20200124清淨共善迎新年Keeping Our Desires in Check for a Peaceful World
Today is Chinese New Year’s Eve, a time for each family to enjoy reunion dinner. Indeed, we are all filled with joy during the Chinese New Year as we can get together with our families. Many people who work far away will take their children home. They will joyfully wish their elder family members a Happy Chinese New Year and the whole family will have a reunion.
At this time every year, family members get together and celebrate with joy. Everyone is happy during the Chinese New Year and all families spend the holidays with joy. I hope we can all open our minds and welcome this upcoming Chinese New Year with hope.
Yet, the Chinese New Year holidays will come to an end eventually. So, during the holidays, we should keep guiding and inspiring others and working to pave a broad Bodhisattva Path for all to walk upon. This is how we should benefit others. We need to pave a broad and smooth Bodhisattva Path and work even harder to sow blessings for people around the world. Only by giving and serving every day will we be filled with joy at all times.
May we all encourage one another to give and be filled with joy through giving. We must not forget when we gave of ourselves for the common good. We must not forget the work we’ve carried out, either. We’ve been living out our value in life by working for the common good.
So, we should keep benefiting others even during the Chinese New Year. We must give and serve every day so we can enjoy good memories in the future and bring value to our lives. Recently, many Tzu Chi members have come back to Abode, our spiritual home, to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Yet, this year, due to the Wuhan coronavirus, it is incontinent for some of our Tzu Chi members to come back.
The coronavirus can now spread from person to person. The situation is truly alarming and critical. What is the source of the coronavirus? According to experts, it came from wild animals sold at a market in Wuhan. Many people cannot refrain from eating meat. When eating meat, people contract viruses unknowingly and the virus will then be transmitted to others.
As a result, the viruses will spread among people unceasingly. So, faced with the coronavirus outbreak, we must heighten our vigilance and take preventive measures in daily life. To prevent coronavirus infection, we must practice personal hygiene such as washing our hands regularly. Most importantly, we must eat vegetarian.
Vegetables, fruits, and grains are without viruses that can be found in meat. They are also good to our health. So, instead of eating meat, we must adopt and promote vegetarianism. Through the vegetarian diet, we can enjoy good health and prevent diseases caused by eating meat. Eating meat is linked to higher risks of infection, for various disease-inducing germs do exist in animal and may become transmissible between humans.
All in all, this is a result of people’s craving for meat. Many animals are raised to be killed and eaten. They are killed just because people crave meat. I often say that according to statistics, more than 200 million animals are killed for food around the world every day.
When the animals are going to be killed, as they can sense they will lose their lives, they will struggle and shriek. While shrieking for their lives, they give rise to revengeful resentment towards human beings. They are cruelly killed and this results in bad karma.
The Buddha said that human beings create bad karma collectively. As many people crave and eat meat, bad karma has been created collectively. The bad karma not only affects individuals but also brings about disasters around the world. Livestock farming is also harmful to the environment.
The large world population and the large quantity of livestock have caused serious air and land pollution. Also, the animals are killed even if they struggle for life. Their revengeful resentment that accumulates unceasingly ends up as karma retributions toward individuals and brings about disasters around the world.
Indeed, we must all heighten our vigilance now. Recently, I’ve reminded you of that again and again. Not only should we heighten our vigilance, but we must all take action quickly to save our planet. To do that, we must work to make the air cleaner and protect the land. This way, Nature’s elements will be in balance and everyone will enjoy peace and safety.
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