December 2008 Issue No. One Hundred Sixty-Two

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1) A Bodhisattva is a volunteer for sentientbeings, while a volunteer is a bodhisattva for theworld

As said in a sutra, “If you wish to become a dragon orelephant

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of Buddhism, you must ﬁrst learn to serve sentientbeings like the horse and ox.” This is a demonstration of abodhisattva’s kind heart and compassionate vows. Therefore, aso-called bodhisattva is one who is willing to beneﬁt sentientbeings and aspires to initiate the

bodhicitta

that vows to “reachupwards for buddhahood, and backtrack to deliver sentientbeings” as a result of becoming awakened to the truths of suffering, emptiness and impermanence. Whether monastic orlay, noble or poor, anyone who ﬁts the above criteria can becalled a bodhisattva. On the other hand, once a person hasvowed to develop the

bodhicitta

and is willing topractice the bodhisattva path, he or she willcertainly be willing to serve others and be avolunteer for all sentient beings.The Four Great Bodhisattvas of Buddhismall served sentient beings as volunteers. Forexample, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva traced thesounds of cries, relieved the distressed and letthem become fearless; thus he was the mostcompassionate volunteer of all. ManjusriBodhisattva inspired sentient beings’ minds withwisdom; thus he was the wisest volunteer of all.Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva vowed to “never attainBuddhahood until all beings are freed from hell,”and “to delay the attainment of enlightenment until all sentientbeings are delivered;” thus he was the volunteer with thegreatest aspiration. Samantabadhra Bodhisattva realized his tenvows based on sentient beings, as a cultivation practice for all;thus he was the volunteer with the greatest ascetic practice.Other than the above, many Buddhist masters alsodedicated their lives to the continuance of the Buddha’swisdom and propagation of Dharma. For example, Nagarjunawrote several

sastras

and commentaries to propagateMahayanaBuddhism; Aryadeva refuted false views andrevealed the righteous Dharma; Asanga changed his brotherwho like him, transferred from the small vehicle to the greatervehicle; Vasubandhu conquered the heretics with his writingsin place of a sword; and Asvagosha voiced the truth with hispoems and songs. Their selfless devotion to volunteering todeliver sentient beings also brought a ray of hope into thisworld, and dispelled its darkness.The Buddha’s disciples such as Sariputra,Maudgalyayana and Purna volunteered their wisdom,supernatural power and eloquence to help the Buddha expoundhis teachings. Aniruddha was not afraid of the harsh weathersand traveled to places to resolve disputes and arbitratedbetween monastics. Bhiksu Tuo-piao received and attended totraveling monastics for decades, and attained an illuminatingfinger as a result of his volunteer works.If one takes a look at the Buddhist texts, one will findthat many Ch’an Masters had vowed to devote all theirlifetimes to serving sentient beings. For example, Ch’anMaster Wei-shan Ling-yu vowed to be reborn as a bull so thathe can help people pull their carts; Chao-chouvowed to be reborn in hell so that he can savesentient beings from it. Some also dedicated theirwhole life to labor and ascetic practice withoutany regret. Ch’an Master Xue-feng served as headof rice cooking under his master Dong-shan;Ch’an Master Xiao-cong served as head of lightsand candles under his master Yun-ju; Ch’anMaster Ji-shan served as head of firewood underhis master Tou-zi; Ch’an Master Yi-huai served ashead of latrine cleaning under his master Cui-feng; Master Dao-yuan served in the kitchen of Tian Tong Temple for sixty years, and even laidout mushrooms underneath the scorching sun todry them. Such spirits of “wishing only for the liberation of sentient beings, not for the comfort and happiness of oneself”is a perfect demonstration of a volunteering bodhisattva.Throughout the many generations of Buddhists, manymonastics widely practiced benevolent actions and madetremendous contributions to social welfare. Be it buildingbridges and paving roads, planting trees and afforestation,digging wells, setting up pavilions that served tea, protectingand freeing life, providing medical treatment to the poor,emergency relief aids, building temples and offering shelters,establishing orphanages and senior’s homes, setting uphospitals, giving charity, setting up free schools, or teachingthe proper and true faith, they have done countless good deedsto benefit their community.

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2008 BLIA Conference Keynote Speech: Bodhisattva and Volunteer (II)

Master Venerable Hsing Yun

Buddha’s Light Newsletter

They had unshakeable belief inthe fact that the signiﬁcance of working lies in broadeningone’s horizons, serving people,and even bringing the value of life to a higher plain. Therefore,what else can be better thanvolunteering one’s work andlabor?Not only were bodhisattvas andmonastics happy to bevolunteers for sentient beings,many rulers and kings also didthe same throughout the courseof Buddhist history.Magadha’s Asoka III set up medical storages at allfour gates of the city for his people and monastics. Everyday,he would make offerings of one thousand units of money tothe construction of stupas and statues, one thousand to seniorbhiksus, ten thousand to the monastic community, and tenthousand for purchasing medical supplies. He also plantedtrees on the sides of the roads and dug wells to enabletravelers a place to recover from the hot weather. As the rulerof a nation, King Asoka served his people as a volunteer andenabled them a steady and peaceful life, also allowing hisnation to prosper.

