VOWING ONESELF TO LEARN 84K DHARMA
Article 2:
WILDFIRE AT PACIFIC PALISADE, LOS ANGELES
FIRE! FIRE and FIRE!
The most terrible wildfire in the history of Los Angeles has started for a couple of days from Pacific Palisade.
It is a gorgeous city sitting on the mountainous area along the Pacific Ocean Coast, west of Los Angeles and between the two luxurious cities of Malibu and Santa Monica. Many of the wealthy residents are celebrities in the fields of arts and movies like Paris Hilton, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Demi Moore, Jessica Simpson, Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, James Woods, Hunter Biden, the son of the Former President Joe Biden. It was originally the city of the Israelis who settled their life after the escape of Holocaust from their home country. That is why there are many structures of deeply-Jewish influence over there together with a great quantity of magnificent villas.
A few days earlier, the CalFire department warned the Santa Ana winds would blow very strongly on upcoming days. On Monday afternoon, January 6, 2025, the winds blew up. Early Tuesday morning, the winds were even stronger.
The land and trees were very dry because there was no rain during the fall. It was like all bad conditions gathering to ignite a small fire in the hills of Pacific Palisade. It quickly spread to the villas in the area. Strong winds of 70 to 90 miles an hour, or 112 to 150 kilometers, prevented firefighting planes from taking off to work. More than 1000 firefighters helplessly watched as the flames burned down rows after rows of mansions. The residents evacuated. But the Pacific Coast Highway is their main road with only two lanes on each side. The traffic jam was inevitable. Many people abandoned their cars and ran for their lives. The Fire Department had to use bulldozers to flatten those cars and make room for other cars to escape.
The glowing embers swirled in the air to everywhere and fueled new fires in the Eaton and Altadena canyons, north of Pasadena, and other smaller fires scattering across Los Angeles County. The fire, out of control, continuously raged for two days and nights, Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 8-9. KTLA 5.1 canceled its regular programming. Instead, they sent their reporters to the scenes reporting the progress of the fires day and night. Everything was in the devastating flames. Everything was slowly engulfed by the fire night and day. The conflagrations leisurely burned the houses in the back and spread to the houses in front. It extended freely from the houses on the left to the houses on the right. It seemed to be in no hurry and know that nothing could stop it. The streets were empty except for fire trucks and firefighters. Many of the residents' cars were still parked in front of their homes or on the street. They were burned out. Many were still untouched but would be flared up pretty soon. By Wednesday morning, Pacific Palisade had run out of water to fight the fire. President Biden and Governor Newsom visited those spots.
On Thursday morning, Jan 09, the wind was a little bit calm. But the fire broke out again in the neighborhoods of Hurst, Lydia and Kennet... Due to the strong wind, It was so difficult to control it. At the same time, the fire reached the north side of Sunset Blvd. UCLA University closed.
When the author started this writing piece, the Pacific Palisade fire has burned down more than 20,000 acres, more than 13,000 structures, including shopping malls, residential areas, apartment complexes, cultural centers, two schools, at least five churches and a synagogue, and numerous parks and villas. More than 17,000 acres and more than other 300 structures were devastated in Eaton. More than 300,000 evacuees lost their homes and other properties. AccuWeather, a private company that provides weather and impact data, predicts the initial damage of at least $150 billion. As of today, hundreds of people have been burned and 26 have died. The Getta Museum was lucky to escape the bonafire this time. But the Will Rogers' Western Ranch, a cultural center built in 1920, was completely demolished. The total number of firefighters fighting day and night in these large and small fires was 7,500 people, not counting nearly a thousand prisoners who volunteered to participate. Sincere gratitude for this merit.
Majority of those celebs owe multiple houses. But the rest of population have lost most of their properties. A great number of them are in dire straits. Many insurance companies have refused to cover their homes in these high-risk areas since early 2024. The Pacific Palisade fire is only 15% contained and the Eaton fire is only 20% contained.
WHAT CAN WE SEE FROM THIS BONNAFIRE?
After the wind reduced its violence and danger a little bit , many people were able to return to their homes. “ Back Home” this time was not easy and comfortable. Everything was in piles of ruins; black smoke still rose in many places. Some people were bitter and distressed. The places where they had lived for decades, where their children were born and brought up, where their children were grown-up, where family generations have gathered, now all remained in their memories. Just as the Buddha taught, “fire” is one of the five ways to destroy human property in the blink of an eye. And all conditioned phenomena are impermanent in the rebirth cycle. Suddenly I remembered the verses of a Zen Master calling people to return to their original tranquility after the miseries of human life...
“...Go home. How come not going home?
Barren fields, empty houses! Why not returning yet?”
HOW WARM THE IMMENSE HUMAN COMPASSION!
