
Life release, also known as merit release, mercy release, fangsheng (from Mandarin Chinese 放生) or prayer animal release, is a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
practise of releasing animals held captive with the presumed intention of saving their lives, if they were destined for slaughter, or of giving them back their freedom, as animals nowadays are commonly sold with the explicit purpose to be released for making merit, along with gaining personal merit, or good luck, by performing the act. This practise is performed by all schools of Buddhism:
Theravada
''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...
,
Mahayana
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
and
Vajrayana
''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhis ...
.
[Tsethar for Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche]
It is known as "Tsethar" in
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...
.
With the popularization of environmental protection knowledge in modern times, researchers and some members of religious communities have started to realize that improper life release can damage the ecological environment, cause
Invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
, and lead to the death of released animals that do not adapt to the environment. In order to avoid the harm of improper life release, Buddhist advocate that vegetarianism is the best way of releasing life from the mouth.
History
Life release has been practised at least since the 3rd century.
It is assumed to have been a Taoist or an indigenous Chinese cultural practice according to the first record of the practice in the 3rd century CE, before being adopted by Chinese Buddhists in the 4th or 5th century CE. It subsequently took root in Tibet, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Taiwan.
It has been performed in Japan since 676, where it is called .
While this practise of life release may naturally need to be spontaneous to successfully save an endangered life, life release can also be planned. Planning often involves purchasing an animal directly from a slaughterhouse or a fishermen; this can often take place on auspicious days in the
Buddhist calendar
The Buddhist calendar is a set of lunisolar calendars primarily used in Tibet, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam as well as in Malaysia and Singapore and by Chinese populations for religious or o ...
in order for the merit of the act to be multiplied thousands of times.
Animals are blessed before being safely returned to their natural environment as
prayers are made and often dedicated to someone who is ill or has died, with the belief that person will benefit too from this dedication.
In
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
an animal is often marked by a ribbon to indicate that the life of the animal has been liberated, with the general understanding that it will be allowed to die of natural causes. The practise in Tibetan Buddhism has been championed in recent times by
Chatral Rinpoche,
Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche and
Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Although this is seen to be the traditional way of carrying out this practise, Ogyen Trinley Dorje has commented that the meaning is broad and that people can use their intelligence to expand the practise in other ways; indicating that planting one tree may be more beneficial that carrying out Tsethar for many beings.
Today, life release involves many types of animal, including birds, reptiles, fish, and mammals, and involves hundreds of millions of individual animals each year.
Criticism
It is increasingly recognized that animal release has the potential for negative environmental impacts, including as a pathway for the introduction of
invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
into non-native environments. This may lead to
biodiversity loss
Biodiversity loss happens when plant or animal species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in Biodiversity, b ...
over time.
For example, competition from American
red-eared slider
The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (''Trachemys scripta elegans'') is a subspecies of the pond slider (''Trachemys scripta''), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the Family (biology), family Emydidae. Native to the southern United States ...
turtles released in China's lakes has been reported to cause death of native turtles.
Further, some animals are captured for the explicit purpose of being released, or are released into environments where they are unable to survive.
Two Buddhists that released hundreds of non-native crustaceans off the English coast in 2015 were fined more than £28,000 for violating the
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69) is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species ...
, with the
Marine Management Organisation
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an executive non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom established under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, with responsibility for English waters. The MMO exists to make a significant cont ...
placing bounties on the crustaceans released.
To avoid the dangers of improper release of life, some Buddhists advocate that saving sentient beings is a form of charity. They emphasize not to mistreat animals and to adopt a vegan lifestyle (root cause release), although not every person who practices release is vegan. Non-vegans, when slaughtering animals, try to minimize their suffering. Before the rise of modern humane slaughter methods, ancient Dharmic religions practiced a method called Jhatka (in Punjabi: ਝਟਕਾ, in Hindi: झटका), where animals were not to be frightened before slaughter. The method involved using a sharp knife or axe to swiftly sever the animal's head, allowing for a quick and relatively painless deat
See also
* ''
Dhammika Sutta
The Dhammika Sutta is part of the Sutta Nipata(Sn 2.14). In this sutta, the Buddha instructs a lay disciple named Dhammika on rules for monks and on the "layman's rule of conduct" (''gahatthavatta'').
Dhammika asks of virtue
In the sutta, ...
''
* ''
Dīghajāṇu Sutta''
*
Five precepts
*
Merit release
* ''
Sigālovāda Sutta
''Sigālovāda Sutta'' is the 31st Sutta described in the Digha Nikaya ("Long Discourses of Gautama Buddha, Buddha"). It is also known as the ''Sīgāla Sutta'', the ''Sīgālaka Sutta'', the ''Sigālovāda Sutta'', the ''Sigāla Sutta,'' and t ...
''
*
Transfer of merit
* ''
Vessantara Jātaka''
References
{{reflist
External links
Releasing birds. Merit or sin?(Video)
Buddhist practices
Shinto festivals
Animal welfare
Animal festival or ritual
Animals in Buddhism