Releasing or Harming Life?

I have blogged many times here about our release life activities, the latest one being here. I have also tried to read up on this intrinsically meritorious activity, one which has instilling compassion in all of us at its core. At the same time, the potential for abuse exists as blogged here, which admonishes us to temper the conduct of the activity with wisdom. Therefore, the pros and cons of release life activity as a benevolent act sanctioned by the Buddhist community have been debated at length.

Recently, the same disagreement, to put it mildly, surfaced in Malaysia in conjunction with the Global Guan Yin Dharma Ceremony (July 30 - Aug 1, 2007) . Among the activities planned to commemorate the occasion was the organized release life activity.

I am not privy to what actually transpired on the ground, but have this news article in Nanyang Siang Pau (Aug 8, 2007) to give me a sense of the undercurrents of conflicting standpoints.

Consider it a proposal for an alternative (the virtual) kind of engaging in release life activities. In the spirit of sharing, here’s my attempt at an English translation:

Do set up a release life website!

Many years ago, per chance I wrote an article commenting on the deviation of the practice of release life from its true meaning. A reader responded in support, saying that if anyone stops catching small animals for release life after reading my article, that itself would constitute a meritorious act of saving life.

The reader also attached an explanation on the significance of releasing life by Venerable Dhammananda, quoting him, “liberating all sentient beings from suffering is the best form of releasing life.”

Many years since, many small animals still suffer because of the practice of releasing life.

Releasing animals from immediate harm is saving life, but not one that is pre-meditated. However, the practice of releasing life in order to accrue good merits has gone astray, bringing much detriment over the long term to the lives of many small animals such as turtles, birds, and fish. For many years, many people have voiced negatively on the practice, as have many venerable monks and practitioners in the Buddhist community explained based on Buddhist scriptures the fine points and protocol required of the proper conduct of the practice. But twisted forms of releasing life rituals continue unabated.

The recent Global GuanYin Dharma Ceremony too has been criticized by the public including Buddhists as damaging the atmosphere of peace and serenity for organizing an activity that released more than ten thousands small animals. Perhaps some of these fish and birds have indeed been spared the fate of immediate slaughter, or regained freedom from captivity; however, many were likely innocent lives but were caught specifically to cater for the need of the ritual.

Even though the organizers have stated categorically that these animals were purchased on the spot from the markets, perhaps in an attempt to deflect the accusation of abetting those in the business of supplying animals for release life activities. But is this a practical method? How many times would it serve the purpose? How does one ensure that the “surprised” purchase is not anticipated by those with vested interests?

Whenever there is the practice of releasing life, then there will be businesses specializing in supplying the needed “commodity”. Today, when one walks past any pet shop, it’s not difficult to observe pitiful small animals that would hardly qualify as pets in cages.

The practice of release life has resulted in many small animals and birds being forced into captivity, even untimely demise. So many reports have chronicled the specter of releasing life being turned into an unwholesome endeavor that going into details here would seem superfluous.

As a result, some release life activities have degenerated into the abyss of hypocrisy, their purposes running counter to the notion that life is sacrosanct. Such meaningless pursuits have brought suffering, even death, upon the small animals. At the same time, the perpetrators have committed grave wrongs, instead of achieving the noble purpose of releasing life.

Today, we can access websites that worship Confucius or ancestors. There are also virtual shrines and temples, even those that cater to striking small likeness of people that have done you wrong [a prevalent practice in some Asian culture, digital likeness that is], though I’m not sure whether there is one for releasing life. If there isn’t, I would like to appeal to any web design whiz kid to make one, so that those who intend to engage in releasing life as doing a good deed can do so to their hearts’ content, on the Net, thus benefiting themselves, others, and the small animals.


Does that mean giving up participating in releasing life on the ground? I demur. There are checks and balances that one can follow as blogged here. But it does mean no publicity, for it’s naïve to think that in this highly commercialized world of ours, there is a dearth of enterprising souls who would spin any innocuous activity into a profit making concern where often the end (the sale) justifies the means (catching small animals that in all likelihood would not become pets).

Also, conduct the activity in small groups, over spatially/geographically divergent areas. Be random in selecting the sites (to ensure that the released animals have the highest chance of getting back to life in the wild, and not becomg part of the food chain, not so soon anyway), and in selecting the place of purchase (to ensure that the proprietors do not temporarily stock up more catches to meet the needs).

Here I would like to end with an excerpt from Reiki Blogger, which I chanced upon while googling “Compassion and Wisdom”:

“So, the basic practice of kindness becomes a unity of wisdom and compassion. Because without one the other suffers. Without the warmth of compassion our wisdom and clarity becomes impartial and cold. And without the clear seeing wisdom our kindness becomes mis-guided and perhaps only serves to perpetuate the problem.”

