http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110313/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake
To the south, in Miyagi prefecture, or state, the police chief told a gathering of disaster relief officials that his estimate for deaths was more than 10,000, police spokesman Go Sugawara told The Associated Press. Miyagi has a population of 2.3 million and is one of the three prefectures hardest hit in Friday’s disaster. Fewer than 400 people have officially been confirmed as dead in Miyagi.
I feel compelled to stop existing classes and volunteer myself to join aid services in Japan. Dedicating merits and send metta just does not cut it for me. Can someone enlighten me on this?
Suki hontu. -__-
I feel compelled to stop existing classes and volunteer myself to join aid services in Japan. Dedicating merits and send metta just does not cut it for me. Can someone enlighten me on this?
Perhaps its because true compassion is not only about prayers, dedication of merits, metta, it is also about the actual doing and physical act of helping and giving aid. Telling a hungry man ‘I’ll pray for you’ is not a bad thing to do but if one can give him a loaf of bread and also pray for him, I think that would be better.
Shifu I believe many of us wish to be there physically. But the best most can do is to do group/individual dedication of merits with every single kind thought/action from now. There are commitments we need to fulfill here still.
With this disaster, may all of us reflect and grow more compassionate to the people around us, and practice to let go of our attachment to daily life dissatisfactions.
@Pat, I cannot like your comment more! Doing both the prayers and giving bread to them would indeed be much better!
@Manwei, post back here if you find any relief effort. I would like to help in whatever way possible. Thanks!
Hello Shifu. I can empathise your frustration too.
Talk to some of my Japanese colleagues over the phone today. Although all of them and their families are physically well, I can sense that mentally they are very adversely affected. I feel very sad and hope that I could do something to comfort them but yet I feel very helpless at the same time. I could only offer my prayers at the moment till something tangibles for me to be able to help them physically.
Good day Shifu. So far avenues for fund raising have been setup. Below are the links for your reading:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1116719/1/.html
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/how-you-can-help-japan.html
might wish to read this translation of a Japanese
who wanted to help out after the Kobe earthquake in 1995:
http://smt.blogs.com/mari_diary/2011/03/thank-you-for-your-words.html