Spread the Seeds of Love, Let Kindness
Heal the World
With good thoughts, there will be peace
and harmony in the world. Beginning on 10/13/2001, Tzu Chi
volunteers worldwide will work simultaneously to invite everyone,
regardless of race, religion, and age, to extend their loving
hands to till the field of blessings by spreading love and
healing the world together with kindness. Life is impermanent,
and the land is fragile. Due to constant natural disasters,
manmade calamities and turmoil in the world, Dharma Master
Cheng Yen grievously asked the Tzu Chi global volunteers and
the general public to work together to support this "Spread
the Seeds of Love ", a long term movement.
Connecting everyone from different parts
of the world together to create a network of kindness, the
first stage of this activity starts with "A good deed
a day keeps disasters away", which consists of involving
everyone to conduct good deeds. Immediately after the catastrophic
terrorist attack in the United States on 9/11, Tzu Chi has
been working on creating a plan to provide the means for everyone
to heal the world together. The destructive Typhoon Nari in
Taiwan accelerated the pace to carrying out this plan. Currently,
Tzu Chi has completed various aspects of the activity, which
includes public awareness, mobilizing resources work, activity
agenda and creating a musical CD. To promote this activity,
on 10/13/01 starting at 8:30 AM, Tzu Chi volunteers together
with their relatives and friends all over Taiwan will visit
and share with their neighbors the "Cards of Blessings"
and the CD of the "Songs of Blessings" to call for
a more gentle world.
This continuous activity is estimated to
gather the kindness and compassion of thousands of people.
May their prayer and wishes be sent to all individuals who
are in need of peace and security. At 7:30 that same evening,
candle light vigils will be held simultaneously at the Tzu
Chi branch offices in Taipei, Tai Chung, Kaohsiun, and Hualien.
Through music, poetry, songs, and speeches, people of various
religious backgrounds, social status, and non-profit organizations
will express their respect toward nature and their appreciation
of all beings/life. The evening program will conclude with
the candle light vigil and the chiming of the peace bell.
At that same time, Tzu Chi volunteers in the US will accompany
the family members of the 9/11 victims and arrive at the Ground
Zero Site of the World Trade Center to pay their respect,
send their prayers, and turn their sorrow into unconditional
love.
All beings share the same karma! Master
Cheng Yen solemnly spoke of the peace that arise from people's
kindness, and the disasters that are created from people's
evil thoughts. Everyone should cherish and preserve the land
with utmost respect, and sincerely repent all wrong doings.
Dissolve past karma with understanding and tolerance, and
create blessings with contentment and gratitude. Uncover the
pure and selfless nature of all people with actions of kindness.
To promot the "Spread the Seeds of Love, Let Kindness
Heal the World" movement, all Tzu Chi volunteers will
visit and give to people of the community the "Cards
of Blessings" and the CD of the "Songs of Blessings".
The cards consist of poems entitled "A Catastrophic Explosion",
"Courageous Sacrifices", "Natural Disasters",
" Manmade Calamities", " Crying Out in Pain",
" Let Us Pray", and "Spread the Seeds of Love".
On the inside cover is the drawing of "The Buddha Purifying
the World" that depicts the Buddha healing the globe
and purifying the human realm. The CD package contains the
songs "Spread Love in the World", "Let Us Pray",
and "There is No One Whom I Cannot Love, Trust, nor Forgive",
the lyrics of the songs and an information card. These songs
are being translated into English, Turkish, Japanese, and
Spanish in hopes of allowing this program of kindness to touch
the lives of all people around the globe.
Ray Wang, the author of the "Cards
of Blessings" and the deputy executive officer, stated
that people are lost in the turmoil of the natural and manmade
disasters. "We hope to amend the harms and suffering
caused by the disasters and help the victims to regain the
strength to stand up again…" This is the ultimate
goal of the "Spread the Seeds of Love" movement.
"We are benefiting and enjoying what our ancestors have
done for us, and we should do the same for our children. This
is an activity not for Tzu Chi Taiwan, but for everyone in
the world. The 'Songs of Hope' CD is basically to heal the
pain of the damaged earth and to purify people's minds of
greed and anger," Sou-Cheung Lee, the famous musical
composer, emphasized.
"To respect and save life is what Tzu
Chi has worked hard on for the past thirty-five years. It
is also Tzu Chi's responsibility to nurture and maintain everyone's
wisdom," said Mr. Wang, who especially emphasized that
this is not a one-day activity, but a long-term, daily exercise
that everyone should participate. One can start with oneself
and gradually spread it to the family, friends, neighbors,
and community. The activity uses "A good deed a day keeps
disasters away" as a starting point. In the following
stages, Tzu Chi will hold other events with a series of different
topics and corresponding contents.
If each person, on a daily basis, speaks
a good word, sings a good song, practices a good deed, and
fosters a good thought, by end of each month, it will add
up to thirty good thoughts and good deeds. This is the best
blessing for oneself and for the world. We sincerely invite
everyone to join us and participate in this event.
