To the first responders of the coronavirus pandemic, with deep appreciation…

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and the Sangha of Mangala Shri Bhuti,

Would like to honor and acknowledge, with immense gratitude and deepest appreciation and respect, all those who, day after day, bravely and tirelessly risks their well-being to serve others in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. We all thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.

The first responders: EMTs, ambulance drivers, firemen and women, policemen and women, their captains, detectives, 911 operators, all responding to tens of thousands of calls for help. The Medical professionals: ER and ICU doctors and nurses, specialists, healthcare workers who have come out of retirement, all of whom work in the very worst center of the pandemic.

The employees in elder care facilities, places of high risk, who have created barriers to protect those who are most vulnerable. The government workers who seek to organize resources and staffing for the greatest impact. The scientists who are collaborating across their countries’ borders to find a cure and the epidemiologists who strive to model and predict in order to best minimize the spread of the disease and suffering. The tens of thousands who have come running from all different parts of their countries to help in places of dire need. Those who have stayed working at essential services: grocery store staff, delivery men and women, pharmacists, social workers, transportation workers, utility employees, gas station staff, sanitation workers, and many more.

They all have loved ones and lives of their own that they cherish. Many have fallen sick during their service, some have died. In the midst of overwhelming suffering, sickness and death all around them, they serve regardless of the danger to themselves and courageously do their work. May they all be protected and free of harm.

And to the many masters, beacons of bodhicitta, who pray tirelessly from morning to night on behalf of all those suffering in this crisis, and who offer practices and guidance, for an end to the virus and for well-being and peace to return and reign across the earth. May their work be unimpeded, successful in magical ways, and penetrate the hearts of all who know them.

May a cure to the virus, a vaccine or successful anti-viral medicine, come swiftly and be fully effective in eliminating the virus. May all the societal measures to slow the spread of the virus that the populations of countries are undertaking be successful. May the economic injury and suffering of unemployment, food scarcity, the stress and anxiety of this time, and other social challenges come to an end. May refugee populations who are at tremendous risk in densely crowded camps as well as nations without adequate healthcare systems be protected. May everyone be safe and protected and all those who have died be reborn in higher realms. May the world come together as a whole and remain in solidarity during this crisis that faces the whole of humanity, and remain so afterwards.

Lastly, during this time which has made us all stop, may the environment heal, may the needless cruelty to animals cease altogether. May we find creative solutions that allow us to live in harmony with our planet so our lives and the lives of all sentient being with whom we share this world are mutually nurtured and supported. May we find compassion in our hearts at all times and relate to those closest to us as well as those who we consider to be “on the other side of our fence” all equally as one race of sentient beings seeking the same thing: freedom from suffering and lasting happiness.

With our deepest appreciation, respect, and most sincere prayers,

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Mangala Shri Bhuti