Rescue & Aid

Prayers light way out of suffering

By Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-22 07:27

A monk lights candles at Ta’er Monastery to pray for the Yushu quake victims on Wednesday. [HUO YAN / CHINA DAILY]

XINING -- With butter lamps lighting up the whole second floor of the holy Ta'er Monastery, hundreds of Buddhist monks and living Buddhas made 1,000 sets of offerings of food and incense.

"We're chanting prayers for the decreased, and hoping survivors can rebuild their homes as soon as possible," said Sirti, a living Buddha and chairman of the Qinghai Buddhist Association.

"We're also blessing all people in the world to live a better life."

About 800 monks and 20 living Buddhas participated in the mourning ceremony at the Ta'er Monastery, about 25 km from downtown Xining, capital of Qinghai province.

Sirti said they had been chanting sutras every day since the quake, and would continue to do so for 49 days.

"The period of 49 days is considered a life cycle," he said.

Sirti said representatives would go to the epicenter of Yushu on Friday to donate food, tents, quilts and medicine. They will also hold a sutra-chanting ceremony there to pray for the victims.

On the second day after the quake, the Ta'er Monastery donated 600,000 yuan ($87,600) to Yushu.

Shi Tingwen, a middle-aged tourist from East China's Jiangsu province, joined Wednesday's service.

"I came here to pray, hoping the deceased would rest in peace and the survivors would live better lives."