Tzu Chi has been around for sixty years; this is quite an achievement.  What is even more remarkable is how causes and conditions have  brought everyone’s energy together. 

Among the countries Tzu Chi has been established in, Taiwan and Canada  are very far apart, separated by over 12,000 kilometers. However, I  believe that “our natures are similar.” It is just that as volunteers, you  have your careers, while I have my missions. Thus, I became a monastic,  and you formed families. Everyone has formed their own families, yet  we are also part of the same family, carrying out our missions together.  The spirit of our missions is to work “for the Buddha’s teachings and  for all sentient beings.” 

Tzu Chi does not discriminate between religions. We carry the spirit  of the Buddha, but we respect all religions; there are no distinctions  in names. In different countries, different cultures produce different  names for religions, so people will say, “I am Catholic, you are  Protestant, and he is Muslim…” When we bring them all together, they  are all forms of “faith.” What all faiths share in common is one broad  and open path—love. The love that brings everyone together is “great  love.” 

You all uphold the Tzu Chi spirit of great love and have established the  Tzu Chi Great Love Garden. This garden has become a spiritual training  ground, nurturing many Bodhisattvas. I am very happy. Even though  each person has their own career or profession, in this training ground,  we all share a common aspiration. 

In modern families, those who are studying have their studies to attend  to, and those who are working have work to attend to. It is not easy  for them to spend time together. But now, with this large expanse of  land, everyone’s hearts are connected. This harmonious vitality and  affection between people manifests when they meet. 

In the Buddhist teachings, Bodhisattvas are referred to as “awakened  sentient beings.” All people have an awakened nature, but many have  lost their way. They work under the assumption that “you are you,”  “he is he,” and “I am I.” In this way, people are not connected by any  sentiment. If there are any connections between people, they are due  to possessiveness and disputes; our hearts are not united. Tzu Chi, on  the other hand, brings together causes and conditions so that everyone  shares a common goal—love. What is even more special is that we  all have the same teacher and follow the same path. Everyone listens  to me, so when doing things, there is no conflict. We work together  harmoniously to do good deeds. 

In modern society, people often say that life and work are very stressful.  In the Great Love Garden, people can adopt a flower bed and find one  or two days each week to relax. They can step on the earth and look at  the trees. They can pick some fruit and tend to the flowers and plants.  They can experience this vitality and feel the joy of cultivating the land.  Hearing about the joy people feel from cultivating the land is a form  of enjoyment for me. When people come back and share about their  “enjoyment,” I feel as if I were there myself, and though I think, “That  is the life for me,” I know I was meant to do other things. 

I remember when I went to Hsinchu, I also saw a joyful garden area  that the elderly had adopted. 

Elderly people cannot squat down easily, and getting up after squatting  is also difficult. So, Tzu Chi volunteers built frames. They raised the  vegetable beds so that the elderly could stand and plant or sit and  harvest. They even brought tall chairs for weeding. People can sit  facing each other, and they can talk. They do not gossip about family  matters. Their shared topics of conversation are always loving and  about not wanting me to worry. 

In life, those who toil work arduously, while those who enjoy leisure  are bored with their idleness. Busy people have no free time, while idle  people have no joy. What is the most joyful thing in life? Volunteering  for Tzu Chi. It is not something we do for ourselves, but for the world;  we work to benefit the world and to do things worthy of praise from all  people. Creating blessings for people benefits society. These acts are  like footprints we leave behind. We must walk the right path, create  blessings for society, and do things that carry meaning. 

I take inventory of my life every day and feel that my life is rich in value.  My disciples have gone to distant places. First, they built their careers  and stabilized their families. Now they have also carried out Tzu Chi’s  missions. Our missions are like a large family that invites everyone  to cultivate the fields together. What is important is that we have  Bodhisattva companions. All of the companions we work with are  Bodhisattvas. 

The Buddha came to this world for one great cause—to teach the  Bodhisattva Way and guide sentient beings to recognize the path  of enlightenment. The teachings say, “To learn is to awaken.” We  are now in the “stage of learning,” learning to be Bodhisattvas. We  must “learn” with a childlike heart, letting go of habitual tendencies  and eliminating discursive thoughts. And we must learn the Buddha’s  teachings with a pure mind. Learning the Buddha’s teachings cannot  be done without practicing the Bodhisattva Path. We must let go of  the worries in our hearts and learn from heaven and earth and the  human world. We must learn “gratitude, respect, and love”—this is  practicing the Bodhisattva Path. 

A person may feel, “He has been very good to me. I must be grateful.”  Or, “Why should I be grateful to you? I do not know if you have been  good to me.” In Tzu Chi, the best phrase is “gratitude.” When I see  people, I always say, “I am grateful.” When we learn to be grateful to  each other, society will be harmonious, and the human world will be at  peace. 

To bring about a pure land in this world, we must first bring purity to  people’s hearts. You bring purity to your own heart, and I bring purity  to my own heart. When the ground of our hearts is pure and clean, we  can naturally create blessings for people. This path we are walking is  the right one, but we must recognize the impermanence of life so that  we can be courageous and diligent. Several of my Canadian disciples,  who are close to my heart, have already left and then returned to this  world. They are my hope for the future. I am getting older; one day I  will also pass away, but I will be sure to return very quickly. 

When I return, there will be older brothers and sisters; the Tzu Chi  aunts and uncles will care for me, guide me onto the Bodhisattva Path,  and pass on the spirit. I hope that everyone will form aspirations and  make vows to continue in the Tzu Chi family, lifetime after lifetime,  generation after generation.