Return to the homeland of the soul

Author: Master Cheng Yen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Yesterday, when I arrived in Taipei and got off the bus, many people asked me, "Master, is the earthquake in Hualien serious?" "Master, were you scared?" "Master, has Hualien suffered losses?" I want to report that all those concerned about the Hualien earthquake are safe—the earthquake was a near-miss. Earthquakes are often auspicious signs in Buddhism. The Buddha often tells us that life is impermanent, countries are fragile, and the four great elements are unbalanced. The human body has the four great elements, and the universe also has them. An earthquake is the imbalance of the Earth element, meaning that tectonic plates contain geothermal energy that must be released to keep the Earth's operation balanced. However, in Buddhism, the Buddha has said that earthquakes can sometimes be auspicious signs. This earthquake occurred at 11:05 AM on December 14th and had a magnitude close to 6. At that moment, a Kaohsiung committee member was in the office organizing accounts. Since Kaohsiung rarely experiences earthquakes, he was so nervous he wanted to run outside. But seeing the ladies working calmly and continuing their tasks, he felt too embarrassed to leave. When the second earthquake struck, he still wanted to run, but the ladies remained composed, diligently taking care of their computers. This made him feel quite ashamed. I often say, "Spiritual practice is refined in the environment." Earthquakes are a specialty of Hualien, and the people there have been accustomed to them since childhood. Therefore, for them, earthquakes are almost the same whether they move or not—they are used to seeing them without being disturbed. This is what is called "earth moves, but the mind does not move" in Buddhism. The mind is not swayed by external circumstances—this is the true art of spiritual practice! That afternoon, I went to the hospital and visited each nursing station, asking if they had been scared by the earthquake. Some new nurses said, "I was so scared!" While some nurses who had been with the hospital since its opening were unafraid, as they had experienced earthquakes before. Some new doctors were also scared, but the experienced doctors comforted them, saying, "Don't be afraid! Tzu Chi Hospital is very sturdy." They said, "Most people would flee from inside the house during an earthquake, but at Tzu Chi Hospital, it's safer to run from outside to inside." Some patients, seeing our nurses scared of the earthquake,：“！，，，。”“”。。，，：“？”：“！。”？。，，，，，，：“，，。”，，，，：“，，？”，，，：“！”，，、、。，，，──。。，，，。，，，，。。，，。，，，，。