20150605人間菩提 ~ 知苦覺醒悟真諦 The Path to Truth: The Law of Suffering
Every day I mention the imbalance of Mother Nature. Right now in China, bands of heavy rains have caused severe flooding. This shows the imbalance of the water element.
We also see news of a cruise ship that capsized on the Yangtze River in Hubei Province. Yesterday afternoon, authorities said that they are going to upright the ship.
Local residents gathered together last night for a candlelight vigil to pray sincerely. I hope that there are more survivors and the operation to upright the ship will be successful. At the time of accidents, many people show their kindness and care.
We also see that days of heavy rain have brought flooding in New Zealand. The government says that this is a result of climate change and should not be undermined.
This is a natural disaster, but there is also a disease outbreak. Recently in South Korea, there is an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which is similar to the SARS outbreak a few years ago. I still remember that in Taiwan at that time, everyone wore a face mask because SARS is reportedly to be very contagious, but did not have such a high mortality rate.
Although MERS is an infectious disease that spreads slower than SARS, once being infected, the likelihood to die is very high. For so many days now in South Korea, the public has been on heightened alert.
Indeed, we need to be on the watch and take good care of our hygiene practices in our daily life, such as washing our hands before mealtime to prevent infection. We need to practice good hygiene in normal times.
Taiwan is actually very close to South Korea. Modern transportation is very convenient for people to go anywhere. Therefore, we must be on guard for this outbreak. I hope everyone can have this awareness about MERS and strictly discipline yourself in good hygiene practices. I hope that everyone can take good care of yourself in order to care for others.
We also see in Nepal, a five-year-old girl had her pelvis fractured by the quake and sustained a very serious injury. Tzu Chi’s doctors came in contact with her.
“Give me two more pieces of gauze, one to wrap around and the other for cover.”
While a Tzu Chi doctor changed the gauzes, she kept on calling for her mother, who didn’t appear.
Everyone knew what happened, and her father couldn’t stop being teary-eye by her side. Not finding her mother, she began calling for her grandmother who used to care for her very dearly. Despite her numerous calls, she did not hear her grandmother’s response nor find her grandmother. She kept calling for them.
Then, she started calling to her father who came to her with tears in his eyes, but could not bring himself to tell her that both her mother and grandmother had passed away in this quake.
All Tzu Chi’s doctors, nurses and volunteers there had their heart went out to the family. Members of Tzu Chi’s relief and medical teams have been there in a relay of love to give her love and care. Because of this, she is getting better. Whenever she sees Tzu Chi volunteers, she will give them a beaming smile.
However, two days ago, she started crying and no one knew why.
“She keeps on saying that it hurts.”
“Yes, the swelling is the cause of her pain.”
Yesterday, this young doctor reported the update on this little girl’s situation. It just so happened that Dr. Chi, a renowned urology specialist is with Tzu Chi’s team there now. Yesterday he immediately applied his professional skill to treat the girl’s symptom. Dr. Chi gave her immediate treatment to help release her urine. Now, the little girl feels much better. Her father is truly grateful.
Nepal is a poor country and now suffers from such an unfortunate quake disaster. As far as we can see broken infrastructures are everywhere as well as many quake survivors in suffering who have to endure harsh living conditions. It is truly heartrending to see this.
There was another patient, a 32 years old woman. Before the earthquake, she suffered from hydrocephalus. Years of confining to bed, caused her limbs to deform, and her body developed bedsores.
When she was living in the tent, Tzu Chi’s doctors visited and cared for her. Yet, she grew weaker and weaker. After sending her to the hospital for treatment a few times, finally, we talked to the hospital and worked out the details for her to be hospitalized. Tzu Chi then hired help to take care of her 24 hours a day.
However, yesterday, the hospital called to notify Tzu Chi volunteers that this patient, 32 years old woman, has passed away due to organ failure. When volunteers received this news, their hearts ached for her. Such is life. She was already ill and had to live in the temporary shelter. Her body emits foul odor, with pus and blood oozing out from her bedsores. When these bedsores broke, foul odor emits from the open skin.
This is what the Buddha said about the human body being unclean.
We can witness the Buddha’s teachings in Nepal the impermanence of life, the fragility of the land and the unclean nature of the human body. Indeed, many things that we see in this disaster show us the Buddha’s teachings.
Life’s truth is intangible and invisible. Yet, it manifests in this quake disaster for us to see. Before the quake, these principles were invisible to us. After the quake, the truth of suffering appears before us for us to witness. All in all, truth always exists around us. As long as we are awaken, we will be able to see them.
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