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Don't Let
the Elderly Feel Lonely
•Guru's
Talk•
(By
Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu)
(Translated by Cheng Yew
Chung. Edited by TBN)
I live in seclusion at Leaf Lake, away from the crowd and away
from my disciples, passing my days in loneliness. This loneliness
thus accompanies me in my everyday life. At one point, I came down
with an illness but fortunately I was sustained by my religious
faith, the Golden Mother of the Jade Pond, and by the company of the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
I write daily, cultivate daily and perform meditative walk daily.
I do not hold back any melancholic feelings, baring my heart as I
pour forth my innermost thoughts through my writing. I prefer to
take things easy, learning to let go along the way.
It is through meditation and wisdom that I am able to rise above
loneliness during my retreat. And by expressing myself through
writing, I inject meaning into my life and my existence, revealing
all of my truest self.
It is my wish that anyone who reads my books can in turn believe
in the Buddha, take refuge in his teachings, and have faith in an
accomplished teacher. I aspire to help sentient beings light up the
shadowed and darkened corners of their hearts, offering them the
right faith for cultivation. This is the very meaning of my life
here.
Hence, I am alone, yet I am not lonely, for this retreat offers
much spiritual growth, giving me needed experience and training in
my life. Yet, my thoughts go out to the many elderly people and to
those aging disciples in the True Buddha School. Their practice of
meditation and wisdom may not be sufficient to help them overcome
their loneliness.
As the Chinese saying goes, "We may not live beyond a
hundred years, yet our worries span a millennium."
As we age, we become more worried about things, and these worries
often arise from nowhere.
"Who can the aging monks and nuns in the True Buddha School
turn to for help?"
"Who shall take care of the elderly lay Buddhists in the
True Buddha School?"
I am aware that many of my early disciples are getting old and
are tormented by illness. Our school lacks the infrastructure to
care for these people. Today I can empathize with such loneliness. I
do not want the elderly to feel lonely, for loneliness is tormenting
and torturing. We cannot allow the elderly to suffer in silence and
die in agony. I would like to call upon your help to take care of
the elderly, because aging and sickness will eventually happen to
all of us.
Find ways and means to help the elderly people eradicate their
loneliness. Help them find strength in their religious faith.
Love other elders as your own.
--->回目錄
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