What would Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do when encountering disasters?

When the Buddha encountered King Virūḍhaka leading his army to exterminate the Śākya clan, what did He do?

This time, when we Buddhists encountered the disaster of viral infection, although we did not, like medical personnel, go out to treat the sick and save lives and kill the virus, we used the methods unique to Buddhism for saving sentient beings—for example, dedicating the merit of reciting sutras, reciting the Buddha's name, and studying the Dharma to push for the early end of the epidemic. In this way we made our due contribution to the country and, to a certain extent, saved sentient beings. Just how great this extent is, it is not convenient to say at present; one can only say that the effect of this dedication of merit (pariṇāma) is not small. Now, the merit of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is immeasurable—when they encounter natural disasters and human calamities, do they not have many, many skillful and expedient means to resolve the disasters of sentient beings, without needing to kill living beings and form evil karmic bonds with them, and thereby dissolve all disasters?

When sentient beings lack sufficient merit and wisdom, the only solutions to disaster they can think of are killing and hostility; they cannot think of a better way to resolve it. When merit and wisdom are sufficient, a single thought can dissolve a disaster. Therefore, as soon as sentient beings encounter a disaster, they naturally think of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, because the wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is lofty and vast, and they can resolve these problems without the slightest effort.

Therefore, each person must still diligently cultivate. Only cultivation is the true principle; without cultivation, one can never avoid creating evil karma and then suffering its evil retribution.