20200408消災增福四善法Four Principles to Live By During the Coronavirus Crisis
We see our aid distributions in the Philippines. In a video conference before the distributions, I told Mr. Alfredo Li, Mr. Henry Yunez, and other Tzu Chi volunteers there:" What's most important is for everyone at the aid distributions to keep a safe distance from each other. We must avoid mass gatherings by maintaining a proper distance between people." This was very hard to carry out.
Even so, our volunteers overcame the difficulties. They truly have my admiration. They ensured a distance of 1.5 meters between each aid recipient. They even offered chairs for fear that from standing for too long. The chairs were arranged in a way that allowed those waiting to receive rice to keep a safe distance from each other.
The aid recipients also lined up to receive rice with the same distance in between. They didn't step forward until the one before them had done so. They observed the social distancing rule strictly. We see that beside a big truck which was loaded with neatly stacked sacks of rice, they received rice one by one while keeping the required distance from each other. This is very touching to see.
Not long ago, minor social unrest was reported in the Philippines as work was unavailable to many people (because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) I was very worried. I learned that as many panicked because they had no work and couldn't sustain their lives, signs of social unrest had emerged. I was very worried that our volunteers may not be able to maintain order during the aid distributions.
Yet, we see how the aid recipients displayed order. We all share the same pure true nature. See how the aid recipients displayed order in return for our volunteers' love. Our volunteers gave with love and the aid recipients showed their gratitude by being very orderly. Before they received rice, our volunteers sanitized their hands with rubbing alcohol. Then, they received the rice by showing our aid distribution notice.
They followed each procedure and always kept the required distance from each other. I'm indeed very touched.
"Move! Stop! "
"My mom is ill and we cannot go to work. The rice is indeed very important to my family."
"At a time like this, I'm deeply touched (to receive aid from Tzu Chi). The volunteers give unconditionally. i'm very grateful to them."
"Since Luzon was put on lockdown, our mobility has been restricted. With the rice, I can stay home without worries. My family won't go hungry or get infected with the virus."
Our volunteers need to give out more than 70,000 sacks of rice. This is how we reach out to the poor. We bring rice to them so they will keep from hunger and regain peace of mind as they know there is love in society. By bringing peace to people's minds, we are also bringing peace to society.
(Because of the pandemic,) our volunteers also guide everyone to pray before the aid distributions. The only way for us to end the pandemic is to harbor sincere piety within and seize opportunities to sow blessings. Be it carrying out relief or making a donation, we all need to give with love and pool everyone's love together.
(Due to the pandemic), many of us cannot take part in the aid distributions in person. I truly hope that with today's advanced technology, we can all continue to guide and inspire others through the Internet. Recently, I've been interacting with Tzu Chi members through the Internet. Their sharing has relieved much of my stress. Through the Internet, I've talked to Tzu Chi members from dozens of countries and regions.
I could see many of them on the projector screen. They all stayed home ( due to the pandemic.) I'd never visited them in person, but this time, it was as if I'd gone to their homes. They all told me that they'd been promoting vegetarianism. So, I'd like to remind everyone that we must pray with sincere piety in the first place. Every day, we can pray together online for peace and safety in the world. No matter what our religious faiths are, we must pray with sincere piety for he pandemic to end.
To end the pandemic, we must abstain from killing animals. And to sow blessings, we must go vegetarian. We truly must stop killing to end the pandemic and practice vegetarianism to sow blessings. We must harbor love and respect to one another and cherish animals with loving care. We must also tame our minds by overcoming our afflictions and greed.
In all, there are four principles to follow. First, we must pray with sincere piety for the pandemic to end. Second, we must sow more blessings. To end the pandemic, we need to do good and sow more blessings. Third, we must harbor love and respect. We need to respect and love one another with gratitude, cherish all life, and protect animals with love. Fourth, we must tame our minds by overcoming our greed and desires.
I hope we can all live by these four principles. This is how we pray and sow blessings to end the pandemic. We must all give with love and care.
首頁 