Doctors cure our physical illnesses and hospital volunteers soothe our troubled hearts. But it is up to us to heal our own unsettled minds.

On August 17, 2004, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital turned 19 years old. I hope this hospital, an energetic teenager, bright as the rising sun, will grasp every moment to fulfill our common vision of saving lives.

Twenty-some years ago, Hualien County, located in eastern Taiwan, was still very backward and the medical resources were insufficient. After engaging in charity work, I came to realize a social phenomenon: poverty is caused by illness. When a family's breadwinner falls ill, the whole family can slip into poverty. Thus I resolved to build a hospital in Hualien, despite many people's kind reminders that it was beyond my ability to take on a project so daunting as building a general hospital, due to my lack of money and prestige.

However, I could see that there were so many miserable people in need of help. I was convinced I should help them unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. With the conviction of "Just do it" in my mind, I began the project. I was pretty sure that once I did the difficult part of taking the lead, many people would follow me to realize this important project of love.

Indeed, nothing is difficult if we have a firm resolution. The groundbreaking of the hospital was finally held in 1984. As time passed, the building became taller and taller. When it was completed, more and more medical personnel came to contribute their wonderful skills. Volunteers flooded in from all over Taiwan to comfort patients in the hospital, encouraging them to work with the doctors and to have confidence in their recoveries. From the patients' point of view, physicians and nurses are their biological engineers while the thoughtful volunteers are their mental engineers.

The government upgraded our hospital from a general hospital to a medical center in 2002. I am grateful to all the Tzu Chi members who helped make this giant leap possible. I am also grateful to the medical professionals who have chosen to serve here. We welcome people living anywhere in Taiwan to seek medical treatment in our hospital, and we also welcome patients living in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Indonesia to come for treatment. Whenever I hear how our doctors have rescued patients from death, I share their joyful feeling that it is so nice to be able to save lives.

On August 14, doctors, nurses, and volunteers celebrated the hospital's 18th anniversary by performing musical plays onstage in Still Thoughts Hall. Every act in each play had actually happened in the hospital. Doctors showed how they vowed to be conscientious doctors. They showed how they worked to treat and care for patients as if those patients were their own relatives. Nurses emulated the compassionate image of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, who radiates gentleness, kindness, and purity. In one play, the part of a patient in a wheelchair was performed by one of the hospital's real patients, who accidentally cut his feet off when he was mowing grass with an electric mower eight years ago. Fortunately, he was saved by our doctors, who reattached his feet. Volunteers acted out how they cared for patients too, and their wonderful performances reminded the audience that it is because of their service in the hospital that the relationships between doctors and patients have become much more harmonious.

How can a group achieve genuine harmony? It can only be possible when everyone tries to treat one another with utmost sincerity and a strong sense of cooperation over a long period of time. Group members will naturally develop team spirit and work toward the same objective with one common heart and one common mind. Moreover, love and care will prevail in a group setting.

The greatest meritorious deed

When Tzu Chi was established over 39 years ago, I only had 30 followers, most of whom were housewives. Today, millions of volunteers across the globe have made altruistic vows to follow me in performing compassionate work. An altruistic vow can only be carried through with a heart of joy. In other words, we must always be willing and happy to give, and never feel disheartened or disappointed in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.

August 8 is Father's Day in Taiwan. I happened to visit the Tzu Chi Taichung branch office early in the morning that day. When I stepped out from the van, I saw many members of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) gathering in front of the main gate of the office, ready to head out for a free clinic. Many of the volunteers were fathers. Instead of celebrating the special day at home, they chose to help the sick. They felt it mattered little that they could receive special treatment at home. Instead, they felt that if they could help cure needy patients living in remote areas, it would make them even more joyful.

A volunteer physician told me he was going to visit patients in their homes. Young people nowadays might find doctors making house calls hard to understand. But to people my age, house calls were part of our childhood. Over five decades ago, Taiwan had very few hospitals. When people fell sick, doctors would ride bicycles or take pedicabs to patients' homes.

