CHINA EARTHQUAKE TOLL RISES

CHINA QUAKE TOLL HITS 1,339
TIBETAN MONKS PRAY OVER DEAD

JIEGU, China (Reuters) - Tibetan monks prayed Friday over hundreds of bodies at a makeshift morgue next to their monastery after powerful earthquakes destroyed the remote mountain town of Jiegu in western China and left at least 1,339 people dead. State media on Friday reported that another 332 people remain missing - as rescuers neared the end of the 72-hour period viewed as best for finding people alive. They continued to dig for survivors in the rubble, often by hand. The official toll was likely to climb further. Gerlai Tenzing, a red-robed monk from the Jiegu Monastery, estimated that about 1,000 bodies had been brought to a hillside clearing in the shadow of the monastery. He said a precise count was difficult because bodies continued to trickle in and some had already been taken away by family members. Heavy lifting equipment began arriving on Friday in the remote Himalayan region by road from hundreds of kilometres away. Food, tents and medical supplies are arriving too but rescue workers say there is a critical need for further supplies.

Soldiers, civilian rescue workers and Buddhist monks have been using pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands to pick through the rubble for survivors. "For us monks, the most important thing is life," said Danchujiasi, a monk who travelled to the scene from neighbouring Sichuan province. "We have come here to help rescue people. So many people have died, and we want to save the ones still living." The monks have also been helping to collect bodies and prepare them for funerals. At a foothill under the main monastery of Jiegu township, monks chanted Tibetan Buddhist mantras in front of piles of dead, which were being prepared for a mass cremation Saturday morning. "I'd say we've collected a thousand or more bodies here," said Lopu, a monk. "Many of the bodies you see here don't have families or their families haven't come looking for them, so it's our job to take good care of them."


No one wants to suffer, but we are suffering due to the constant cycle of birth and death. Now we are born as human beings and according to our scriptures, we can stop this cycle by the process of dedicating ourselves at the feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Souls imprisoned in the physical and subtle bodies and guided by selfish desires are wandering in this world from time immemorial. They take births in different species according to their actions. They gather a variety of experiences in this world, both good and bad. If these experiences make them wise and persuade them to give up their leanings for enjoyment or freedom in any form - well - they have succeeded in their life's mission. The purpose of their human birth is fulfilled. If not, they are to rotate along with the world of worldliness ceaselessly. ... Those very actions when done with a motive of pleasing the Lord, save us from the cyclic effects of this world.

Śrīla Bhakti Vaibhava Purī Mahārāj :
“Guru and Atma Nivedan”
“Unfavourable Acts that arrest Devotional Progress”
Śrī Krishna Chaitanya Mission.