Praying for the Missing of the China Eastern Airlines Crash

Last night, returning home and watching the news, I learned that China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou had crashed; the 132 passengers and crew on board were missing. I was both grieved and shocked. The suffering of the families of these 132 missing people is imaginable; I deeply share the sorrow and urgency in their hearts at this moment, and pray that those on board may still be found alive.

Human life is but one, and therefore very precious. Buddhism says the world is impermanent, that human life lies only between one breath and the next, and that life is full of unpredictable disasters against which one cannot guard. These past years we have all lived in disaster mode; it has not been easy, and one more disaster tugs at the heart even more.

Anyone who goes missing or dies in a disaster arouses sympathy, and the suffering of their families is pitiable; anyone who has lost a close one can feel it.

Although the cause is still under investigation and one should not over-discuss it, the Boeing 737-800 involved has been in multiple crashes; this is clearly no coincidence. I have also flown on Boeing planes, merely not noticing the model; thinking of it now still gives me lingering fear. Aircraft with design flaws should not remain in service merely because they are expensive; nothing is more precious than human life. Every person is bound to the happiness of one or more families, and everyone's personal safety matters.

Life passes like a fleeting flash of a horse through a gap, gone in an instant. May everyone cherish the present. Although we may have many unfulfilled wishes, life's imperfections are unavoidable; as long as we still live in safety, we need not crave too much. Compared with those who went missing or died in this disaster, however unsatisfying our days may be, they are already a great blessing.