The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

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Grigoris
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The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by Grigoris »

My lama here in Greece practices releasing animals in order to save their lives. A powerful practice that accrues imense virtue and benefit. This practice works best for animals that are to be killed (not that releasing animals destined as pets is not a beneficial practice). It doesn't have to be a cow, it can be a much smaller animal (for example snails, quails and frogs that are being raised and sold for consumption). Smaller animals are easier for those living in cities. Live marine animals (fish, shellfish, prawns and crabs) is another option. Many fishing shops sell live bait which you can buy and release.

For those who want the practice I have made an electronic copy of The Essence of Benefit and Joy: A Method for the Saving of Lives written by Jamgon Kongtrul and Loro Thaye. It's a 20mb zip file. Those who want a copy can PM me with their email address.

There are some other pracitces available on the net based on Avalokitesvaras six syllable mantra.
:namaste:
Last edited by Grigoris on Sat Apr 02, 2011 6:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
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Grigoris
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by Grigoris »

Here's a video of the 17th Karmapa doing the practice, releasing fish, destined for consumption, back into the sea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzbNaqrKvS0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
:namaste:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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LastLegend
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by LastLegend »

You posted something right by my standards.

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Grigoris
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by Grigoris »

Here's a link to the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra site which outlines a practice based on Chenrezig and one on Green Tara https://www.kagyu.org/ktd/liferelease.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
:namaste:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Karma Yeshe
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by Karma Yeshe »

My Monastery, Kaygu Thublen Choiling, does live bait releases on a regular basis. Anytime you can save a sentient Being is a good thing.
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

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Last edited by xylem on Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Please make sure that you research what you release, where you release it. For example, frogs bred in captivity and sold in grocery stores may carry viruses and releasing them into rivers and ponds may be harmful to other frogs.
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Dhondrub
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by Dhondrub »

This relatively short Tsethar text by the great Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo comes with a recommendation of Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche

http://www.mangalashribhuti.org/pdf/stu ... 6_2009.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
arisaema81
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by arisaema81 »

PadmaVonSamba wrote:Please make sure that you research what you release, where you release it. For example, frogs bred in captivity and sold in grocery stores may carry viruses and releasing them into rivers and ponds may be harmful to other frogs.
This is an important point. You should also be careful not to release alien species which may upset the local eco-system e.g. the release of mink into the wild in the UK by animal rights activists some years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/148420.stm

The practise is great though!! :smile:

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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by LastLegend »

If are in countries such as Vietnam, please buy live animals and release them. These animals are locally captured like birds and aquatic animals, and these animals will be killed and eaten if not saved.
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Grigoris
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Re: The benefit and virtue of saving and releasing animals

Post by Grigoris »

Excellent to see people taking an interest. Did the practice last week with my lama who I was visiting in Athens, we do it with snails.

Also sat down with my lama and another vajra bro and translated the practice into Greek along with Tibetan transliteration.

Decided to upload them (the english and tibetan texts) to my dropbox public folder so now all people have to do is follow these links to download the practice as a docx and/or rar file:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14604585/Essenc ... it.rar.exe" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14604585/The%20 ... 20Joy.docx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
:namaste:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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