The following are excerpts from a speech delivered to Tzu Chi members on April 19, 1998.

My fellow practitioners, Amitabha!

Time really flies. Last year on April 30, we gathered together here to celebrate the thirty-first anniversary of the founding of Tzu Chi. It doesn't seem like it was very long ago. Now we are gathered here again to celebrate the thirty-second anniversary.

In the past few days, many Tzu Chi people from abroad have returned to the Abode of Still Thoughts in Hualien. The first group to come back were members from South Africa; following them were members from Argentina, Brazil, the United States, etc. These days, I have truly felt like a mother leaning against the front door and looking forward to the return of her children. The feeling was so warm and happy.

Especially in the last two or three days when you were sharing your reflections on carrying out Tzu Chi's missions in the countries where you live now, I sat in the back row in the conference hall and listened carefully. I can't describe how touched and how grateful I am to all of you, who spread the great love of Tzu Chi everywhere in the world. What you are doing is exactly what I have always intended to do. Because of you, Tzu Chi's missions can go out from Taiwan to save suffering people all over the world. I am really very grateful to you.

A Great Noble Being

Today I would like to share with you a line from the Sutra of Infinite Meaning: "All the bodhisattvas are great noble beings whose achievements have been made from precepts, meditation, wisdom, emancipation, and the wisdom to understand that they have been emancipated."

You all know that I have gained a lot from studying the Wonderful Lotus Sutra, the essence of which is the Sutra of Infinite Meaning. The Buddha expounded on the Sutra of Infinite Meaning before he lectured on the Lotus Sutra. Although the Sutra of Infinite Meaning is not long, it is broad and profound. The main spirit of the Lotus Sutra is all contained in the Sutra of Infinite Meaning.

When the Buddha preached on the Sutra of Infinite Meaning, a great number of his disciples listened to him. There were 80,000 great bodhisattvas such as Manjusri Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva, the Great Compassion Bodhisattva and others, as well as monks, nuns, laymen, celestial beings... It was a magnificent occasion.

The Buddha said that those 80,000 bodhisattvas were all great noble beings who had achieved the initial stage of enlightenment. In addition to those great noble beings, there were others who had only just resolved to become bodhisattvas. They did not have much time to search for enlightenment. If they wanted to reach the level of the great noble beings, they had to persist both in learning the Buddha's teachings and in saving all living beings from suffering.

We are very fortunate to have the chance to learn Buddhism. Whenever we listen to the Buddha's teachings, we feel very joyful. But it is not good enough to be joyful. We should also be committed to following in the Buddha's steps. The Buddha came into this world to save all living beings. What is our purpose for coming into this world? Ordinary people work hard just to get ahead and enjoy life more. However, the poor suffer and so do the rich; the ignorant suffer and the learned suffer too; the lowly suffer, but the well-to-do may suffer even more.

The Way to Leave Suffering

One day when the Tzu Chi Foundation had just been founded, I went to visit a desolate old man. I remember that his front door was wide open. I asked several times if anybody was in, but there was no response. I then asked his neighbors where he was. They told me he had gone out and would not be back until the following day. I wondered why he didn't lock the door when he was out. His neighbors quipped: "Why should he lock the door? He is so poor that even a ghost wouldn't bother to go into his house.

The following day, I visited a Tzu Chi commissioner who lived in a very rich family. There was a very high fence around her house. When I rang the doorbell, I heard dogs bark. A servant came out to lock up the dogs, but she did not open the gate right away. She had to look through the peephole to see who it was before she opened the gate. In all, it took me quite a while to get in. I told the commissioner that her house was as impregnable as an iron fortress and that it was not easy to get in. She replied, "Master, I can't help it. Public security is not very good."

That poor old man had so little, but he lived at ease. The commissioner, as rich as she was, still had to worry.

Therefore, regardless of their social status or financial condition, ordinary people cannot escape from suffering.

How can we release ourselves from suffering? The first step is to strictly observe the precepts. If you can do that, your mind will be at peace. When you have a peaceful mind, you will attain the strength of contemplation which will produce wisdom. With wisdom, you will be free from suffering.

The Way to Reach Harmony

Observing the precepts helps to prevent one from doing wrong. If one has already done something wrong, one must stop doing it immediately.

At this time last year, Pai Hsiao-yen, the daughter of a famous local TV star, was kidnapped and murdered. I stressed the importance of the precepts, in the hope that people would learn the concept that observing the precepts can prevent crimes. Although it is difficult for ordinary people not to have any impulse to do something wrong, as long as they can stop their wrongdoing in time, there is still a chance for redemption. Take Miss Pai's kidnappers as an example. If they had had just a little notion of observing the precepts and had released the girl right away, they wouldn't have had to kill themselves or be killed by the police. Unfortunately, ordinary people often stick to their bad ways even when they realize that what they are doing is wrong. They keep committing their crimes until it is too late. Then they regret it all their lives.