To share those sufferings in human life, people everywhere offer their hands to help in various ways. Everything is free. The charities not only provide meals for a month, but they also collect relief goods. The U-Haul rents out their vehicles. The Dogtima gives food to dogs and cats with owners. Many organizations take care of pets who have lost their owners. The Planet Fitness allows to do exercise in their facilities comfortable. Toyota rents cars because many people have no cars to move around. Many supporting funds are opened... Some restaurants give free meal vouchers to thank the dedication of firefighters. Some fast-food restaurants also give away food until the fire is over and they can eat it several times a day. Being grateful and sharing difficulties with others not only warms up people's hearts but also helps change karma.
HUMAN CATASTROPHES and CAUSAL EFFECTS
The ostentatious luxuries and arrogance have gone. Left only are desolation, collapses and sufferings. Everything is not beyond the cycle of causes and effects and personal karmas. With Buddhist practice, you will realize what happens today has rooted from the past. Those whose blessings end cannot hold his wealth. When their blessings are gone, they are unable to keep their life either. To some people, their final moments in their life were truly terrifying and heartbreaking. Anthony Mitchell, 67 years old amputee, who used a wheelchair, and his 20-year-old son, Justin, bedridden with cerebral palsy, died at their burning home in Altadena because the ambulance could not make it out in time. With such a horrible near-death experience, where will their consciousness go? Let us pray for those to be reborn in a peaceful realm.
After a week, 70% of the Pacific Palisade fire was still out of control. To date, this fire has not been only the most destructive in Los Angeles, but also the most dangerous and disastrous in the wildfire history in the United States. Some people, when the above fires were not extinguished yet, ignited some fires in the residential areas with gasoline. When questioned by the police, a man said he liked the smell of burning leaves and a woman said she liked seeing the chaos and havoc when the fire broke out. Gosh! Did they know that they could not control themselves? Oh! What a cross-overlapping of negative conditions!
PERSONAL KARMAS ARE ALWAYS AMONG COLLECTIVE ONES
It is very strange that after the largest wildfires in the history of the United States as well as in other countries, here and there among ashes and dust, there are unblemished houses and buildings as if they would have never been engulfed in fire. CEO David Steiner, Waste Management Agency, told the Daily Mail that he could not believe his eyes when he saw his three-story house in Malibu worth nearly $9 million intact among the burned mansions. He called it a miracle. Everyone knows that there are fire-resistant building materials. Some wealthy people in this area hired private fire companies from Oregon or Arizona to protect their homes during the disaster. It is wondering why only a few people choose that option when it is within their reach.
The Lord taught that among collective karmas there are always individual ones. Good and bad karmas are always the grounds of human life. Good or evil, blessings or misfortunes are based on caring the precepts, specifically the five precepts for the lay people. The merits generated from good deeds are one among the foundations for developing wisdom. And be concerned of people’s well-being. Be cautious with fire. Do not just think of yourself if you want to keep your wealth for a long time.
NO MAN IS INDISPENSABLE
Pain and loss, then, will be over. Time is always the best medicine to heal any injure. Later on, from the ruins, people will rebuild more splendid and beautiful structures. The construction industry will offer more jobs for workers, architects, contractors, building material manufacturers, interior designers, furniture makers. The real estate market is hustling and bustling again. Many people keep dreaming of houses for their families. The celebs have plentiful options to choose the own imposing mansions. The proverb says, "After rain, it will be sunny again." Those who were dead were already dead. Those who lost their homes did lose them. Life still moves forward superciliously. "Without you, life keeps go on.” It sounds so unhuman but very worldly.
SUCH IS THE WORLD. HOW ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS?
History has been created and rebuilt in that way. So is humanity. We have been born, aged, sick and dead of various reasons for many times. Then, being reborn again, leaving physical bodies again, looking for another one again. Rebirths. Up-and-down in the samsara. Have we ever been afraid of it? If not, then it is a long story of many episodes without closing yet. Only when we want to shake the dust from our feet, then, the opportunity to come back will open up as the Patriarchs said, “Sick of desires, abstaining them, renouncing them, enlightened.”
Listen to the verses by Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh.
“…Go back home, vagabonds. The way is too far!
Attached yourselves to so much sand, dust, and sorrow.
Comfortably snoozing in the heart of Buddhism,
And let your ageless mind adored and cherished …”
It is twilight! The blackness is falling down everything. Road back home is too long. Hurry up! My friends, hurry up!
English version by Ngọc Huyền
Seclusion of NonSpeech
Jan 20, 2025
Link to Vietnamese article: http://tanhkhong.org/a4567/dd0763-ngoc-huyen-tam-van-phap-mon-the-nguyen-hoc-bai-2-chay-rung-tai-pacific-palisade-los-angeles
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