Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

[Master’s Teaching]
How fast time flies; the Chinese New Year will soon be upon us.

Night turns into day, spring into summer and autumn into winter. As one day in our life passes, so we have lost a day. As one year passes, so we have lost a year. As the sutras often say, ‘with the passage of a day, our life is slipping away’. As we tear off one page from the calendar, so 24 hours have gone. Have we increased our blessings and knowledge, have we improved our karma?

One year, one hundred years, one thousand years, ten thousand years – all are counted in minutes and seconds. Time is as precious as a diamond. Each day, each second reminds me – there is no time.

Birth, old age, sickness and death are all in the natural order of things. The unexpected cannot be predicted and can happen at any time. ‘It is too late, it is too late’ is the feeling in my heart. It always reminds us that we must act quickly to do good. In recent years, the world has been afflicted by natural disasters of increasing intensity -- this has made my feeling stronger. I hope everyone will not become lazy but seize the moment of their good health and their own time to cleanse their heart and make use of their good nature to work for the benefit of others.

The time of disasters is a time to create blessings.
Start by giving love – for every difficulty, there are ten chances to help
Persistence and a good heart -- make your heart in harmony and be devout and disciplined
Utilise your strength – use your heart and your strength and make use of every second
As space is infinite, so my will has no limits: express the will of the heart and create innumerable blessings and turn ‘time has run out’ into ‘there is still time’.