Sitting sadly is a phrase often used in literature to begin a story with an emotional tone:
“Sitting sadly, I remember my mother of old!
My mouth chews rice, my tongue removes fish bones.”
(Poet Nguyen Duy)
The whole sentence means that a sad situation suddenly encounters good fortune. Here, it means that the people, suffering (sad), are fortunate to encounter a salvation opportunity, that is, to meet the Master who opened the source of the Dharma to save all beings.
Commentary on the Oracle (1975)
The word “mat” is used as follows: (1) “Shoulder carrying a woven mat, Head covered with a scarf, lying on a mat.” (2) “He only had one mat to sleep on.” (3) “In the dilapidated house, mats were the few remaining items.”
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