Observing the precepts protects not only our own minds, but other people's minds as well. When we see someone do something wrong, we have to stop him with love and patience. When he knows that he is doing something wrong and begins to feel regret for his ways, we have to encourage him and help him correct his mistakes. We must not let the sprout of goodness in his heart wither. Thus, keeping the precepts passively protects ourselves and actively helps others.

Each time someone asks me how I manage such a gigantic organization as Tzu Chi, I say that we systematize the operation of Tzu Chi with precepts and manage it with love. When everybody keeps the precepts in mind, then we already have the best system. When Tzu Chi members care about each other, the spirit of Tzu Chi is right there. That keeps the whole organization in the best shape.

Whoever observes the precepts can live at ease. He will not live in depression and regret because he did something wrong. However, he must not think, "I have done nothing wrong." A lot of social turmoil happens because too many of us think that everything is somebody else's fault.

A commissioner once told me that before she joined Tzu Chi, there had been frequent quarrels in her family. Everybody accused each other of being a troublemaker. After the whole family joined Tzu Chi, they began to apologize to each other by saying, "Sorry, it's my fault." When everybody admitted his or her own faults, the family became much more harmonious.

Therefore, we have to look after our own minds well and admit our faults to others. When everyone admits his fault, there will be no faults. That is the key to keeping an organization in harmony. I hope you will mindfully consider what I have said.

The Source of Living Water

Some people criticize Tzu Chi as being a group that only knows how to cultivate blessings but not wisdom. This is certainly a misunderstanding. We certainly want to meet the needs of our society by building hospitals and establishing colleges; but even more, Tzu Chi hopes to open wide the door to Buddhism in the hope that through charitable activities everybody can enter the ocean of the Buddha's wisdom. It's not enough just to talk about the Buddha's teachings. Instead, we should demonstrate the Buddhist spirits of kindness, compassion, joy and unselfish giving by putting what we have learned from the Buddha into practice. We can then realize our ideals of humanizing Buddhism and bringing the bodhisattvas into our daily lives.

Thirty years ago, people had two main impressions of Buddhism. One was that when people saw Buddhists chanting sutras at funeral services for the dead and praying to the bodhisattvas for blessings at the beginning of a new year or thanking them for their blessings at the end of a year, they felt it was a religion for old women. The other was that when people saw monks or nuns giving lectures on sutras whose contents had nothing to do with daily life, they felt that Buddhism was completely irrelevant to them.

My heart ached when I saw this situation. The Buddha's teachings are so complete and thorough. What a shame that people had the notion that Buddhism was either too high to reach or too vulgar to be tolerated! Therefore, I made a vow that I would guide people to enter the door of Buddhism through the door of charity and that I would make the Buddha's teachings part of our daily life.

The Tzu Chi Foundation began its charitable activities in 1966. After ten years, we had laid a solid foundation of charity work in Taiwan. I have always suffered from a congenital heart condition, and especially in 1979 I frequently had chest pains. People were very concerned and asked, "Master, as long as you are alive, there is Tzu Chi, but what should we do when you pass away?"

I was stunned by such a question. Once in a meeting with commissioners in Hualien, I observed that they were enthusiastically doing Tzu Chi work while I was alive, but I wondered what they would do after I passed away. Their answer was no less astonishing to me: "Master, as long as you work, we will follow you." In other words, they would stop when I died.

At that time, we had to look after about two thousand people. They were all desolate old people or orphans or widows. How could I let them lose all support after I passed away? So I started to think about how I could let my mortal life become an immortal life of wisdom.

At that time, my mentor, Master Yin Shun, happened to stay at the Abode of Still Thoughts for a few days. One day we were having tea together. My master said, "You have to take good care of yourself. Without good health, how can you do Tzu Chi work?"

I said, "Master, we will die anyway. I am not worried about my own body. What I am worried about is how to let Tzu Chi go on forever."

My mentor asked me how I planned to do this. I said, "I must find a way in which as long as people are willing to give love, the work of saving people will always continue."

He looked at me a moment, and then he said, "Is there such a good way in this world?"

"There must be one," I said. "Master, what if I build a hospital?"

He was astonished. "You want to build a hospital?!"

I said, "Yes, I do have such an idea. The point of a hospital is to save people. If I build a hospital, then even after I am gone the hospital will continue to save people. If there is a profit, the extra money can be used to help the poor."

I believe that building the hospital is like digging a well. As long as I can find the source of living water, I won't have to worry that the water will run out.

Love with Wisdom

Now, Tzu Chi Hospital has been built, but I am still digging that well. Where is the source of living water? It's in people's hearts.

