Words From Dharma Master Cheng Yen—Love and Protect All Living Beings

Torrential rains recently inundated Kyushu in Japan, Johor in Malaysia, and many provinces in China. The world once again witnessed the immense power of nature, capable of destroying everything in an instant. In comparison, how seemingly insignificant is our power to withstand such destruction. My heart goes out to the many families who have had to suffer through the impact of the natural disasters.

More than 20 provinces in China were affected. Heavy downpours turned rivers into gushing torrents, breaching dikes, severing roads, and triggering landslides. Many homes were damaged beyond recognition. Tzu Chi volunteers quickly visited disaster areas in the aftermath to assess damage and carry out relief work. It wasn’t easy for them. Floodwaters had left behind thick layers of mud in some areas, making roads difficult to walk on. It took great effort to trudge through the thick mud, but our volunteers forged on. They knew there were people needing their help, and they didn’t think of turning back. They needed to reach the needy as soon as possible.

Natural disasters arising from extreme weather events cause people to suffer, but man-made disasters have caused a lot of distress and pain too. Many people have fled their home countries to escape from war, persecution, or poverty. Some have taken to the sea to travel to other nations. Sadly, after COVID-19 forced many nations to close their borders, some of these refugees were stranded at sea on overloaded boats, their lives on the line.

Isn’t it a blessing if one can live in safety and peace? When we are fortunate enough to possess safety and peace, we should learn to count our blessings and do good to sow more blessings. When we do good, we create blessings and help reduce the chance of disasters occurring. Let’s all nurture a loving heart. In addition to doing good deeds, such as donating money to help the needy, we should also strive to protect all lives.

When we see people in trouble, we give them a hand because of love. We should extend the same love to animals and refrain from making them suffer. We can show our love and compassion for animals by preventing them from being killed for human consumption.

Estimates have shown that it takes 38 chickens and a 120-kilogram (265-pound) pig to make just 500 non-vegetarian boxed meals. This illustrates how many lives are being killed to satisfy human beings’ craving for meat. Animals, like humans, feel pain and fear as they are being killed. Resentment can arise in their hearts when they realize they are being slaughtered. Such ill feelings accumulate as more and more animals are killed. This will eventually cause a backlash and bring harm to the human world.

To help change that, Chen Ying-ru (陳映儒), a student at Hualien Tzu Chi Elementary School, started a movement to promote vegetarianism after the coronavirus pandemic broke out this year. So far, she and her schoolmates, along with teachers at the school, have inspired people to eat 36,000 vegetarian meals. That is equivalent to saving the lives of more than 2,000 chickens and pigs.

Eating vegetarian is a great way to protect the lives of animals, but it has other benefits too. For example, we can reduce the pollution from animal husbandry, since no animals will need to be raised for our consumption. Scientists have confirmed that a vegetarian diet can significantly lower carbon emissions. If more of us can switch to vegetarianism, that will go a long way towards mitigating global warming and climate change.

Let us follow the lead of that elementary student, Chen Ying-ru, and invite others to adopt a vegetarian diet for the good of the world. Such positive actions help our collective good karma to grow. A love that extends to all living beings, not just humans, is love in its truest form.

We should never underestimate ourselves and think, “I’m just one person, what difference can I make?” When each and everyone’s strength comes together, the resulting power will be tremendous. We are in the middle of a critical time—the action of a handful of people won’t help. We need everyone to pull together if we want to alleviate climate change and dispel the pandemic and other disasters.

Repenting of our wrongs, eating vegetarian, and practicing gratitude are three things we must do every day. Be grateful for what you have, repent and start anew, and take up vegetarianism. When everyone cultivates purity of heart, cherishes what they have, loves one another, and protects lives by eating vegetarian, our world will be very blessed indeed.