It is the 41st anniversary of Tzu Chi Foundation. The Tzu Chi Singapore Branch held a static exhibition and a series of activities to coincide with the celebration of Tzu Chi’s 41st anniversary, month of May’s “Bathing the Buddha” festival, Mother’s day and Global Tzu Chi day. From 27th of March, the volunteers from the Northeast district organized an eight days “Spreading the Seeds of Love” activity to invite neighborhood residents to visit the exhibition.

Prior to the opening of Anniversary exhibition, Tzu Chi volunteers actively push for "Recruiting more living bodhisattvas", gathering team members from different groups to do “Spreading the Seeds of Love” and promotional activities in the neighborhood.

Volunteers set out for the “spreading the seeds of love” activity in the neighborhood of Tzu Chi branch office after work.

After every activity, volunteers will meet in small groups to share experiences and do feedbacks, so that the next promotional activity will be more successful.

Spreading seeds of love in the district

The Tzu Chi Singapore Branch has been established for fourteen years. Its mission is to bring more living bodhisattvas into this field of blessings. Starting from 27th of April, the volunteers from the Northeast district organized an eight days “Spreading the Seeds of Love” activity and invited neighboring community to visit its 41st Anniversary exhibition.

The first three days of “Spreading the Seeds of Love” activity was held in Sengkang, Tampines and Hougang. In the following five days, all of the volunteers from the Northeast district were mobilized to spread the seeds of love in Pasir Ris community. Every team, consisting of two to three volunteers, did door to door visitations. These visitations were focus on flats near those of the Tzu Chi volunteers’. The eight-day activity mobilized 122 volunteers and visited a total of up to 57 blocks of flat residents.

The toughest part is taking the first step

For a lot of volunteers, this was their first experience with door to door visitation. Normally, there will be laughter and conversations when everyone gathers for activities. However, nervousness sets in with the thought of meeting strangers behind every door.

Even though Sister Lan An Ni from the reception group regularly introduce Tzu Chi to the visitors of Jing Si Hall and is quite experienced in dealing with the public, she expressed that she feels rather timid when spreading the seeds of love. “The visitors to Jing Si Hall are all people with interest in Tzu Chi and hence, are easy to communicate with. What will be the reactions in the case of the residents?” “Normally, I ignored those who knocked on the door. Now that I am in their shoes, I worried that the residents will not be receptive,” said Sister An Ni.

Although everyone was feeling nervous and insecure, with one another’s encouragement and accompaniment, everyone boosted their courage and took the first step. Clothed in blue and white uniforms and set up with a friendly mind-set, these bodhisattvas meander through the corridors of flats, bringing blessings to the residents. The one and a half hours activity ended rapidly. Everyone gathered at the homes of those volunteers who lived nearby to share their experiences and thoughts.

“The hardest part is taking the first step.” The CEO of Tzu Chi Singapore, Brother David Liu once said this during a Spiritual Sharing Session for the committee members in the 4 in 1 volunteer structure. Without a doubt, after this round of “Spreading the Seeds of Love”, everyone conveyed that it was not as tough as they had thought it would be.

“Initially, it was a bit scary. However, by viewing the residents as my friends and presenting good things to them, no matter their response, I am happy.”  Sister Lan Gui Feng shared her experience, feeling that since she was not targeting sales, she did not feel any stress.

Sister Lan An Ni overcame her psychological barrier in this second experience with “Spreading the Seeds of Love” and found her confidence. She described how she was “forced” from being the one who gave out flyers “hiding behind her friends’ back” to becoming one who can communicate with the public. This is a joyful matter.

What happened was that when she went for her second “Spreading the Seeds of Love”, her teammates gave the excuse that they were tired and forced her to speak to the residents. Thus, she overcame her psychological barrier. From one who had originally decided not to participate in anymore of the visitations, she gladly promised everyone that she will continue to participate in the following rounds. Those who were there were extremely happy for this “senior bodhisattva”.

Face every being with an ordinary heart

For the eight days of “Spreading the Seeds of Love” visitations, the volunteers went door to door, facing people from different walks of life, races, religion and ages, experiencing a myriad of emotions in the process.

“Some residents were very cold towards us.  But there were also warm-hearted residents that invited us into their homes to rest. Most encouraging was that there were kind residents who felt our diligence and gave us water for our thirst.” Sister Zhang Ci Yin said.

Master Cheng Yen said, “Everyone is different, defined by their habits.” To really learn, one must socialize, approach everyone as a doorway we have to enter, understand their habits and hence knowing how to introduce them to Tzu Chi. “To open our door to the public, we have to minimize the idea of one. This is a kind of learning.”  Sister Xiao Ci Li said in the last day of the activity, expressing that “Spreading the Seeds of Love” is really practicing the spirit of Tzu Chi. No matter what the residents thought of Tzu Chi, filled with friendliness or remoteness, Tzu Chi people took it all with an ordinary heart, embracing everything with a modest mien. Facing whatever happens immovably and not be influenced by anything, keeping a clear and peaceful heart.

In their communication with the residents, the volunteers found out that a lot of people, especially those from Pasir Ris, often passed by Jing Si Hall without knowing what activities are held inside. These people thought that it was a temple and some even thought that it was a place for keeping cremation urns. Perhaps Singapore’s pace of living is too fast and people do not have time to stop and enjoy the sceneries. In addition, some have heard of Tzu Chi, but did not know how to join in.

Fortunately, because of the visiting Tzu Chi members, many residents said that they will visit Jing Si Hall. These responses galvanized the volunteers, changing the view of those who were skeptical. Everyone feels that the “Spreading the Seeds of Love” visitation has room for improvements and agrees that this should be a long term endeavor. Everyone believes that if they continue to sow these seeds of love, when the time is right, people will come forward to join us.

Spreading Seeds of Love Both Internally and Externally

The visitation movement is actually quite different from the usual activities. It needed a longer time of investment. The activity at Northeast district took two weeks. Most of the volunteers rushed over to Jing Si Hall after work and set out with their comrades. Some even skipped their meals.

Even so, not one expression of tiredness can be seen. Happiness and satisfaction of working with like-minded people shone on their faces. Everyday after the activity, everyone shared their experiences, gaining a deeper understanding of each other. Brother Guo Jiyi said that everyone rarely has the chance to gather together and during this activity, seeds of love can also be spread internally, increasing the team’s cohesiveness.