Starting Spiritual Practice
Must people suffer before learning to help each other?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
We need not wait for suffering before helping. Seeing people contribute while everyone struggles is moving, but I hope goodwill can be practiced ordinarily rather than remembered only after something happens.
During the pandemic, Dao Xuan described shops closing with no income yet continuing rent, and news of hotels offering space to assist. I was moved by willingness to understand society’s needs and support one another in hardship, revealing human warmth and goodness.
Yet this also felt regrettable: why must suffering precede expression of the soul’s beautiful side? I therefore reminded everyone to sustain mutual help in ordinary times. Thank others’ contributions and consider what you can do too.