by Donald Lopez
The text translated below is entitled Rite for Releasing Living Creatures (Fangsheng yi) and it was composed by the Chinese monk Yunqi Zhuhong (1535–1615), based on a tract by the Tiantai master Siming Zhili (960–1028). Zhuhong’s liturgy for releasing life has been the authoritative manual for such ceremonies since the early Qing Dynasty.
Rite for Releasing Living Creatures
I have consulted the existing tract by the dharma-master [Zhi]li of Siming, to which I have made slight adjustments for the purpose of making it more simple and easy to perform. Its ending I have altered by substituting the prayer for rebirth [in the Pure Land], to which I have also added a passage from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra’s chapter on transference of merits to bring it to a conclusion. The idea here is that one first achieves rebirth in the Realm of Highest Bliss of Amitābha Buddha, and after that one enters the arcane gate of the Lotus Treasury Realm of Vairocana Buddha. Moreover, when the weather is hot, you should do the requisite recitations and [promptly] release those creatures that have arrived [or been brought] first. If more continue to arrive after [the main rite has been performed], continue to release them accordingly. Simply intone the spell of great compassion once; recite the spell of rebirth three times; recite the name of Amitābha, and let them go. It is not necessary to be absolutely uniform in all of this. For by drawing things out too long you will end up doing harm to the creatures. If creatures still continue to arrive after that, just handle it as before.
Preparations
At the location where the release of creatures is going to take place, set out an incense tray with willow sprig and purified water. The congregation should look upon the [bound] creatures with the eye of loving kindness, pondering their [plight] and arousing a profound empathy for their being mired deeply [in the cycle of saṃsāra]. They should furthermore reflect on the fact that the three jewels possess an immense and awesome power that is capable of delivering them from [their condition]. Having performed this meditation, [the lead dharma-master] should take the basin [of holy] water in hand and silently reflect as follows: ‘With all my being I reverently request that the vastly efficacious bodhisattva Guanshiyin, loving father of the ten directions, descend [to join us] in this ritual sanctuary and empower this water, so that, infused with great meritorious powers, I might sprinkle it over the different species of creatures, enabling their bodies and minds to be purified and made fit to hear the marvellous dharma.’ He thereupon intones the spell of great compassion once, while sprinkling them two or three times with the purified water. After that, he takes up the hand-held incense censer and announces [as follows]:
Invitation of the Deities
I reverently announce [our intention] to the three jewels throughout the ten directions, to our original teacher Śākyamuni [Buddha], to our loving father Amitābha, to the tathāgata Ratnabhava, and to the bodhisattva Guanyin, to the elder’s son Jalavāhana, to all the illustrious [former] progenitors [of this rite], such as Tiantai [Zhiyi] and Yongming [Yanshou], with the sole wish that, out of their kindness and compassion, they bear witness to [our rite] and guard over us.
Today there are various creatures of the air, water and land who have been captured by others and are about to enter death’s door. We, bhikṣu so-and-so and lay disciple so-and-so, intent on carrying out our bodhisattva practice, arouse a heart of loving-kindness and compassion and [prepare] to be the cause that will grant them long life. Through this act of releasing life we redeem for them their bodies and lives, releasing them to wander in ease and freedom. Moreover, in compliance with the [teaching of] the vaipulya scriptures [of the Mahāyāna] we will bestow on them the three refuges, proclaim for them the ten epithets [of the buddha Ratnabhava], and preach for them [the doctrine of] the twelvefold chain of dependent origination. However, because the obstacles of their evil karma are so heavy, their cognitive faculties [thereby] being benighted and deluded, we reverently beseech the three jewels to mysteriously empower them with their awesome sustaining power, have mercy on them and receive them.
Administering of The Three Refuges
These sentient creatures that stand before us now, of species different from our own, [hereby] profess refuge in the Buddha, profess refuge in the dharma, profess refuge in the saṅgha. [Repeat three times.]
These sentient creatures that stand before us now, of species different from our own, [hereby] profess that they have taken refuge in the Buddha, have taken refuge in the dharma, have taken refuge in the saṅgha. [Repeat three times.]
From this day forward, they will proclaim the Buddha as their master, and will never again look to [or trust in] depraved demons or [teachers] of heterodox paths. [Repeat three times.]
Reciting the Ten Epithets of Buddha Ratnabhava
Now that you disciples of the Buddha have taken refuge in the three jewels we will forthwith proclaim for you the merits of the ten epithets of the tathāgata Ratnabhava, so that upon hearing them you will obtain rebirth in the heavenly realms in a manner no different from the [rebirth of the] one hundred thousand fishes [released by Jalavāhana]:
Homage to the tathāgata Ratnabhava, he to whom offerings should be made, he who possesses perfect and universal wisdom, he who has completed [the accumulations of] illumination and [meritorious] practice; he who has perfected the good; he who has achieved liberation from the world; he who is the peerless master; the virile hero who subdues all others; teacher of gods and humans; buddha; world-honoured one.
Preaching the Twelvefold Chain of Dependent Origination
Disciples of the Buddha! We will now preach for you the details concerning arising and cessation of the twelvefold chain of dependent origination, so that you may thereby know the doctrine of the arising and cessation [of suffering]. When you become enlightened to [the truth that things] neither arise nor cease, you will be identical with the buddhas and you will realize the great nirvāṇa.
