Venerable Monks, Ladies, Gentlemen and Distinguished Guests,

It has been almost 14 days since the Tsunami Disaster which destroyed villages and
killed more than 147,000 people in almost 12 countries, the worst of which were Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand.

By seeing this, the Cambodian Community in Calgary and vicinity, coordinated with Cambodian-Canadian Association of Alberta, Khmer-Canadian Buddhist Cultural Society, Cambodian community members and all other distinguish quests are gathered here today.

Of course this disaster is the truth of suffering. It is the truth of impermanence, because every thing in this world must be changed. It is the truth of suffering because everything in this world must be decayed. It is the truth of non-self because all natural phenomenon in this world must be uncontrolled. As we can experience, all recent phenomena and all past phenomenon are under this reality.

When we are aware of this reality, each of us, individually will be mindful, aware, conscious and compassionate to human beings and nature around us. If people around the globe accept impermanence, suffering and egolessness, we should love and trust each other more than we have ever done before. Everything just appears, stays for awhile and disappears eventually.

So thank you for your effort today, on behalf of all human beings we should share
our common bond of loving-kindness and compassion. We try our best to find
loving-kindness and compassion, through our body, speech and thought. Our body can help and give compassion through effort or donation of materials such as money. Through our speech we can spread the word of compassion and loving-kindness to everybody around us. Through our thought we can concentrate and be mindful at all times of other people suffering which are the same as our own sufferings.

Now let us concentrate and accumulate all merits and goodness that we have ever
done in the past, in the present or tend to do in the future to offer to those victims.

May all those victims are blessed with welfare, happiness and healthy.
May they are blessed with loving-kindness and compassion.
May they are born in the good realms.
May everybody love, help and trust each other through plenty of compassion,
intellectuals and right understanding.
May every body here is blessed and healthy throughout the new coming year
2005.

8 January, 2005
Thanks (Venerable Sophan Seng)

Relief fund raising for the Tsunami Victims has raised 5445$ Canada to match the Government fund and can be accumulated to 10890$ Canada See CTV's event broadcasting, CTV link

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