The amazing story of releasing animals

Nagarjuna Bodhisattva said in “The Great Wisdom”: “If a person cultivates all kinds of merits, but does not refrain from killing living beings, it will be of no benefit. Why? Even if he is born in a wealthy place, he is powerful and has no life span, who can enjoy this happiness? ? Therefore, we know that among all the remaining sins, killing is the most serious; among all the merits, not killing is the most serious. Cherishing life is the most important in the world. How do you know this? All people in the world are willing to accept punishments, torture and deprivation to protect their life span. “True. If you release animals according to the principles and the Dharma, and if you have enough money, Dharma, and fearlessness, you will be able to eliminate sins, accumulate blessings, and extend your life. In Buddhism, animals and people are equal living beings because they also have Buddha nature. “Samantabhadra Bodhisattva’s Actions and Vows” says: “If you make all sentient beings happy, you will make all Tathagatas happy.”

In Shenzhen, there is a group of young lay Buddhists who strictly observe the precepts, specialize in the Shurangama Mantra, and often organize the release of wild animals, mainly snakes and other wild animals. There are often many incredible reactions to releasing animals. Here are three examples:

The story of releasing the snake

One day last winter, this group of young Buddhist practitioners rushed to the local large-scale farmers’ wholesale market early in the morning to buy snakes. Among the many snakes, there was a cobra that was so menacing that some timid people were so frightened that they hid back. Seeing this, the snake seller opened the snake’s mouth to show that the cobra had no teeth (the teeth had been extracted), so everyone decided to buy it and release it together (in an inaccessible mountain forest in the outskirts). The weather was very cold that day. The sun appeared in the originally gloomy sky during the release. The strong and dazzling sunshine made everyone feel warm. A senior brother participating in the release saw this toothless cobra and cried out in surprise: “This is the snake, exactly the same as the one in my dream yesterday.” It turned out that in the dream, the cobra had asked him for help: “You want to save Me, you have to save me.” It can be seen from this that all living beings are very spiritual and you must not eat them.

Please save my child

Once, a senior brother who often participated in wild life releases had a dream at night. He dreamed that an old snake turned into an old man and said to him: “Please save my child, the child is in danger.” After saying that, he disappeared. The next day, when he made an appointment with some Buddhist friends to buy snakes, he found a small green snake among the snakes. The night after buying it and releasing it, the little green snake entrusted a dream to this senior brother: “Thank you very much for saving my life.” Now I will give you a string of Buddha beads to express my gratitude.” Giving Buddha beads in a dream is to increase the heart of learning Buddhism and to strengthen the heart of Bodhi without retreating.

Release a lot of loaches

On this day, everyone released a lot of loaches. After reciting the Shurangama Mantra and returning, we saw the loaches swarming up one after another, forming a circle of lotus petals that were as large as car tires and as small as dishes. It was actually surrounded by several solemn lotus shapes. This scene of strange lotuses appearing in the water is surprising and shocking, and it also makes everyone more determined to practice Taoism.

Release turtles

On Xiao Wang’s birthday, he bought a dozen turtles and prepared to release them. During the release, I discovered that a green turtle had some injuries on its feet and back, so I decided to keep the turtle at home to recover.

After two weeks of careful care by Xiao Wang’s father, Uncle Wang, the green turtle recovered quickly. That night, Uncle Wang had a dream: In the dream, a man in green clothes thanked him and said, “I have recovered now, please send me home!” After waking up from the dream, Uncle Wang felt very Strangely, “Why have I never seen this man in green?” At this moment, he suddenly thought of the green turtle, and hurried to the balcony to take a look, and saw that the turtle was desperately crawling out! Uncle Wang suddenly realized, “It turns out you want to go home. Okay! I will release you today.” Then he and Xiao Wang went to the river and carefully placed the green turtle on the edge of the river. The little turtle looked back and said, Reluctantly, I swam away in the underground river.

Turtle please go have tea

Today was the day when Guanyin Bodhisattva became enlightened. I went to the market early in the morning and bought two turtles and some fish to release. After reciting the release ritual for them, I put them into the nearby river.

At night, I had a very clear dream. In my dream, two dwarfs carrying schoolbags invited me to drink tea in their humble home. I followed them to a room and sat down at a round table. After drinking tea, these two men walked me to the door and thanked me. : “Thanks to you for saving me today, we can’t thank you enough.” After saying that, I woke up from my dream. Carefully recalling the words in the dream, I suddenly remembered that the two turtles released today were probably the two turtles who expressed their gratitude in the dream.

More than 60,000 animals released

On September 23, 2007, Buddhist friends gathered at the temple to participate in the release event. The weather was extremely bad that day, with wind and rain. The umbrellas in the hands of many Buddhist friends were blown swaying. Everyone was eager for the heavy rain to stop soon. Many animals were released, mainly loaches and fish, totaling more than 60,000 animals. Before releasing the animals, everyone held a devout release ceremony around them. At this time, the rain stopped, and as the chanting became more and more uniform and louder, above our heads, there appeared in the sky that was originally covered with dark clouds. A big hole was dug and the sun came out. At that time, it was still raining heavily in places not far away, but the sun appeared only here, and the sunlight became stronger and stronger, making us all shine brightly.

Buddhist friends all understood that this was the blessing of Buddha’s power, and they were very excited, and it also strengthened our Taoist aspirations. Most of the Buddhist friends who came to participate in the life release today are Buddhist disciples who do not kill animals and strictly observe the precepts. Everyone has a compassionate heart to save these poor sentient beings who will be slaughtered. There is no selfish intention during the life release ceremony. Distracted thoughts and delusions, in this case, the light of your own nature will inevitably induce the blessing of Buddha’s power. Such a special release scene was inspired by our kindness and sincerity. The Buddha has earnestly warned us in many classics that all living beings are equal. In real life, we must follow the teachings, learn from Buddha and Bodhisattva, and treat people and things with compassion, so that we can be worthy of the Buddha’s great education.

There are ten benefits of releasing animals

Tip: There are ten benefits of releasing animals: (1) No harm from weapons or weapons. (2) Gather all auspiciousness. (3) Longevity and health. (4) It is better to have more children than men. (5) All Buddhas rejoice. (6) Gratitude to all kinds of things. (7) No disasters. (8) Be reborn in heaven. (9) If all living beings repay kindness, all evil will be eliminated and the seasons will be peaceful. (10) If everyone abstains from killing and releases animals, life will never end, kindness will be passed down from generation to generation, and happiness and longevity will be eternal.

If we have the conditions, we should try our best to save the animals that are about to be killed. If we are unable to do so financially, we should also have great compassion, recite the Buddha’s name and mantra more often, and dedicate it to the killed living beings, plant Bodhi seeds for them, and transcend their suffering souls. .

Finally, it is recommended to eat vegetarian food

Promoting vegetarianism is the fundamental way to quit killing. If no one eats meat, who will kill? The Buddha said very clearly in “The Lankavatara Sutra: Covering Eating Meat”: “I see that there is no one in the world who is meat instead of destiny. If he does not kill himself, and does not teach others to kill, he does not kill for the sake of killing. Those who do not follow destiny but are meat, There is no good point.” To persuade a person to become a vegetarian is to give limitless freedom to life.