Don`t Let the Elderly Feel Lonely

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.