(Photo by Lai Tong Heng)
Human has paid a high price in this pandemic and must also learn a lesson from it. We should stop committing evil deeds, engage in good deeds and adopt a vegetarian diet for society's benefit.
In this wave of viral outbreak, people are filled with mixed, complicated feelings. We look forward to receiving good news every day and hope that the confirmed cases will decrease so we feel at ease. However, we still cannot relax our tight measures since the transmission of the current variant virus is more vigorous, and we have to be more cautious to prevent a rebound of cases.
Thanks to our medical system for being committed and responsible during this period. It has been very tough for the healthcare providers who have worked round the clock with love and affection to protect lives. However, during sharing sessions, they did not mention their hardship but only their willingness to contribute more. No matter how tired they were, they were still persistent regardless of how much time they had spent. When receiving gratitude from the patients, I believe that the health care providers also feel that they are contributing their ability for the betterment of others - this is the core value of life.
Tzu Chi's Mission of Charity has made more commitments to provide assistance and actively shown concern to people in need. Schools have been suspended, but students are still attending lessons. Volunteers have organised second-hand computers and provided them for children who cannot afford the device, allowing children to continue with their studies at home. Besides, some people have lost their jobs or are receiving reduced pay due to decreased working hours. Tzu Chi has tried to be considerate and done its best to deliver living supplies as well as fruits and vegetable boxes to those affected so the parents can feel at ease.
During this worldwide pandemic, the Mission of Charity is gaining experience every day and has trained their level of ability to take up more and more responsibility. They are grateful that they can make their life worthwhile, and they hope for more people to join the force so that Tzu Chi can gather more strengths to contribute to the world.
Human has paid a high price in this pandemic and must also learn a lesson from it: turn fear into education and think about ways to educate people. Between teaching and receiving, we have to let the public know the truth and learn to stop doing evil and engage in good deeds, adopt a vegetarian diet, and combine the power of kindness to bring benefits to society.
In the past, perhaps we always thought that incidents in nature have nothing to do with us. We tended to compete with time every day and hoped to make more money and gain greater benefits to lead a more comfortable material life. While satisfying our desires, we are involved in karmic acts. The pandemic is still ongoing today, and if you observe the situations in various countries, you will find that it has confirmed what Buddha said: life is suffering. Please try to stop our desires for a while and think about why the pandemic has happened. Stop pursuing too much material pleasures and pollution will be reduced. We can learn to be contented and grateful by restraining our physical, verbal and mental greed and preventing ourselves from wasting. We have to know that we can stop doing evil and start engaging in good deeds to accumulate good karma from time to time.
In order to satisfy the appetite of humans, animals are confined to a small space to grow. They lose their freedom and wait to be killed, the dead animals are then hung upside down and chosen at customers' will. Subsequently, they will be cut into pieces, put in boiling-hot pots and served to people - that is such a cruel thing!
If we eat four taels (about 151.2 grams) of meat, we have to return it with half catty (about 300 grams) - we will have to repay what we have taken. If we continue consuming animals, all mankind will have to suffer together. Taking animals' lives to satisfy our appetites has made our hearts narrow until we cannot see and feel the suffering of animals completely. Let us open up our hearts, protect animals and live in harmony with all creatures. You will find the world infinitely broad!
Stop consuming lives with our mouths. Instead, use our mouths to tell the truth to others and sincerely urge people to become vegetarians. We can start cultivating our confidence and will so we can be more influential when we speak. We have to believe that we can do it and subsequently persuade others to do it. We have to shoulder the responsibility at this moment and move forward bravely and steadily. If we just stand still, time will pass in vain.
The pandemic is still ongoing, and the future remains unknown. Being worried and afraid is not helpful. The most important thing is to remember that this is a great lesson - a major course to test all mankind and a second chance for humans to start all over again. If we can reduce our desires and treasure lives, the pandemic will eventually subside. Please show more concern on this issue!
Translated by Ong Chia Mian
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