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754:. 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.
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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Today, life release involves many types of animal, including birds, reptiles, fish, and mammals, and involves hundreds of millions of individual animals each year.
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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
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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
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It is increasingly recognized that animal release has the potential for negative environmental impacts, including as a pathway for the introduction of
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Further, some animals are captured for the explicit purpose of being released, or are released into environments where they are unable to survive.
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Two
Buddhists that released hundreds of non-native crustaceans off the English coast in 2015 were fined more than £28,000 for violating the
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Shiu, Henry; Stokes, Leah (2008). "Buddhist Animal
Release Practices: Historic, Environmental, Public Health And Economic Concerns".
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are made and often dedicated to someone who is ill or has died, with the belief that person will benefit too from this dedication.
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or good luck, by performing the act. This practise is performed by all schools of
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Buddhist Practice of Releasing Lives to Freedom
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907:. Karma Triyana Dharmachakra. Archived from
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165:Dharma wheel
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577:New Zealand
432:Bodhisattva
417:Four Stages
372:Monasticism
352:Mindfulness
322:Perfections
252:Early Texts
1097:Categories
952:30 October
856:References
450:Traditions
387:Pilgrimage
327:Meditation
287:Post-canon
267:Pāli Canon
197:Middle Way
94:The Buddha
1068:9 October
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761:Criticism
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685:Theravada
597:Sri Lanka
587:Singapore
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412:Awakening
300:Practices
257:Tripiṭaka
227:Cosmology
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467:Mahāyāna
377:Lay life
207:Morality
187:Not-self
145:Concepts
104:Councils
89:Timeline
61:Glossary
43:Buddhism
35:a series
33:Part of
1089:(Video)
732:prayers
711:History
617:Vietnam
572:Myanmar
487:Tibetan
477:Chinese
405:Nirvāṇa
222:Saṃsāra
217:Rebirth
82:History
71:Outline
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602:Taiwan
582:Russia
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357:Wisdom
140:Dharma
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552:Korea
547:Japan
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422:Arhat
212:Karma
66:Index
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999:放生会
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