20170305環保素食護生靈 Caring for Mother Nature with Sincere Piety
We should be grateful. We must harbor a heart of gratitude every day. That is what I do every day. When I wake up, open my eyes, and move my limbs, I feel grateful. A day passed, and I wake up this morning finding that there’s a new day ahead of me, I feel grateful. Don’t you feel this way as well? Yes.
This is how we begin the day as a spiritual cultivator. I’m teaching you this now so that every morning when you wake up, you harbor a heart of gratitude and you’ll live this day happily. You must remember this: “Be grateful the moment you wake up every day.”
We need to welcome every day with a heart of sincere piety and live a healthy and happy life. In additional to being grateful every day, we should welcome every day with a heart and sincere piety and happiness. This is what we need to do in our daily life. This is practicing spiritual cultivation.
We need to know how to make good use of time. Time is priceless; with time, we can create blessings and develop virtues as quickly as possible. Creating blessings and cultivating a big field of blessings should not be something we do at an old age. Since birth, we live our whole life on Mother Earth.
She provides us food throughout our lives. Our parents gave birth to us, but it is Mother Earth who raises us. As long as Mother Earth is safe and healthy, we humans will be safe and healthy. Nature’s elements have to be in balance, for example, when rain comes at the right time, crops will grow well.
With good soil, water, and fresh air, we will have a bountiful harvest. Mother Earth supplies us abundant food so we will not go hungry. However, with the development of industries, many factories produce a lot of air pollution.
As a result, the climate has become very different from that of the past; nowadays, when it rains, the rainfall is much greater than before. What used to be a month’s rainfall can come down in an hour. Floodwater cannot recede because there are many houses and asphalt roads covering up the ground.
Storm drains are not able to manage the water. Many trees are cut down in the mountains, leaving no trees to absorb the rain. Once there’s heavy rain, mudslide occurs. In Buddhism, we call this the imbalance of the water element.
When rain falls at the wrong time such as before harvest, crops get flooded. Famers’ hard work will be futile. People will have no food to eat then. Sometimes, when it’s supposed to rain, it doesn’t. Without rain, soil gets dried up, and famers cannot plan seeds.
If they miss the planting season, there will be no harvest. This is the result of imbalance of the water element. When it’s supposed to rain, it doesn’t, and when it’s not supposed to rain, it does excessively, this result in crop failure, which will impact of life.
In addition, there are also the imbalances of the air and fire elements. What worries us the most is the unpredictable disasters, such as earthquakes. So we must be very pious. To protect Mother Earth, there are ways of doing this. Right now, many countries around the world are calling for mitigating natural disasters.
How do we do that? First, we need to purify the air by drilling less crude oil. This is to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. Around the world, people know about the need of protecting the environment. Every country should raise their people’s awareness of environmental protection.
Many Tzu Chi volunteers are mindful. They put aside their time, some even commit all of their time, to collect recyclables and do recycling. They give of themselves to care for Mother Earth with love. This is how they cherish Mother Earth. We create blessings and cultivate a big field of blessings this way.
In addition to doing recycling, we also need to eat vegetarian. If people do this, we can reduce globe temperatures and reduce the killing of animals. Think about that. If we eat meat, some animals will suffer and be killed.
Eating meat does not do our heath any good; it makes us create negative karma and causes much pollution. So, we should try eating vegetarian as much as possible. This will benefit both Mother Nature and our health. That’s why I urge everyone to be a vegetarian. This will do us good.
With a heart of sincere piety, we should begin to do recycling and become vegetarians, so as to save Mother Earth and mitigate disasters. Now, we have to be mindful in cherishing material goods and prolonging the use of them.
Whether it’s the life of animals or that of material goods, we should prolong their life. This is what we’re striving for. You are cultivating for blessings, good health, and longevity. Cherishing lives is the cause of positive karma. Saving and cherishing lives form the karmic causes that bring blessings, good health, and longevity.
What you are doing now is forming karmic causes that lead to a health and long life. In your next life, you will be healthier and live longer. Caring material goods and cherishing lives are ways to cultivate for blessings, good health, and longevity. You are already doing this.
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