20210905萬物安好護生民Protecting the Lives of All
At the peak of COVID, Master was always in this room as he gave us staff at the Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital a talk. Thinking back, Master spent a lot of time with us every day, in talking to us; it provided so much calming strength to us, meanwhile, she gave us a direction or a reminder at a very important time.
Actually, our hospital had admitted many patients, and I have been very worried. I wanted to save everyone, but I knew my staff was under the threat of the virus. Once I woke up in the middle of the night, in my nightmare, a newspaper headline read: COVID-19 Cluster at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital! I thought about that we had so many patients, what if one day we came to that…Every morning, Master reminded us to protect ourselves well.
I believe that Master’s worries exceed mine, yet, she also wishes that we would shoulder the responsibilities as medical workers. But, I think, Master must be so worried, what if a staff becomes infected? What if something happens? It’s hard to expect that kind of frustration; we would feel disappointment and the tender feeling of not wanting people to suffer.
Indeed, like what the superintendent said, I’ve been very worried and agitated every day. Even now I’ve not let this apprehension go, because the pandemic is not over, so, we have to be pious in guarding the gate well. Hence, every day, I’m on guard, and I feel the concern in my body as well as my mind, like I’m wearing a armor every day.
A while ago, I told the superintendents that, you’re dressed in armor and going to batter. In this war on the virus, we mustn’t let our guard down. Let us be grateful to the long while when Taiwan was faced with many COVID cases, everyone was been very mindful. Yet, being mindful, we still must keep our aspirations.
We are mindful because we are pious. We cannot be negligent and this is what it means to be on guard. As we are on guard piously, let us also not underestimate the virus; doing this means to stay vigilant. Let us always be sincerely pious in staying vigilant.
For this pandemic, the remedy is to adopt a vegetarian diet. Being vegetarian is the middle way, as we don’t harm animals, yet we also enjoy the wonderful tastes and aromas of vegetables and fruits. Actually, the CEO and the superintendents of our medical mission often offer analyses of the vegetarian diet, which benefits health of one’s body, heart and brain.
Vegetarians give out a feeling to people that they are pure and approachable. It is like they’re so pure, they’re approachable. Vegetarians naturally give people this feeling, like their diet is clean and pure. It is undeniable that vegetarians give out this feeling. Meanwhile, a vegetarian diet is healthy for the body, and it does not take the lives of animals. It has many health benefits, how advantageous!
There are many good things about eating a vegetarian diet; there is not bad thing about a vegetarian diet. It’s even more important to promote the vegetarian diet because we have such a large population now, so, in order to supply the human population, the livestock industry keeps on expanding, and raises more and more animals in an inhumane way. After they’ve grown, they are killed quickly. This is truly inhumane.
I hope that, in saying this, not only do I say this myself I would like people to help me pass on this message. We have to make a vow to do this. Only in this way can we be free from wearing masks. Animals, food and our mouth are connected by a food chain.
So, I truly hope that, with the lessons from this pandemic, we can protect our future and keep Mother Nature working as it should. To keep our environment clean, we have to go vegetarian. Think about it, how many animals do our mouths eat in a month, a year or in several decades? We are creating karma.
When karma ripens and disasters occur, everyone gets a share of it. When a disaster happens, I too cannot be spared. Although I didn’t create the karma, because a lot of people have created the karma, the whole world is affected. However, although I have a collective karma with living beings, I also have my own karmic affinities and seeds.
Such is the greater environment we live in. People have different karmic seeds. Tzu Chi volunteers have seeds of purity. When everyone joins their seeds together, the seeds form a cultivation ground in volunteers’ hearts. With this inner cultivation ground, we can purify people’s hearts.
I’m truly blessed. We have Tzu Chi volunteers supporting Tzu Chi’s missions. I often say, I’m very blessed. Superintendents of every Tzu Chi hospital are very supportive of me. They always carry out what I want to do. We need to safeguard people’s lives and health with love. Besides safeguarding people’s health with love, I hope we can always uphold this spirit.
This spirit…I often talk about the essence, which is our love. We need to return to our innate pure nature, and keep it not tainted, and return to our calling of being a doctor or a nurse with the aspiration of caring for patients. Aspiration in Buddhism is called a vow.
I’m grateful to our many doctors and nurses. Everyone is the Bodhisattva of Compassion and also the Medicine Buddha. Medical personnel’s power of love is like a crystal that is clear, transparent, wholesome and perfect. Thus they are respected and loved by people. I’m truly grateful to them.
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