. When the volunteers arrived wearing their uniform of navy blue shirts and white pants, people at the scene called out, "Tzu Chi people have come..." The sight of those uniforms brought them comfort and relief.

The Tzu Chi volunteers did not just care for the victims, because they knew that it was not only the victims, but also the rescuers who needed care. By two in the morning, they had brought hot ginger tea to rescue workers, who included Tzu Chi volunteers, soldiers, fire fighters and many other groups. One volunteer said that she was really heartbroken when she handed tea to a rescue worker, because his hand was as cold and wet as ice. Another rescue worker cried when he was given the tea. "Two years ago when I was doing rescue work at the China Airlines plane crash, the first hot drink that came into my hands was from a Tzu Chi member. When last September's devastating earthquake turned many houses into rubble and I was rescuing survivors, the first hot food was also from Tzu Chi. And today again, the very first hot drink was from the hands of a Tzu Chi member."

Perhaps what Tzu Chi volunteers have done comes as no surprise, but it still seems incredible to me that a group of people can so willingly and diligently help others without a thought for themselves. They only think about how they can help lessen the pain of others--beside each coffin, they placed a flower to show respect to the deceased--so many little details, yet each one expresses boundless love and respect. How do they think of everything? Maybe when your heart is full of love, you know what you need to do.