文／澳洲宝林禅寺禅修班学员　Alsa Wu（吴玥）

　　I always used to think that charity was something materialistic – the donation of money and objects.

　　In reality, charity is much more than that. It is something that anyone could do, at any time, anywhere. There are so many varieties of charity, just to list a few:

● Lending someone a hand
● Helping someone to solve their problem
● Making someone smile
● Being kind and caring to someone
●Giving someone a compliment/encouragement
●Bringing happiness/optimism/hope to someone’s life
● Inspiring someone
● Protecting someone
● Loving someone

　　Surely, there are so many more things that could be done, and certainly, we all could do countless things everyday. It’s not a matter of how big or significant the ‘charity’ is, but how often you do them. As a human being, I think that is the least of what we could do, to be grateful for the lives that we all live.

　　Realising this has changed me completely. For everything I do, I would consider if it is the ‘kind’ thing to do, something that I wouldn’t be ashamed of afterwards. In the past, I had done so many things that I regret; mainly because I didn’t think about it carefully, in this way at that time. Now that I have changed, I feel like a different person.

　　Thank you for teaching me, not only this but so many other things. I remember not so long ago, believing that Buddhism would never become a part of my life. It hasn’t been that long, but I have already gained so many benefits from it. I am ever so grateful of the people around me, especially my mum, for opening up this whole new perspective of life. I know I still have a very long way to go, but I am determined to let Buddhism become a part of my life. Around the start of last year, I was going through a very rough time, because of many things that were happening in my life. The worst thing was that it almost felt like there was nothing more to look forward to in life. When things got out of hand, I would panic and believe that it was the end of the world. Now that I have Buddhism as something that I could believe in, no matter what I’m going through, I know for a fact that everything is going to be okay, because I am trying my best. In the past, I thought I had faith, but it was very easily lost. Buddhism has brought me a new kind of faith. I have faith in myself, the people around me, and the things that I do.

　　You have no idea how grateful I am for being introduced to Buddhism, for the people and things around me that I love, and for the beautiful life that I live. Thank you; this is from the deep bottom of my heart.

　　（以前，我总认为布施是物质方面的，不是捐钱就是捐赠物品。

　　实际上，布施不仅是如此。布施是任何人在任何时间、任何地方都可做的。布施的方式有很多，例如：协助他人，帮助别人解决困难，带给别人欢笑，善待他人、关心他人，赞赏、鼓励他人，带给他人快乐、乐观和希望，正向地激励他人，保护他人，关爱他人……。

　　当然，还有其他许多事可以做；事实上，我们每天能做的数也数不尽。“布施”不在于它有多重大，而在于你是否经常做善事。身而为人，我想，至少我们所能做的，就是在我们的生活之中心存感恩。

　　觉察到这一点，让我彻底地改变了自己。我对于所做的每一件事，都会思惟这是否是一件“善事”？我做了之后是否会感到羞耻？过去，我做了许多让自己遗憾的事，最主要的原因在于当时没有仔细地考量自己所做的事。现在，我改变了，觉得自己就像变了一个人似的。

　　谢谢你们不仅教导我“布施”这一件事，还有许多其他的事情。不久前，我还认为佛教绝不会变成我生命中的一部份。但是，没过多久，我已经从中获益良多。我感恩身边所有的人，特别是我的母亲，她为我开启了生命的新契机。我知道，我还有很长的路要走，但是我下定决心，要让佛法成为我生命中的一部份。大约是在去年初，在我身上发生了许多事，让我处于一个非常艰难的时期。最糟的是，我甚至感到人生没有前景。当事情超出我所能掌控的范围时，我便慌乱了，而且认为那就是世界末日。现在，我相信佛法的道理，因此无论经历什么事情，我知道一切都会没事，因为我尽了最大的努力。过去，我以为我有信仰，但那些信仰很容易消逝。佛教带给我另一种新的信仰：我相信自己、身边的人，以及我所做的事。

　　你们绝对无法想像，我有多么感恩能够接触到佛法，我也感恩周遭的人事物，以及美好的人生。我打从心底谢谢你们。）