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The Father of Japanese Buddhism, Prince Shotokuencouraged his people to have faith in the Triple Gem. InOsaka’s Shitennoji constructed by him, he included courtssuch as the Hiden-in, Kyoden-in, Ryobyo-in, and Seyaku-into provide free medical consultation, shelter and relief aids tothe poor and needy.Emperor Liang from the Chinese Southern andNorthern dynasty was a pious Buddhist. Not only did hestudy Buddhism intensively and observed the BodhisattvaPrecepts, he even served at Tong Tai Temple on three separateoccasions despite his noble position as an emperor. Thus hewas given the title, “a bodhisattva emperor.” From this, wecan see that just as long as one possesses the bodhisattvaspirit and is willing to serve others, one can be named abodhisattva king, or even a bodhisattva minister, bodhisattvadoctor, or bodhisattva teacher. Volunteer firefighters andpolice are also manifestations of the bodhisattva.I used to urge that “everyone be a police,” so thatthey can help the police to keep order in a society overflowingwith chaos and problems. The best way for a nation or societyto improve is for everyone to be a police. A police is like aguardian who also shows the bodhisattva spirit. Therefore,not only are compassion and initiative required to practice thebodhisattva path, one also needs to do so with activeness andbravery.The BLIA is an organization that strives to realize thebodhisattva path and practice the Buddha’s way. Ever sinceits establishment, not only have our members volunteeredtheir services at the temples by helping out in the kitchen,answering telephone calls, receiving guests, directing traffic,sweeping and cleaning up, doing paperwork, computerediting, poster design, and publicity and liaising, they havealso volunteered themselves in social service across differentsocial strata.Recently, the kind deeds of the BLIA have beenregularly reported by the media; for example, the “LovingMums” who help school children cross the road were muchappreciated by the parents; the volunteers at hospitals whohelp patients register themselves have assisted countlesselders; the “Friendship and Love Service Team” went toremote areas to provide free medical consultation and sparedmany families from pressures of having to pay for medicaltreatment; and the Humanistic Buddhist Reading Associationhas spread the fragrance of reading to many families.Other activities such as tree-planting, the SevenAdmonitions Campaign, Carnival for Special Students, PaperRecycling Activities, and visits to prisons and drugrehabilitation centers have all been actively promoted byBLIA members and volunteers.In particular, the demeanor, manner, speech, sacrificeand contribution demonstrated by BLIA members during theirvolunteer activities have won much recognition. For example,members of BLIA, Los Angeles received a special request tobe the traffic directing volunteers at a United Nationsgathering that was held in Los Angeles; many governmentorganizations also made requests to BLIA, Chunghwa torecommend female members to help out at their events asvolunteers.In my opinion, regardless of the type and importanceof the event, just as long as it is of benefit to the public,BLIA has the obligation to volunteer themselves. It is alsoBLIA members’ mission to be volunteers who act like athread that links all types of good causes and conditionstogether, and offer their part in establishing a Humanisticpureland.In general, to be a volunteer signifies the dedicationof one’s life; it is the offering of one’s strength, time andgoodwill. Therefore, a volunteer is a bodhisattva practitionerwho integrates both understanding and practice of theDharma. When confronted with a life of suffering, emptinessand impermanence, people normally pray to buddhas andbodhisattvas to bless them in times of hardship andhopelessness. The truth is, Buddhism’s volunteers are like thethousand-hand-and-thousand-eye bodhisattva who serves onbehalf of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Therefore, there aresurely no words that fully match the praise of a bodhisattva tosay “a bodhisattva is a volunteer for sentient beings, while avolunteer is a bodhisattva for the world.”

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Buddha’s Light Newsletter

Orlando YAD hosted their annualThanksgiving Potluck on Sunday, November 23,2008. The purpose of this event was to givethanks for what we have and to spend quality timewith all members of the Temple. Venerable ChuehFan and Venerable Chueh Yan also attended thefestivities. Everyone brought delicious vegetarianfood which included baked pasta with spinach,cheesy potato casserole, fried rice, stir-fry, lentilsoup, cookies, brownies, bananas and homemadepastries. Games were played after dinner.Venerable Chueh Fan joined in on a friendly gameof Pictionary. There were many laughs throughoutthe whole night and memories were created. Itwas a successful event which brought YAD,BLIA members, and other volunteers of thetemple closer together.

YAD THANKSGIVING POTLUCK

THANKSGIVING POTLUCK

Emily Liu