The Middle Way Session 2: Wisdom, Compassion, and Self-experience

Yesterday, we attended the second session of the Meditation & Dharma Talk and Discussion organized by the Middle Way Buddhist Association . Originally, the session frequency has been decided at bimonthly intervals. But today’s session, coming as it is just one week after the first one held last Saturday, is an ad hoc change to accommodate the planned one-month trip of Bhante Dhammawansha to Asia this month. Also, the organizers have decided to reduce the frequency to a monthly one, it being the second Saturday of each month. So the next session is scheduled on April 14. Do mark your calendar accordingly.

During the pre-meditation address, Bhante stressed the needs:

• to keep a happy mind and a happy face by thinking universal loving kind thoughts;
• to sit in a comfortable, relaxed posture, even on a chair if necessary;
• to close the eyes gently so that we cannot see the world but ourselves;
• to be mindful but do not get distracted by external sound/noise. Just be familiar with the sound/noise but do not react to it.

On my part, I heard the following but did not react to the hearing:

- cars speeding by (the venue is just next to a road);
- faint ringing of a cell phone (perhaps it was kept in a handbag);
- footsteps;
- chairs creaking;
- sitting pillows being squashed by bodies changing positions;
- Bhante’s soft droning voice;
- my own occasional deep breathing.

I find that it helps me to be mindful but not distracted by assigning a number to any sound that my audio nerves pick up, much like counting my own breaths.

In the ensuing dharma talk and discussion conducted by Bhante for English speaking attendees (Brother Shieh was unable to be present this time and so I gravitated to the English class), Bhante answered an inquiry from an attendee as to whether Buddha is a God by way of a story:

One day, Buddha was accosted by a passer-by who was drawn to him by Buddha’s radiance, his robe, and his overall demeanor portraying him as a sage.

“Will you be God?”
“No,” Buddha answered.

“Will you be a dead person?”
“No,” Buddha replied.

“Will you be a dancer?” [prompted perhaps by the robe that Buddha was wearing.]
“No,” Buddha responded.

“Will you be a human being?”
“No, but I’m a supernatural human being.” Buddha stated and explained using the analogy of a lotus flower that blooms amidst the muddy water of a lotus pond.

The lotus flower does not carry any odor of the muddy environment, i.e., it is unattached to the mud. In that sense, the mud is the mundane world and we sentient beings are anything but the lotus flower, until we discover our Buddha nature. So while Buddha is a human being, the fact that he has attained enlightenment elevated him to the “superman” status. He has understood reality and he has tamed his internal enemies.

We are by nature lazy beings, and keep on postponing the surfacing of our Buddha nature because of worldly enjoyment. We are supposed to be attracted to Buddha, as naturally as iron is to magnet. But by clinging to attachments and being consumed by greed, hatred, and delusion, we are covered by rust.

A more accurate analogy is perhaps our Buddha nature is like gems under the earth strata. These strata are like defilements, covering the gem like an impenetrable cloak over our intrinsic Buddha nature. So by embracing and practicing Dharma (Buddha’s teaching, truth, law, and reality), we are making efforts to let our Buddha nature to come to the fore. In other words, Buddha is the greatest physician for diseases that afflict our mind, and no medicine is similar to Dharma.

Bhante also elaborated on the uniqueness of Buddhism, Buddha, and his teaching as summarized below:

• Buddha never discovered anything new; he rediscovered ancient paths.
• Nobody granted Buddha buddhahood; he did it without any external agency.
• The core values of Buddhism are wisdom, compassion, and self-experience. So Buddhist followers and practitioners are encouraged to think freely and decide for themselves.
• Buddhist monks are teachers, and not preachers as it is not the aim of Buddhism to convert anyone.
• The core teaching of Buddhism is enshrined in the Four Noble Truths (the word "Noble" signifying that the four truths are immutable and eternal). And they are:

1. Life is suffering/misery/distress (the last two are more common terms suggested by Bhante so that westerners may find it easier to relate to. Another connotation of duhkha, the original word in Sanskrit, is unrest).
2. Causes of suffering/misery/distress.
3. Cessation of suffering/misery/distress.
4. Path leading to cessation (“The Middle Way,” Bhante hastened to add.)

• “If you want to see me, see my teaching.” ---- Buddha

Bhante then brought to our attention several quotes from a western scientist and a western philosopher. The scientist is no other than Albert Einstein, the acknowledged genius whose greatest legacy is the General Theory of Relativity, Einstein’s own popular translation of the physics that shaped our “truths” of space and time.

