August 18, 2007 at 9:51 am (Buddhism, Lord of Miracle, Mahayana, Sri Langka tsunami, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, belief, climate change, earth, earthquake, environment, general, global warming, global warming fears, inspiration, love, love other, nature, philosophy, religion, science, spirituality, thoughts, tsunami, 慈济)
After writing about the Lord of Miracle of Christ that happen in Peru 350 years ago, I recalled those email that I received about the miracles that happen in 2004 Dec 26 Tsunami in Sri Langka. It is true that many Buddha statues was escaped from the destruction by the wave of Tsunami. The point I wish to bring up is not about the Miracle of Buddha. The interesting story begin with this…
When the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka, there was a statue of the Buddha in the town of Galle, which didn’t topple when the waves rushed over it near the bus terminal. A Buddhist monk considered it as a sign. He said, ‘The people are not living according to religious virtues. Nature has given them some punishment because they’re not following the path of the Lord Buddha. The people have to learn their lesson.’
And a Roman Catholic priest cast the blame even wider. ‘This is a punishment from God, because everybody’s leading a wretched life’, he said. ‘All of us are to be blamed for the tsunami, there’s no sense of modesty or religiosity any more. People have gone so far away from God, it’s the message to say “.
A fishman from the fishing village said, ‘The mother has butchered her own children’, ’Either there is no God, or God must be cruel to do this.’
Many of the victims are asking, “Why us? Why me? Why my childrens ? Why my parents ? Other interesting features was the Christians and Hindus in India started co-operating with each other when a year ago they were fighting each other. And when Buddhists and Tamils in Sri Lanka started doing the same.
Is it true that altruism only trumps selfishness when we have to face a common adversity and drastic tragedy like this ?
Is it true that ’Pain and suffering are ‘God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.’ a quote from C.S.Lewis. Can’t we human work on the same goal on our climate change issues rather than fighting each others concept and argue about data ? Do we need a God’s Megaphone ?
Ref :
1. http://in.news.yahoo.com/050110/137/2ix3h.html
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August 17, 2007 at 5:29 pm (Lima, Lord of Miracle, Peru, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, earth, earthquake, environment, nature, religion, science, 慈济)
More than 500 people have been killed and 1,500 injured after a powerful earthquake hit the coast of Peru on16-Aug-2007. The quake - measured 7.9 on the Richter scale struck near the capital, Lima.
Peru has a long history of deadly quakes and tsunamis due to its location near a subduction zone, the area where two tectonic plates meet.
The last earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale strike Peru in 23-June 2001, when 75 people were killed and 68 missing around the southern Andean city of Arequipa.
The most deadiest quake from Peru was in 31 May 1970 when 70,000 people were killed in ensuing mudslides in Huaraz in the central Andes. It registered 7.8 on the Richter scale. Damage was estimated at approximately $1 billion, and about 1 million persons were left homeless.
The second deadliest recorded earthquake in Peru struck Lima too in October 1746, almost destroying the city of Lima and Callo. 18,000 death. Callao, a sea-port town, a giant Tsunami hit the port. Callao was swallowed up by the sea and basically vanished.
In between this history, there is a story about a wall painting of Christ by a slave in 1651. The wall painting was not destructed by 2 majors earthquake prior to this 1746 earthquake. Because of this story, in every Oct month, the Peruvian will celebrated the Lord of Miracle.
Ref :
1. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/peru/history.php
2. http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1966Peru.html
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August 14, 2007 at 2:33 pm (Buddhism, Mahayana, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, belief, earth, environment, ghost month, global warming, religion, science, spirituality, supertitious, thoughts, 慈济)
In Buddhism, the seventh lunar month is a month of joy, delight and auspicious. This is because the fifteen day of the seventh month is the Buddha’s joyful day and the day of rejoice for monks.
When the Buddha was alive at India 2500 years ago, the seventh month is the rainy season like what is happening in India now too. Buddha ask his disciples not to go out for alms instead stay in the monastery for meditation and Dhamma discussion. Upon completion of the three months retreat, on the fifteen day of the seventh month, the number of monks who attained enlightenment and improved in Dhamma was high, the Buddha was very joyful. Thus this is the month of joy, delight and auspicious.
