Great Ways to Prevent Mosquito Bites

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Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Hsihu, Formosa, February 11, 1996. (Originally In Chinese)

The insect that kills the greatest number of human beings is the mosquito; it kills millions of adults and children each year. The number of human beings killed by mosquitoes far exceeds that of any wars, natural disasters or assassinations. This tiny but extremely vicious demon kills at least four million people every year! Many people get all kinds of strange diseases because they are infected by the mosquito.

We have to protect ourselves, because there are more mosquitoes in the world than we could ever kill! We could not kill them all even if we wanted to so don't be "silly" ("kill" and "silly" in Chinese have a similar pronunciation.); we should just endeavor to protect ourselves. Cover your children with mosquito nets when they sleep, just like you would cover a wok (Master and everyone laugh), and let them sleep inside. You can do the same for the bigger kids as well - it's convenient.

You don't have to kill the mosquitoes, just use mosquito nets and window screens! Your window screens are most inviting - with mesh holes so large that even I could go through them. (Laughter) I heard that even Master's transformation body can go through those small holes, not to mention mosquitoes.

When buying window screens, choose those made of a fine mesh to prevent the tiniest mosquitoes from entering. There is a type of screen made of very fine mesh that can stop mosquitoes while still maintaining ventilation. What's the use if the mesh holes are so big? At night, mosquitoes can see very clearly from outside the mesh just as though they were looking through binoculars. So in they go. They say, "Since the door is open, I'll just go in easily."

Even when you have installed window screens, do not switch on the lights too early. Try to see things with your naked eyes or use a flashlight, and switch on the lights later in the evening when the mosquitoes have gone to sleep.

About five to seven in the evening, it is dinner time for mosquitoes (laughter), so there are plenty of them around. They disappear at about nine or ten! If possible, do not switch on the lights when they come out to eat. Switch on the outdoor lights instead of the indoor ones; so even if there were some mosquitoes inside, they will go for the light outside. Should you switch on the lights indoors, mosquitoes will come in even if there were originally none inside!