Let's pray for those who suffered from the earthquake and the cyclone

It is always sad to know people suffering from natural disasters. The earthquake in Szechuan and the cyclone in Myanmar have taken away hundreds of thousands of precious lives. According to the news last night, Myanmar has so far lost almost 68,000 lives. As for the earthquake, the number of fatalities is still increasing reaching 12,000.

I am a Buddhist, a sincere one who reads Buddhist sutras everyday. My Buddhist study taught me to respect monks and nuns. Not long ago, I was in shock seeing the Chinese police violently suppressed the Tibetan monks. Though the Chinese government said that there were only few casualties and the monks were safe and unharmed, some of the monks told the foreign journalists that the police actually attacked monks and killed them. Then, few months ago, the Saffron Revolution in Myanmar led to the disappearance of thousands of monks and nuns. It is not difficult to guess where these monks and nuns are now. We can never trust a word from the brutal military regime of Myanmar. I am referring to these two incidents because Buddha taught us to treasure lives, especially those who devote themselves to the teaching of Buddha. Moreover, according to Buddhist scriptures, humiliating and killing monks or nuns are serious crimes, which will bring terrible consequences.

We always say that in this modern world nemesis will not come after your death because there are just too many evil actions. Now it will come soon after the evil is practiced. Though I hate to think in such a negative way, I kind of think what happen now seems to reaffirm that statement. Both Myanmar and China pay the price for what they have done to the monks and nuns. In fact, I think this thought is contradictory to the teaching of Buddha. He taught us to love and treasure lives. Then why such sad disasters happen, not to those who practice evil but to the innocent people?!

I cannot figure out any possible answers. I guess if I could, I would be one of the Bodhisattvas. All I know is to pray and try to help those who are suffering now. I believe the existence of these divine beings, and if we pray sincerely, they will help those people. For the dead, Bodhisattvas will lead them to the pure land, and for the others, Bodhisattvas will give them courage and strong will to restart their new life. "Om Mani Padme Hum"!