The Benefits of Animal Liberation – Practice Dharma Diligently

　　Teaching at Wan Fo Chan Monastery, Hebei, China

　　(June 27, 2010 PM)

　　Venerables from Wan Fo Chan Monastery, and Dharma brothers and sisters from Qin Huang Dao, good afternoon to all of you. I would like to share three points about Dharma practice here today with you. However, due to time constraints, I can only briefly talk about these three points.

　　Liberating and Protecting Animals

　　Firstly, since we are going to hold an animal liberation event here today, in which we will save the lives of birds, aquatic animals, and other types of living beings, I would like to take this opportunity to stress the importance of liberating and protecting animals. In addition to that, we are going to chant the “Animal Liberation Prayer.” As our motivation is of utmost importance in whatever we do, during the chanting, I would like to request that we all generate compassion for those living beings from deep within our heart.

　　I think the importance of animal liberation events is even more relevant for those of you living near coastal cities, for most of you could be creating more serious negative karma than others due to the consumption of fresh seafood. When I was on the way from Beijing to here, one of my friends, who doesn”t believe very much in Buddhism, said, “Going to Qin Huang Dao is very nice. The seafood there, especially crab, is delicious.” I replied to him, “I am a vegetarian.” After he heard my reply, he apologized, “Oh, sorry, I forgot….” What he said about seafood at Qin Huang Dao implies that those living near coastal cities, who like to eat seafood, are creating negative karma that is hard to imagine.

　　Of course, this not only happens with those living near coastal cities, it even happens with some Buddhists. When you recall what has happened during your lifetime, the scenes of killing living beings for the sake of meals may appear in your mind, and these are all things worthy of confession. As a Mahayana practitioner, generating compassion, equanimity, and loving kindness to save miserable sentient beings is our responsibility. Only by having these mindsets can we treat all sentient beings equally, and thus not only refrain from harming them, but also protect and save them. As we learnt from the scriptures, this not only eradicates all our present sufferings and disasters, benefits our mental and physical health, and promotes world peace, but also functions as a way for us to gain temporary future happiness in the three fortunate realms and ultimately attain enlightenment. Therefore, the benefits of the practice of animal liberation are indeed vast.

　　In addition, as there are many Pure Land practitioners here, I would like to take this opportunity to urge that we refrain from using impure practices as an excuse to reject the animal liberation practice or to slander Tibetan Buddhism and other Buddhist lineages. What we should be aware of is that various strands of Buddhism are harmonious with each other, they are all the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, and whoever practices virtue and accumulates merit will be able to attain enlightenment, no matter which strand the practitioner is from. Master Han Shan from the Han region has said, “Animal liberation coupled with Pure Land practice—thousands of people practice this, thousands will have realization.” We should bear in mind that only by performing animal liberation together with Pure Land practice can we have full confidence in achieving liberation or enlightenment. In contrast, if we advocate Pure Land practice but neglect other virtues, or, even worse, if we reject other profound Buddhist lineages, this will not only obstruct our path to liberation, but may also cause us to fall into the three unfortunate realms. A…

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