At the same day, one of the Buddha chief disciple, Mahāmaudgalyāyana. (Chinese. 目連, Mulian, Pāli Mahāmoggallāna) eased his mother’s suffering from the hell through offering of foods to the Sangha. Through the merits created, Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s mother gained a human birth.
Due to Chinese cultural influence, the offering of foods became directed towards ancestors rather than the Sangha but now the ancestor worship has now transform to burning of paper money, paper houses, paper TV, paper DVD, paper handphone, paper camera and etc to their ancestors who they believed still reside in hell.
Those who are educated, please stop this kind of supertitious belief and practise to your next generation. Do explain the origin of the story to your parents about this supertitious belief . Burning paper money openly will only increase damages to our environment and increase global warming and burning your real money. Non of our ancestor will received your money and relief from the hell.
Ref. http://tzuchig42.multiply.com/journal/item/5
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August 4, 2007 at 2:09 pm (Tzu Chi, TzuChi, civilisation, climate change, conservation, earth, environment, general, global warming, global warming fears, nature, poverty, science)
So far, 19 million resident have to be displaced, 166 dead after heavy monsoon floods in India, Bangladesh.
“I have not seen such flooding in the last 24 years. It’s a sheet of water everywhere,” said Santosh Mishra, a resident of Gonda district in India’s Uttar Pradesh state.
In New Delhi, India’s Meteorological Department said unusual monsoon patterns this year led to heavier than usual rains. “We’ve been getting constant rainfall in these areas for nearly 20 days,” said B.P. Yadav, a spokesman for the department.
‘Compared to the 280 millimetres of rains we recorded during all of the last monsoon, we received 873 millimetres in July alone. It’s raining non-stop,’ said Mr Sharma.
‘There is just nothing left to eat,’ said drenched farmer Ashish Thakur in submerged Kaanti village in Darbhanga district.
‘People are fighting for food like dogs, I have no strength left,’ the farmer wept, hugging his two hungry children and shivering wife.
Is the heavier rainfall related to global warming ? Environment scientist claim that with each additional degree Celsius added by the global warming, the planet gets an extra 7% of water into its atmosphere. [3]
Ref :
1. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/02/asia/AS-GEN-South-Asia-Monsoon-Floods.php
2. http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Asia/STIStory_145110.html
3. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Global-Warming-Means-In-Fact-More-Rains-56209.shtml
4. http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/RMS/june99/papers/nachtnebel.pdf
5. http://www.livescience.com/environment/051116_water_shortage.html
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August 2, 2007 at 3:45 pm (Buddhism, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, civilisation, climate change, conservation, earth, environment, general, global warming, inspiration, nature, philosophy, science, thoughts, water scarcity, 慈济)
Restrain and conserve might not good for the economy, but it makes good economic sense. We always heard about “A dollar saved is a dollar earned”, the same concept apply. “A kilowatt-hour saved is a kilowatt-hour earned.”, “A kilo-liter water saved is a kilo-liter water earned.”
Whenever I was tempted to spend, I will think about the above phrase : Restrain ourself, restrain ourself and this definitely help us to reduce spending, reduce usage, reduce pollution hence reduce CO2.
This is what everyone of us can do to reduce CO2 and also prevent being trap into the debt slavery in this debt based monetory system society.
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April 19, 2007 at 9:57 am (Mahayana, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, disparity, general, global warming, love, love other, philosophy, poverty, powerless, space tourism, spirituality, thoughts, wealth gap, 慈济)
Photo Courtesy from carf.
I read a recent article in magazine about space tourism in which a normal person like us can travel to the space for personal pleasure. But it is only affordable to wealthy individuals. Surprisingly, its has become so popular that, even at $20 million a ticket, the Russsian Space Agency is fully booked until 2009.
On the other site of the world, according to UNICEF 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth. Being week and meek in life makes these dying even more invisible to us.
If the money of the ticket to tour the space is share with the poor hungry children. How many life in earth it could save ?
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March 5, 2007 at 9:32 am (Buddhism, Mahayana, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, philosophy, spirituality, thoughts, 慈济)
Tzu Chi people refer to the candles made by the resident nuns of the Abode of Still Thoughts as “candles without tears.”Master Cheng Yen first thought of this kind of candle when she first began her spiritual cultivation. When she saw traditional candles running and dripping wax on the table, she felt that it was wasteful and messy. So she tried to think of a way to make the wax burn up completely. In 1981, she got a clever idea: she used a small plastic fruit juice container as a mold and incense for the wick, which she fastened with a little washer cut from corrugated sheet metal. When the wax had cooled and set, she removed the plastic mold and wrapped the candle with a piece of clear plastic.
