It is very good that Australians and people overseas are spending up big to support the Australian bushfire appeal. I love to rejoice when beings practice virtue. Virtue is the cause of happiness, good health, but let’s just break down a few things here.

The media have obviously seen the disaster, but is anyone watching what is going on with the flow of funding here? Firstly, poor Scott Morrison is currently facing a beating from the public. Why? His government generously offered $2 billion in aid for the bushfire crisis. The media have no mentioned the actual cost of the crisis to the country just this year have they? Australian’s are so ungratefully hurling abuse at Scott and even if he did make a mistake going to Hawaii, the hatred is negative and unnecessary. If we look a little deeper at the ignorance that is actually causing the suffering, why don’t the media state that it is beings negative karma and delusions that are actually responsible for all this loss and environmental fury.

The ignorance of a self of persons and phenomena is the cause of suffering. It is the cause of cyclic existence. It is not the government of Australia that is necessarily doing the wrong thing here, but the fault of the electorate. Why aren’t the media praising the government for it’s interest and support? $2 billion in aid is significant. Secondly, people have their own insurance policies, and $1 billion in claims have already been lodged, so that is helping to cover the costs. The finance and environment ministers are obviously watching the cost to the community, but how much aid is actually required on top of the fact that insurance would be already paying for some of this problem. Did the bushfire crisis cost $2 billion to the country or more. What is the need for extra money in aid?

Australians aren’t yet free of samsara, and they need to take responsibility for their own mind and actions. Buddhists know that ultimately we are to blame for the suffering we experience. It is caused by sinful behaviour and delusions, and a lack of ethics, concentration and wisdom. Beings in all six realms of samsara need to recognise the need to understand and realise the emptiness of the self of persons and of phenomena. All phenomena lack inherent existence, whilst cause and effect and dependent arising are unfailing.

So there’s been well over $100 million raised in bushfire appeal fundraising efforts. Andrew Forrest kindly donated $70 million, another person donated something like $30 million. And there have been significant efforts from others too. Are people hurling too much money to this one crisis, after the government definitely got behind the Australian’s and offered generous support?

Are Australian’s going to resettle in bushfire prone regions or are they going to seriously question the value of accepting these donations, whilst not attending to the likelihood that this weather problem is not going away unless proper conduct and virtue are adopted and negativity in the heart is abandoned. Don’t people need to move out of bushfire prone areas and settle elsewhere? If the people of the world cover the cost of this crisis, how are Australians’ acting to avoid the same problem next summer or sometime again in the future?

Copyright © Vanessa Anne Walsh 2019.