I googled Einstein and Buddhism and located the relevant quotations here (where this picture is taken from as well) as reproduced below:

Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be
expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.
---- Albert Einstein

If there is any religion that would cope
with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.
---- Albert Einstein

And the philosopher is Arthur Schopenhauer, a fellow countryman of Einstein who lived more than a century earlier:

If I were to take the results of my philosophy as
the standard of truth, I would have to consider
Buddhism the finest of all religion.
---- Arthur Schopenhauer

Bhante also referred to H. G. Wells who is perhaps better known for his fiction works, several of which have been adapted into movies, the latest one being the remake of the War of the Worlds directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning (2005). But he was also an imaginative social thinker whose non-fiction works include A Short History of the World (1922). According to Bartleby.com, this work is “Wells’s tribute to “the needs of the busy general reader who wishes to refresh and repair his faded or fragmentary conceptions of the great adventure of mankind.”

Two chapters from the book are The Life of Gautama Buddha (Chapter 28) and King Asoka (Chapter 29). The latter was characterized by Wells in the following words:

"In the history of the world there have been thousands of kings and emperors who called themselves 'Their Highnesses', 'Their majesties' and 'Their Exalted Majesties' and so on. They shone for a brief movement and disappeared. But Ashoka shines and shines brightly like a bright star even today."

As his parting words for the second session, Bhante admonished:

“Do not get attached, but do your duty, instead of clamoring for rights.”

The image below shows the rapt attention on everyone's face during the post-session interaction while partaking of the vegetarian lunch. See you all on April 14.

The View is the Final Reference Point

Subsequent to the Wisdom series, Venerable Bhikkhuni Shing Yi has sent us more verses on positive attitude, but this time accompanied by cartoon sketches depicting the action of a young monk, perhaps signifying that it’s best to cultivate these habits from young. As Buddha said, “You are your own master.” So the choice of self reflection or gossip, of engaging in virtue or vice, is all yours, but the benefits of the right choice based on right view/understanding, the every first of the eight noble paths to understanding the Four Noble Truths, are contagious.





Serenity
Do not gossip while discoursing.
Always reflect on your errant ways in solitude.





Virtue
The ground,
when planted with vegetables,
makes it tough for weeds to grow;
The heart,
when filled with virtue,
makes it difficult for vice to form.



Speaking of right view, here I would like to share a passage that I have read in the book, What Makes You Not A Buddhist, by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (2007, Shambhala, Boston & London):

The View is the Final Reference Point (p. 108-109, Conclusions)

All methods of Buddhism can be explained with the four seals – all compounded phenomena are impermanent, all emotions are pain, all things have no inherent existence, and enlightenment is beyond concepts. Every act and deed encouraged by Buddhist scriptures is based on these four truths, or seals.

In the Mahayana sutras, Buddha advised his followers not to eat meat. Not only is it nonvirtuous to bring direct harm to another being, but the act of eating meat does not complement the four seals. This is because when you eat meat, on some level you are doing it for survival – to sustain yourself. This desire to survive is connected to wanting to be permanent, to live longer at the expense of the life of another being. If putting an animal into your mouth would absolutely guarantee an extension of your life, then, from a selfish point of view, there would be reason to do so. But no matter how many dead bodies you stuff into your mouth, you are going to die one of these days. Maybe even sooner.

One may also consume meat for bourgeois reasons – savoring caviar because it is extravagant, eating tiger’s penises for virility, consuming boiled bird’s nests to maintain youthful-appearing skin. One cannot find a more selfish act than that – for your vanity a life is extinguished. In a reverse situation, we humans cannot even bear a mosquito bite, let alone imagine ourselves confined in crowded cages with our beaks cut off waiting to be slaughtered, along with our family and friends, or being fattened up in a pen to become human burgers.

The attitude that our vanity is worth another’s life is clinging to the self. Clinging to the self is ignorance; and as we have seen, ignorance leads to pain. In the case of eating meat it also causes others to experience pain. For this reason, the Mahayana sutras describe the practice of putting oneself in the place of these creatures and refraining from eating meat out of a sense of compassion. When Buddha prohibited consumption of meat, he meant all meats. He didn’t single out beef for sentimental reasons, or pork because it is dirty, nor did he say that it’s OK to eat fish because they have no soul.

In my personal opinion, Venerable Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse has explained cogently the greater purpose of not eating meat. It’s more than merely observing a Buddhist discipline of becoming a vegetarian. Instead, it’s about cultivating compassion, and understanding the truth of not clinging to self.