This was the first “candle without tears.” The nuns in the early days at the Abode of Still Thoughts made these candles as gifts for visitors. Master Cheng Yen encourages Tzu Chi people to follow the spirit of the “candle without tears” by facing life courageously. The love in people’s hearts should also be like the candlewick, which must be lit in order to fulfill its function. The candle also a symbolise of a Budhisattva spirit of sacrifying our life for helping others. Without tears means fully utilizing the candle and contribute with joys and happiness.
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February 7, 2007 at 9:26 am (Buddhism, Mahayana, Resource Recycling, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, climate change, environment, general, global warming, inspiration, ipcc, philosophy, spirituality, thoughts, 慈济)
Don’t think that saving a tree will not save the world, we are all interrelated. Just like a looking at the origination of a piece of paper, a paper come from a tree. A tree needed water, sunshine and air to growth. Trees needed sunshine, human cannot growth without sunshine too. Therefore the loggers cannot survive without sunshine. In the eyes of a Bodhisattva, we should not only see a piece of papers as paper. We should see deeper into it, without the loggers, we cannot use this piece of paper. Without the bread or foods for the logger, the logger cannot survive. So, we should feel gratitude on the bread or the food. Without the wheat, the bread cannot be make. So, we should feel gratitude to the wheat. Without the farmers, the wheat will not be able to be make to bread. So, we should feel gratitude to the farmers. The cycle going on until even a spoon or a folk, the person who make the spoon or folk, we should feel gratitude to them as everyone use them. Everyone in this society is interrelated and we should feel gratitude to them. So, in a piece of paper, we should see the whole living being inside. So, saving a piece of papers through resource recycling could save the world !
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February 5, 2007 at 10:45 am (Buddhism, Mahayana, Resource Recycling, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, climate change, environment, general, global warming, ipcc, spirituality, 慈济)
ha
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the concentrations of many of the greenhouse gases have increased. The concentration of CO2 has increased by about 100 ppm (i.e., from 280 ppm to 380 ppm in 2007). The first 50 ppm increase took place in about 200 years, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to around 1973; the next 50 ppm increase took place in about 33 years, from 1973 to 2006. This figure show an alarming rate of increase of 50 ppm CO2 from 200 years to 33 years.
1) A GHG (Green House Gases) level of 650 ppm would “likely” warm the global climate by around 3.6° C, 750 ppm would lead to 4.3° C, 1000 ppm would lead to 5.5° C.
2) A climate change report predicts that sea levels will increase between 7 and 23 inches by 2100 if the ice sheets continue to melt as temperature rises. Rising seas would erode more beaches and threaten coastal areas.
We know that carbon dioxide raises Earth’s temperature. We know that the temperature has already risen. We know that tomorrow we will emit more carbon dioxide than we did today. The ice is melting, the seas are rising, the temperature is increasing, and the storms are wreaking more and more havoc are coming.
But do we know that it’s time for us to wake up and take action to reduce carbon dioxide around us. Save the trees, you could save the forest. Save the forest, you could save the mountain. Save the mountain, you could save the sea. Save the sea, you could Save the World !
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January 31, 2007 at 9:54 am (400D, Buddhism, Photography, Tzu Chi, TzuChi, inspiration, philosophy, photos, spirituality, thoughts)
A disciple once asked Master Cheng Yen, “How can I learn to tolerate others?”
The Master replied, “Under heaven, there is no one I don’t love, no one I don’t trust, and no one I don’t forgive. If you can adhere to these Three No’s, then your heart will be healthy and naturally learn to tolerate, love and trust others.”
While learning to love the strangers, learning to trust those unknown and learning to forgive those guilty. I look to be unusual and dull. But my heart was cleanse, my wisdom growth. If we can’t love others, hatred will be in our heart, if we can’t trust others, suspicious will remain in our heart, if we can’t forgive others, resentment will retain in our heart.
If you can forgive guilty one like prisoners, it should be easier to forgive our loved or closer one. When you have troubles, just remember these phrases from the Master. Your afflictions will be wipe out and you will enjoys a happier life.
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