Wisdom Quarterly
Do Buddhists "pray"? Not in the sense of petitioning an all-powerful god not to drown any more people in tsunamis, or collapse any more building in quakes, or irradiate any more of the population and world at large with impossibly dangerous technology. However, merit may be shared with the dead, and devas and bodhisattvas may be called on to intervene on behalf of those who cannot ask for themselves. Prayer is a form of meditation and it sends out uplifting vibrations that are hard to understand in Newtonian terms but may be understood in terms of quantum physics and non-local effects of consciousness and attention as an observer's effect.
Taiwan groups pray for quake victims
Hermia Lin (FocusTaiwan.tw)
TAIPEI, Taiwan (CNA) - Two Buddhist charity organizations in Taiwan, Dharma Drum Mountain and [the Buddhist equivalent of a Red Cross] the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, will each hold a prayer ceremony Sunday for the people affected by the disasters in Japan, according to the organizers.
The Dharma Drum Mountain ceremony, which will be held at Linkou Stadium in Taipei Sunday afternoon, is expected to draw 20,000 Buddhist followers.
Meanwhile, Tzu Chi's Da Ai Television will broadcast a special program on Sunday night calling on Buddhists worldwide to pray for Japan.
The Dharma Drum Mountain ceremony, which will be held at Linkou Stadium in Taipei Sunday afternoon, is expected to draw 20,000 Buddhist followers.
Meanwhile, Tzu Chi's Da Ai Television will broadcast a special program on Sunday night calling on Buddhists worldwide to pray for Japan.
Tzu Chi feeding Japanese quake-tsunami-radiative fallout victims (us.tzuchi.org)
"The power of prayer should not be underestimated," Kelly Chen of Tzu Chi told Central News Agency on Friday. "Dharma Master Cheng Yen has always told us to believe in prayer and benign power.”
Volunteers of the Tzu Chi charity group in Japan have temporarily suspended their distribution of hot food to disaster survivors because of radiation contamination concerns, according to Chen. The foundation has sent 50 metric tons of instant rice, 17,000 blankets and 10,000 shawls to Japan.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Tzu Chi volunteers managed to get into Ibaraki and Miyagi prefectures, two of the areas hardest hit by the devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, she said.
The foundation manned 500 shifts to cook hot food for survivors in Oarai, Ibaraki, and delivered blankets to families affected by the quake in Sendai, Miyagi during the two days, Chen said.
The foundation would resume its relief work in Japan when the level of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant decreased, she said.
"We have to protect the health of our relief workers so that they can continue to do their jobs,” she added. Source
"The power of prayer should not be underestimated," Kelly Chen of Tzu Chi told Central News Agency on Friday. "Dharma Master Cheng Yen has always told us to believe in prayer and benign power.”
Volunteers of the Tzu Chi charity group in Japan have temporarily suspended their distribution of hot food to disaster survivors because of radiation contamination concerns, according to Chen. The foundation has sent 50 metric tons of instant rice, 17,000 blankets and 10,000 shawls to Japan.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Tzu Chi volunteers managed to get into Ibaraki and Miyagi prefectures, two of the areas hardest hit by the devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, she said.
The foundation manned 500 shifts to cook hot food for survivors in Oarai, Ibaraki, and delivered blankets to families affected by the quake in Sendai, Miyagi during the two days, Chen said.
The foundation would resume its relief work in Japan when the level of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant decreased, she said.
"We have to protect the health of our relief workers so that they can continue to do their jobs,” she added. Source
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