【Description】
Grandmaster JinBodhi once said, “The best way to free captive animals involves no killing.” Freeing captive animals is an act of compassion that must only be performed if it is rooted in wisdom. Releasing animals without wise consideration could result in their deaths.
How should we go about freeing captive creatures? Find out in Grandmaster JinBodhi’s teaching and become a truly compassionate person who loves and protects life and Nature.
【You will learn】
- The true meaning of freeing captive animals
- The consequences of freeing captive animals inappropriately
- The story of the carp disaster in the Mississippi River
- The story of Tibet’s freeing of sheep
【Featured aphorisms】
- Having love and compassion for all living beings means not killing.
- Liberating captive animals must not result in their deaths.
- Freeing captive creatures is an act of compassion that requires wisdom.
【Content】
(Hello, Master. Is freeing captive animals good or bad? Does it help or benefit us?)
It depends what you are freeing. If it is a person you have caught, then you should set them free right away. If it is a fish you have kept in a tank for 3 years, then it is killing. If a caged tiger is released, it is also killing. Agree? (Yes.) Some will claim it is unfair to cage tigers. If a tiger has been caged since birth, releasing it into the wild means possibly killing it. It would probably die of hunger.
Buddhism is all about compassion. People interpret this as meaning they should release captive animals. Some do this when they are sick or facing disasters. Usually, people free birds or fish. Not all animals can simply just be freed. After buying the fish, do you know if they are freshwater or saltwater fish? Although river fish and lake fish are both freshwater types, if you misplaced either one, it might die.
In Canada, there are laws that control the freeing of animals. Not all fish can be released. Also, some can only be released in certain places. These laws were devised to prevent infection and pollution.
Raise your hand if you have freed captive animals before. What were you releasing? Fish? (Yes.) You? (Birds.) Goats? I couldn’t hear clearly. (Birds.) Birds, I see. Was it a pet bird or a bird that was caught? (They were birds sold for releasing.) You mean birds that are caught specifically for releasing? (In Myanmar, yes.) I see, Myanmar. (She’s from Myanmar.) I was talking about Canada. In Myanmar, people catch birds and sell them for releasing? (Yes.) Right, I have seen it on the streets. There was a cage of them, I thought about buying one. But I thought the vendor might just re-catch and re-sell it so I didn’t. But still, it was a kind thought.
It is OK to release animals, but beware of some things. Especially when it comes to fish. Birds are generally fine. What is worrisome is if they recognize their cage. After being released, they return only to be caught and sold again. But still, releasing them was an act of your compassion. It is not necessarily wrong. If it were, the masters wouldn’t recommend it.
To me, not harming life is the best releasing of life. You can release many animals to gain merits after you have already sinned, but that doesn’t solve your problems at the root level. You need to first respect, revere, and love Nature. These are the keys that stop you from harming other living creatures. It is not about continuing to harm in your daily lives, but then releasing animals for merits when you are sick.
People may be doing this after watching some testimonials showing the benefits of releasing captive animals. However, to me, not harming in the first place is true compassion. Not harming shows your true love for all living beings. Not littering shows your true love for Nature. Not wasting shows your respect for resources and your own hard work. I am neither for nor against the releasing of captive animals. I am aware that if done incorrectly, it becomes killing. If all people care about is what they can gain from doing it, say, you release the fish into the wrong water and they die as a result, but you only think about their release and nothing else, you may have sinned due to your ignorance, who knows?
The local authorities are right to impose laws on releasing animals. Animals may have contracted human bacteria while being kept as pets. Upon being released, the animals then bring the bacteria to the wild. At airports, customs officials are strict when it comes to foreign diseases spread by plants or animals. Most people aren’t aware of how foreign bacteria can damage the local ecosystem. We have a fellow practitioner who works as a biologist. He was researching a type of weed in North America. Scientists studied a very specific quality of this plant.
I have forgotten the name of this weed. He said it was more than 10 years ago that this weed was brought in from Africa or maybe China. The weed grew at crazy speed and that is not all. It grew so quickly that within 3 years, all the other vegetation in the surrounding soil had been wiped out. All other plant life is gone except for this weed and it continues to spread. It grows and spreads like a plague, spreading all over different parts of North America.
Most people aren’t aware of it except biologists. He pointed out a large area covered in this weed in Vancouver. This is an example of a threat posed by a foreign species. This phenomenon is very serious. All other plant life is gone. Our world shouldn’t be like this. There should be many types of plants growing together.
I read a news story about a river in the States that is infested with Chinese carp. I think it is the Mississippi River. With an infestation of Chinese carp, right? How did the Chinese carp end up there? Maybe some Chinese people were releasing animals and chose that river. The native fish in the river had never seen this creature before; they all “gave up” without a fight. The Chinese carp began to rapidly reproduce, depleting local wildlife of their chances. An invasion that harms other species isn’t encouraged. Therefore, we need to be careful when releasing animals.
When I was in Tibet, everyone there raised and kept sheep. Not many raised fish; fish were scarce. Within each family’s herd, about 10 sheep had red strings around their horns. The sheep with the red strings were marked as the “released” ones. No one was allowed to kill them. In Tibet, sheep are raised for their meat. It is part of the Tibetan culture and diet. Few crops grow in the harsh Tibetan climate, so people can’t expect any wheat or bread.
In certain parts of Tibet, people can eat only meat. To them, not killing means compassion. These marked sheep are “released” and will not be killed. There was a video made documenting these “released” sheep. One of them seemed to have become spiritually aware, and seemed almost psychic. A year after being marked, it seemed to have become aware; it started to follow its owner everywhere he went. It even got on the bus with its owner. It looked more like a puppy than a sheep.
All Tibetans know what those red strings mean. Dogs don’t even bark at these marked sheep; it is very strange. There are photos available online. It could also be other fancy things tied on their horns. It could be a piece of cloth blessed in a temple for auspiciousness and luck. These sheep will die naturally of old age, not as food.
So I say: Not harming is compassion. When you don’t kill, you gain merits. How good would it be if people harmed less, or didn’t harm at all. When you use releasing as a last-ditch effort, you could end up adding more sins if you mess up. Do not turn releasing into more killing. We need to know the science behind releasing captive animals to avoid harming and killing.
Releasing captive animals shows compassion and requires wisdom. Love all sentient beings; not harming is compassion.