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?
A magnitude 8.9 earthquake slammed Japan’s northeastern coast Friday, unleashing a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland. Fires triggered by the quake burned out of control up and down the coast.
Prayers, support and aid goes out to them. If there is any support group setup, please share and disseminate.
This is a short prayer commonly said by lay Chinese Buddhists in Singapore from 60s till perhaps early 90s.
南無觀世音菩薩 佛祖保佑 x 3
Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Buddha Bless x 3
一家大小
The whole family from the eldest to the youngest
平安順順
to be safe and sound, have little obstacles (in their day and life)
爸爸大賺！
and may my dad earn big bucks!
^o^
While some may find it bordering on being materialistic, I think it reflects on the very simple needs that people had — Safety and physical Well being and not have difficulty time (be Happy) whether in school, at work, at home or away from home.
Singaporeans in the 60s and 70s had it tough. Most families were very closely knitted and had to chip in to make ends meet. The last line reflects this. Perhaps it is place last because it was very crucial or perhaps it was not as important as safety and the likes. Or maybe this was just how our parents were taught.
Today, I see this as a precursor to Metta Bhavana, the Cultivation of Loving Kindness. While Metta extends to all sentient beings, this prayer starts with the family, wishing for the family members to be Well and Happy.
Even simply wishing for this, I believe, is a good start. For, I have counselled many families where the parents and children do not even speak to each other or they hate each others’ gut, and I think for them, it would be difficult to even say the above prayers wholeheartedly. So if a family can even start with this simple prayer, each encompassing their heart with love-kindness and compassion for each other, it would be really wonderful.
Further if someone reflects on the Matta sutta http://bit.ly/gWhRrt then the “whole family 一家大小” expands and extends to include all sentient beings.
This would then pave the way towards higher bhavana (cultivation), towards Final Liberation, Nirvana!
Suki hontu! ^_^
PS: This prayer is usually said in the heart and not chanted or recited out loud. The video is a chant sang in the tune of “This is the Buddha’s Light of Mine”.
Image of Guan Yin Bodhisattva courtesy of Rebecca Arnett from Castleton, Vermont, USA via wikimedia Commons.
When I was a teenager, I’ve heard of how Buddhist parents were afraid when their children get drawn to attend church services because if their child should get baptised, then it is a one
way path, and their children in future, could not or would not pay respects to them, or remember and honour them with an ancestral tablet either in the temple or at home.
I myself went to, let me see, three or four services when I was a student in JC and in NTU. The first1 when I was in NTU was through the invitation of my then girlfriend who was a Christian Catholic (I was a lay person back then!). Actually, she was not quite my girlfriend yet but we were more or less headed in that direction. I was not about to jeopardise my prospects with her. My mom had a very different idea.
When she saw me wake up early (7+8am or so) on a Sunday morning, her mommy-spidey senses alarms went off faster than you can finish reading this line! She grilled me on where I was going and basically charged me with LIM (Clan of the Forest) Family Penal Offence #348 Section 28A Clause 132, “… wherein a member of the family shall make an attempt to enter the premise of a church for the purpose of attending a service, either intentionally, unintentionally, wilfully, knowingly, or otherwise, with premeditation, in person or proxy, alone or with groups of two or more, such a member shall be … “, you get the idea. Read More …
Would you turn up half an hour* late for a job interview and expect to get the job? How about an examination or a date with a potential special other?
Should you expect the interviewer, examiner or date to bear with you because you had something more important?
How about if you do it repeated several times over a few years? What does that say about either your attitude towards the other party’s time, or your own decency and basic manners?
Before trying to attain Enlightenment, try to have some basic manners.
Suki hontu! ^_^
* At times, it can extend to more than one or two hours actually, but let’s not get picky here. 😉
