Sister Alice Jean shares her perspective as a resident physician and clinician and how past experiences have provided the wisdom to truly be in the present moment. She also shares how she has learned to best support her patients and others she works with. "The more we clear our minds, the brighter the light." In order to be our best selves, having a clear and open mind helps us better support and bring out the light in others.
"The mind is so powerful that just one thought determines one's journey." In this short sharing, Sister Chin Yen Foo describes how she embarked on the path of service during the challenges early on in the pandemic. Ultimately, by stepping out of her comfort zone and making the most of opportunities to serve, she was able to transcend fears and collaborate with others on the Boddhisatva path.
"How do we cultivate our light and make it shine bright like a diamond so all of us can see and benefit?" Brother Jack Fan delves into the topic of Blazing Wisdom, from The Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvas. By continuously cultivating our blessings by helping others and growing our wisdom through Dharma, we can grow our radiating light into a blazing wisdom.
Since 2010, Dr. Stephen Denq, CEO of Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, has been involved in numerous international relief efforts through TIMA (Tzu Chi International Medical Association). In his sharing, he relates the power of stories in gaining wisdom through experiences. "Through each experience, we can learn and create new ways of solving problems." By repeating experiences over time, we are able to progress on the path of wisdom.
Sister Rowena (BB) shared how a personal loss during Typhoon Haiyan embarked her on her Tzu Chi volunteering journey. She disclosed how her involvements in various Tzu Chi missions, such as the Eye Center in the Philippines, helped her recognized her blessings.
Sister Diana first joined Tzu Chi as a volunteer for an English teacher in Seattle Chinatown. Before joining Tzu Chi, Sister Diana felt that she didn't have much direction, and wasn't leading a healthy life. Sister Diana shared the story of her transformation in this podcast.
In this podcast, Brother Yang describes how we can practice the ground of radiating light. It is through purifying our minds, and illuminating ourselves and others. To do that, we want to cultivate patience for the sake of Dharma, and for sentient beings. We should try to endure hardship no matter how people treat us.
Sister Siew Ching joined Tzu Chi in 2007 through recycling, and started listening to the morning Wisdom at Dawn five years later, and also joining the water repentance sutra adaptation. The wisdom she learned helped her clarify the questions and doubts she had. Listen in to the podcast as Sister Siew Ching described her personal journey of faith, vow, and aspiration through the Tzu Chi Bodhisattva path.
What is freedom from defilement? Sister Irene shared that defilement is carrying discriminating mindset towards others, and noted the affliction that she went through before she joined Tzu Chi. Through the Dharma expounded by Master Cheng Yen, Sister Irene learned to constantly reflect to make sure that her actions pose no harm to others, her words are kind and her thoughts are pure.
To be free from defilement is to achieve a state of tranquility, and one way to achieve this is to not have discrimination towards others. Brother Pick-Wei cautioned our tendency to have pre-conceived notion towards others, pointing to an example he had in San Diego when hearing a sharing from a homeless person. He learned then that there were many conditions that led to a person being homeless, and it was not just due to a lack of motivation.
What is defilement? What is undefiled joy? How do we free ourselves from defilement and attain undefiled joy? Brother Yang summarized the second chapter of the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvas on defilement. He used various lived examples to illustrate how our body and mind are a great liability for defilement, and what the differences between defiled and undefiled joy are. He closed by sharing how we can use a daily reflection journal to train ourselves and attain undefiled joy.
"The meaning of life is not about gaining, but it's about giving. If you know how to give, you will feel happy." A Tzu Chi volunteer of 25 years, Brother William Keh shared the transformational encounters he had in Tzu Chi that taught him the spirit of joy and giving, and the meaning of life. He shared that the meaning of giving is to give up negative energy and give others positive energy. Brother Keh also shared what he learned from volunteering in international disaster reliefs, as well as observing life and death in his work in hospitals.
Brother Jason had a surgery in 2015 to remove his right kidney. He asked his doctor how to take care of his left kidney. The doctor asked him to eat less animal protein, and when Brother Jason said he was a vegetarian, the doctor smiled with great relief. Brother Jason then told the story of how he started his vegetarian journey, and the challenges and joy he experienced.
After working with a stroke patient who suffered from facial paralysis and unable to smile, Sister Vera came to the realization that despite the impermanence of life, we should all stay in the moment and continue to cultivate love and compassion.
The book used for this study group series is the ‘Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvas’. Brother Yang started the series with an explanation of the first ground, which is the ground of joy. Whether it is the giving of our strength, of material goods, or transforming others, giving always begins with a joyful and loving heart. Brother Yang closed by urging all of us to seize the moment to do good, reflecting on his experience while testing positive for COVID.
Sister Debra joined Tzu Chi in 1993, and she learned a lot from many Tzu Chi volunteers in her 31 years in Tzu Chi, participating in one capacity or another in Tzu Chi’s four missions. In her sharing, Sister Debra talked about her journey in Tzu Chi, and her vision for Tzu Chi as she is taking on the CEO role for the Tzu Chi USA this year. Through her talk, she highlighted the joy that we can celebrate from faith based innovation, and progress in women empowerment.
Why do we as a society struggle with slowing down climate change? Sister Yee Siang shared her observations from the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Beyond common understanding and consensus, she emphasized how Tzu Chi's action-oriented approach to environmentalism can help the world to implement effective efforts to protect our mother earth.
"If we know how to be content with what we have, then we can understand gratitude." Sister Linda discussed how Tzu Chi's four-ingredient spiritual soup prepared her to continue spreading kindness and compassion around the world.
What have we learned from the Path to Awakening throughout 2021? Brother Yang summarized how various Tzu Chi volunteers apply the dharma from the Path to Awakening into practice. Dharma discussed included: the Fourfold Mindfulness, Four Right Efforts, Four Bases of Fulfilling Power, Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers, Seven Branches of Enlightenment, and Eightfold Noble Path (Precept, Samadhi and Wisdom).
"I am strangely comforted by the concept that we cannot know our past karma, but we can still repent and purify ourselves of whatever we might have done." Brother Johan recounted his Tzu Chi journey since 2010. He shared how experiencing and witnessing sufferings, volunteering with various Tzu Chi chapters, and learning Master Cheng Yen's dharma changed his life. His aspiration to spread the Dharma and Tzu Chi’s spirit with people around the world will continue with his new role in the Global Partnerships Affairs Department at the CEO Office at the Abode.