People are born with a good nature. Everybody has love. It's just that the love is buried deep in the heart. The perfect expression of love is giving. If we can give love with wisdom, then that invisible love will be transformed into visible truth, goodness and beauty.

Recently, a Mr. Tu in Kaohsiung donated to Tzu Chi a piece of land worth NT$1.5 billion [about US$50 million]. That's a lot of money, isn't it? But he did not puff himself up. A few days ago, he came to our anniversary party and had a lot of fun. He entertained everybody by acting like a robot. Because he had rehearsed the whole day before, he really played the role well. Mr. Tu not only knows how to give, but also how to be humble. That is wisdom.

Some people are willing to give, but later they tell everybody about how much money they have donated for fear that nobody will know about their good deeds. Or they hope their master will look more favorably upon them. This is intelligence, but not wisdom. Such people make me worry. Tzu Chi's success is based on the accumulation of the love of everyone in our society. No matter how large or small the donations are, I am grateful for all of them. What I care about is not the amount of money, but the sincere love with which it is given.

The Meaning of Becoming Buddhists

Today, seventy-three people will take refuge in Buddhism. The ceremony itself is not important. The important thing is to understand the true meaning of their decision. Taking refuge in Buddhism actually means to take refuge in the Buddha, his teachings and the assembly of monks or nuns.

Taking refuge in the Buddha means comprehending the Way and being determined to follow the Buddha. Taking refuge in the Buddha's teachings means thoroughly understanding the sutras, so that our wisdom will be as vast as the sea. Taking refuge in the assembly of monks or nuns means leading all creatures without any obstacles. Truth can never depart from precepts, meditation, wisdom, emancipation, and the wisdom to understand that you have been emancipated. If you want to comprehend the Way, you must be determined to take action. It is not enough just to say, "I know the Buddha's teachings." You must give of yourself in concrete action in order to experience the wonderful truth.

I don't think you can gain a thorough understanding of the Buddha's teachings simply by listening to a master's lectures on the sutras. The true meaning of having a thorough understanding of the Buddha's teachings is that you must mindfully perceive the truth of life by dealing with people and events. The wisdom of the sutras is not stored in archives. It is stored in our hearts. We have to put what we have learned from the Buddha's teachings into practice in our daily life. In this way, our wisdom will be as vast as the sea.

As for taking refuge in the assembly of monks and nuns, we must be kind and respectful to everyone we meet. If we do this, others will be respectful to us. When we win respect from others, we will be able to lead people to do good things.

Perhaps some of you may think that you live abroad most of the time. You hope I can come to see you or that I can send some nuns to live in Tzu Chi branch offices abroad. You think that other Buddhist organizations have masters to preach the sutras, but we don't. However, you don't have to look down upon yourselves. All of you have within yourselves the intrinsic Three Treasures of the Buddha, his teachings and the assembly of monks and nuns. As long as you can take the Buddha's compassion and your master's commitment as your own, you don't have to worry that you won't make progress in your spiritual formation.

"When someone is drinking water, only he knows whether it is hot or cold." Your Master cannot tell you whether something is hot if you see the vapor, because when you open a freezer, you can also see vapor. I will encourage you to test it yourself to see whether it is hot or cold. By the same token, I hope you will experience the Buddha's teachings in your life, and not just sit there and listen to lectures.

The most important thing is that you must bring your master's spirit back to where you live now and spread the seeds of great love everywhere. If you do this, even though we will be physically far apart, our hearts will still be close together. What is the best way to do this? The best way is through harmony and love--by getting along well with each other and loving other people.

You have committed yourselves to saving people in the countries where you live now, but don't forget to save yourselves first. Why do you have to save yourselves? Because ordinary people are often troubled by the friction and gossip that are generated by dealing with people and events in the world. How can we release ourselves from such suffering? How can we live at ease?

"When you give without expecting anything in return, you can live at ease." In everything we do, we must demand more of ourselves, not others. By taking this attitude, we will be at ease. If we do anything wrong, we should reflect on ourselves instead of blaming others for it. Otherwise, we will never have peace of mind.

Since we take risks to save others whom we don't even know, it would be absurd if we could not get along well with our colleagues in Tzu Chi. We must use the precepts to correct our own faults before we can be free from anxieties. But it is not enough just to achieve our own liberation. When we see other people make mistakes, we must lovingly guide them to change their ways. Only in this way can we work harmoniously and peacefully with others.

No matter what countries you live in, I hope you are loved and respected by the local citizens. You must never think that you are still ordinary people and so it doesn't matter if you make a few mistakes and there is no hurry to change your ways. You must realize that life is short. If you don't change your ways now, it might be too late. You must constantly spread the good seeds in your hearts and pull out the bad ones right away. That is what I expect of you all.