Nowadays, we can find well-equipped hospitals in any city we visit. Yet our volunteers still can find many old and physically challenged people residing in faraway villages or deep in the mountains, and these people cannot easily get to urban hospitals for treatment. Under these unfavorable conditions, our TIMA members deliver medical services in person.

The Buddha said, "Healing the sick is the greatest meritorious deed." The worst suffering in life is illness. No matter how wealthy you are or how high a social status you enjoy, you still suffer tremendously when you are sick. So you can imagine how meritorious it is to comfort and cure the sick in a timely fashion and to restore their health and happiness as soon as possible.

Look how these TIMA volunteers sacrificed the time to relax and celebrate with their families in order to offer medical care to the needy living in remote mountainous areas. They have truly brought back the wonderful old doctor-patient relationship. How heartwarming their efforts are!

Healing the mind

Our society is highly developed both economically and materially. Yet many people are unhappy and some even complain that their lives are tough. Psychological illnesses such as depression and insanity are common. But why does the mind fall sick? There are many reasons.

When people cannot open their hearts and treat others with sincerity and love, they get stressed easily. Some people are like flowers from a greenhouse. Once placed out of their well-protected shelter, they wither under harsh sunshine and torrential rain. Some people unceasingly crave more material gratification. There are people who think too much, worry too often, but do too little. They can never be content with themselves and the environment they live in. As a result, their minds gradually slip into psychological illness.

If we allow our minds to be shrouded with worries and afflictions and cannot see the bright side of life, it is equivalent to covering our minds with a veil that blocks the light of our innate wisdom from shining through. If we allow our eyes to be blindfolded with a piece of black cloth, we can see neither light nor reality.

An ignorant thought can block our bright, crystal clear wisdom. A distorted mindset or wrong direction in life can cause spiritual disaster and flare up into social calamity.

Harboring ignorant thoughts is akin to watching a 3-D film. Wearing special eyeglasses, we can see images with unusual perspectives and experience virtually real scenes. We might be riding in a high-speed bullet train, or watching an airplane flying straight at us. But once we take off the spectacles, we realize that the screen is merely a piece of white cloth and the film is actually quite normal. Without the specially made glasses, flat images would not become three-dimensional, actions would not seem to have such threatening velocity, and we would not feel as if we were about to be hit by something horrible.

Similarly, if we put on the spectacles of ignorance, we become easily deluded and even suspicious of others. In order to protect ourselves, we actually bring a lot of unnecessary worries upon ourselves. We can simply take off the glasses, so that our inner eyes of wisdom can observe clearly. When we look at all phenomena as they truly are, we understand that worries are only illusions that we ourselves create. When we take good care of our minds, we can love all the living creatures in the world.

Many years ago, a centenarian came to visit me at the Abode of Still Thoughts. During our conversation, he said that he had a tough life when he was young. Nevertheless, he led a happy life every day because to him, hardships were opportunities for growth. Even when he was 100 years old, he could still wake up early in order to perform his morning prayers. He stressed that there was nothing worth fighting over with other people, and that he did not need much as long as he could be peaceful and safe.

It was his philosophy of joy and contentment that enabled him to remain in fine form even at his age. Because his heart was happy and content, his body was naturally in good condition.

The key to good health is not to get excessive rest, but to exercise whenever possible. However, we should be careful not to let distractions disquiet our minds; discontent always brings mental afflictions. Most people feel they only have one tenth of what they could have and crave for the remaining nine tenths. But if they only look at it from the other angle--I have ten and therefore could give one tenth of what I have to others--then, they would find contentment and the joy of unselfish giving within their hearts. If they could realize that they have more than enough, they would be willing to share one tenth of what they have with the needy, and they would be happy for doing so.

"The mind alone creates everything," taught the Buddha. Having fewer desires in our minds will free us from affliction and help open up our wisdom-eyes. So let us take good care of our minds.