The Importance of Liberating Life and Supporting Animal Sanctuaries
According to the 13th Patriarch of the Pure Land School, the Great Master Yin Guang, those who release life and support sanctuaries accomplish the following eight karmic merits and benefits:
- Be able to avoid or escape times of war and conflict.
- Become the embodiment of all that which is auspicious.
- Be able to avoid or recover from all types of illnesses ; be long lived.
- Be able to successfully have healthy and happy children.
- Receive the blessings of all Buddhas.
- Receive the gratitude of the liberated beings — beings who will repay your kindness for life after life.
- Be able to avoid disasters, accidents and calamities.
- Be reborn as a deva in the Celestial Realm of the Four Great Kings (Cātummahārājika). If one wishes to attain Pure Land rebirth, then the dedication of such merits towards this vow will greatly help facilitate Pure Land rebirth.
Moreover, during the Qing dynasty, the eminent Upasaka Zhou An Shi composed a scroll — Discourse on the 48 Inquiries of Non-Violence — where he succinctly and masterfully supports the righteousness of a vegetarian diet, and debunks common arguments used to defend human exploitation of animals and the “right to eat meat”.
Most importantly, the Upsaka An Shi enlightens us to the fact that the merit and good karma from life release manifests the quickest, faster than all other good deeds, and can extricate the donor from all types of imminent danger and difficulty.
Thus, as we are all currently living through a major health crisis, I believe it would be urgently beneficial for everyone to consider supporting life release sanctuaries and life liberation programs.
Recommended Life Release Sanctuary:
The Tainan Avalokitesvara Buddhist Animal Sanctuary Association:
(Scroll down for English Introduction — their pinned post)
Email Contact: Q@avalokitesvara.tw
