Well, as for those who knows me well, reading definitely is not my hobby. If I do read, I will read those stuff which related to my studies in order to help me gained more knowledge…
But since I very free these days, I took out a book which have been left in my book shelf for ages, it my birthday present given by my god bro and his wife. Hm… I this the last time I read that book was a year ago? Erm…. Maybe…
The title of the book is ‘Master of Love and Mercy: Cheng Yen’ written by Yu-ing Ching. One day, Yu-ing Ching was called up by member of Concerned Group in Tzu Chi, asking her to write a biography of Master Cheng Yen, who is the mother superior of Buddhism. This is a book that shares all her thought and experience for the 1st time she gets to know about the Master and Tzu Chi Foundation.
I just finished my chapter 4 and I couldn’t wait to share the chapter 3. It goes like this:
It’s December when the write and her husband visit to Taipei. When they entered the hotel lobby, they were surrounded by Christmas trees, the lighting and decoration makes them homesick. They miss Christmas at home. But after that day, they have different thoughts.
They were met by a number of Commissioners of the Foundation that day and started their journey to visit the one of the contributors and receivers. (FYI, the Foundation receives money from contributors and gives to the poor) Their journey has begun, the brighter side of Taipei began to diminish and the darker side came into view. When they reached the entrance of a narrow alley, the van could go no further. Along the alley, they saw men, women and children were standing and squatting in front of their homes, washing or cooking or doing other chores in the rain. There was a foul smell, and the noise was ear-shattering. They stopped at one of the building and knocked on the door. It opened slowly, the rusty hinges grinding in protest.
They were greeted by a neatly dressed woman who introduced herself as a govt social worker. They walked in a narrow hallway and a commissioner guided them into a room no larger than eight by eight feet.
A woman was lying on a cotton mat. She smiled up at them, rolling er head from side to side, she squealed out a series of sounds. Yu-ing could not understand her, but the Tzu Chi commissioners could; they have been visiting her so often that they had learned to make sense of the noises that were unintelligible to her ears.
Mrs. Wen (one of the commissioners) interpreted for her, “Lin-mei Chai says that she is very happy to us, and that she always looks forward to our twice-a-month visit.”
Mrs. Wen introduced Lin-mei to Yu-ing. Her black hair was cut short, showing a few strands of gray. “LM is 55yrs old,” Mrs. Wen said. “At the age of 2 she had polio. At age 35 her parents died and she began to live with her younger brother and his wife. At the age of 43 she suffered from rheumatic fever. The fever raged for days. Her brother and his wife ignored her condition, resenting have to take care of her. As a result of the burning fever, she lost her ability to speak intelligibly. But she can continue to think clearly, and always knows what is going on.”
Once again, Lin-mei(LM) started to roll her head, her mouth working, and she squealed out something. Mrs. Wen translated for the writer again, “she is trying to say that she missed the day where she could speak well, but does not hold any bad feelings towards her brother and his wife… who had not been by to see her for a long time.”
It was a surprised to the writer when she was told by Mrs. Wen that Tzu Chi is not supporting LM at all. Then Mrs. Wen started to tell the writer:
The Foundation first discovered LM in 1986; she was deserted by her brother and left to die in a shack. The Foundation member helped in many ways including teaching her Buddhism. When they show her a picture of Master Cheng Yen, tears poured out of her eyes and her whole body shock. She then reached with both hands to bring the picture to her heart. She held the picture there for a long time and finally when letting go of the picture there was a beautiful peaceful smile on her face.
The Govt was unaware of her existence at that time. The Foundation brought her to this rooming house, and started to provide for her at the cost of NT$3,600 per month (equivalent of about USD 150).
In 1989, Govt was able to put LM on the list of the needy. Ever since then, LM has been receiving a monthly allowance and daily visit by a social worker who cooks for her and takes care of the rest of her needs. Another surprised for writer is that as soon as LM received governmental help, she informed the Foundation and she no longer need their money. Of course, if she willing to accept help from both parties at the same time, she would be able to live much better and the Foundation is still willing to help her, but she insists that her share of the Foundation fund should be used on others who are in worse shape then her.
to be continued….
Special moment in our lifetime?
yoyo… i’m back… when was my last post? oh man,i cant even remember it….
nth much today, just hv smth to crap on… (since i’m too free tonight)
received an email this evening, is regarding our coming Friday, 7th Aug 2009. there’s high possibility tat it only happen to us ONCE in our lifetime…
On 7th August 2009, at the time of 12hr 34min & 56sec, it will be:
12:34:56 07/08/09 ——-> 123456789
some ppl might think tat this is a SPECIAL moment, trying to make it a memorable time forever… fo eg: enjoy the fullest with their love one? make it a special moment with their love one? with family? i’m wondering ~~~ is there any1 trying to propose to their sweetheart at tat time? if there is, it would be the perfect time & date….
hmm…. for me, my life still going on like normal, nth special will happen no matter is am or pm… for AM, i definitely will be on my bed, in my dream instead??? for PM, i think it’s worse… i’ll be in the office…. SIEN-ing there…. or waiting for lunch time with my sleepy mind…. haihz…. forget bout it!
Oh ya, come back to the topic, when i told my dad bout the date, he also gave me back another special date. but it will be 80 yrs later…
On 6th July 2089, time: 1hr 23min 45sec, it will be:
01:23:45 6/7/89 ———> 0123456789
Actually time is still time, just depend on how u judge it. maybe few weeks later i will get an0ther mail regarding 9th Sept pulak… smth like 09:09:09 09/09/09 (9th Sept 2009, time 9hr 9min n 9sec)… SPECIAL??? then every yr will hv a special date n time till 2012. smth like 10:10:10 10/10/10…… 12:12:12 12/12/12. there’s no Month 13 in the calendar, if not it will be continued…. i believe other than those i stated out, there are still a lot of special combination.
k la, it’s the end of my crap here… never really write a blog since i started to work… erm… 6months + few days… wow~ HALF year d ler…. but really TIRED…. look forward for a nice rest, a holiday? an oversea trip? this is wat i wish for at the moment…. hehe
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on August 4, 2009 at '23:19' Leave a Comment