Ignorance conditions volitional impulses; impulses condition consciousness; consciousness conditions name and form; name and form condition the six sense accesses; the six sense accesses condition sensory contact; sensory contact conditions perception; perception conditions attachment; attachment conditions grasping; grasping conditions being or becoming; becoming conditions birth; birth conditions old age, death and the afflictions of pain and grief.
When ignorance ceases, then impulses cease; when impulses cease, consciousness ceases; when consciousness ceases, name and form cease; when name and form cease, the six sense accesses cease; when the six sense accesses cease, sensory contact ceases; when sensory contact ceases, perception ceases; when perception ceases, attachment ceases; when attachment ceases, grasping ceases; when grasping ceases, being or becoming ceases; when being or becoming ceases, birth ceases; when birth ceases, old age, death and the afflictions of grief and suffering cease.
Confession of Sins
You disciples of the Buddha! We have now finished bestowing on you the three refuges, the ten epithets [of the tathāgata Ratnabhava], and the [meaning of] the twelvefold chain of causation, all in accord with [the exceedingly profound and wonderful meaning of] the Mahāyāna sūtras. Standing in the presence of the three jewels, we will now confess sins and seek mercy and repentance on your behalf, praying that your sinful karma might be instantly eliminated and that you will thereupon achieve rebirth in good locations, come near to the buddhas, and receive their prophecy. You should repent along with us in utmost sincerity:
All the evil deeds that I have committed in the past,
Influenced by beginningless craving, hatred and delusion,
And born, respectively, from body, speech, or mind,
All of them I now repent, without exception. [Repeat three times.]
[Glory to the] bodhisattva mahāsattvas of the Land of Clear and Cool!
Dedication of Merits and Final Vow
We pray that, after this ceremony releasing life forward, you will never again meet with evil demons, to suffer the fate of being seized in nets or gulped do
wn by evil demons. May you live out your natural span, wandering in freedom. And when that life comes to an end, may you be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three or be reborn in the human realm, through recourse to the power of the three jewels and the loving power of the original vow of Ratnabhava Buddha. [May you] keep the moral precepts, engage in practice, and never again commit evil deeds. May you faithfully think of [and recite] the Buddha [Amitābha’s name], and make the vow to be reborn [in the western pure land].
Moreover, the disciples of the Buddha, so-and-so, who have released these living creatures, from this day forward may their practice and vow to achieve perfect enlightenment increase in brightness with each successive moment, that they constantly think of delivering other beings from suffering as they would themselves. Through these causes and conditions may they be reborn in the Land of Succour and Ease [i.e., the western pure land], see Amitābha and the saintly hosts, attain early enlightenment to the [truth of] non-origination, [develop the power to] multiply their bodies through realms as numerous as motes of dust, widely save sentient creatures, and together with them attain to the perfect enlightenment [of buddhahood].
The congregation with voices united recites the marvellous passage from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra on the dedication or transfer [of merits] and the divine spell for rebirth in the pure land. [Passage from the sūtra follows; then the spell for rebirth is recited three times.]
We dedicate the merits from the release of living creatures that we have just performed towards universal repayment of the four debts of gratitude and towards nurture of the three kinds of being. May sentient beings throughout the universe together perfect the same omniscient wisdom [that knows all modalities of existence]. [Hail to] the buddhas throughout the three times and ten directions! [Hail to] all the bodhisattva mahāsattvas! Mahāprajñāpāramitā!
Translated by Daniel Stevenson from Zhuhong, Fangsheng yi, in Lianchi dashi quanji (Taipei: Dongchu chuban she, 1992), PP. 3333–42.
45
AGAINST ANIMAL SACRIFICE
Contrary to common assumptions, not all Buddhists are vegetarians. The consumption of meat was not prohibited even for monks and nuns in the early tradition. The Indian monastic codes state instead that monks and nuns may not eat the flesh of an animal that was slaughtered specifically to feed them. The promotion of a vegetarian diet seems to have developed in Buddhism some centuries after the death of the Buddha, and is extolled in such famous Mahāyāna texts as the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, both of which were very influential in East Asia, where a strict vegetarian diet was required of monks and nuns and encouraged among the laity. In other Buddhist societies, such as Tibet, however, those sūtras were also known, but meat was widely consumed by monks and nuns who could afford it.
The promotion of vegetarianism was impeded in China by the pre-Buddhist practice of animal sacrifice (referred to in the translations below as ‘blood sacrifice’). The killing of animals was a standard element of many ritual occasions, both grand and modest, from imperial commemorations to birthday celebrations. Blood sacrifice was also considered essential for the sustenance of departed ancestors, as well as for placating evil spirits. Thus, Buddhist monks who spoke out against the killing of animals had not only to condemn a venerable practice but were required also to provide alternative means of assuring the well-being of the ancestors and of dealing with evil spirits. Among the many virtuous practices proposed was the vegetarian feast, in which a layperson would invite a group of monks and nuns to a vegetarian meal for a certain number of consecutive days (often seven), with the merit accrued through this offering dedicated to a particular purpose, such as the cure of a family member or the welfare of a departed ancestor. Many tracts were composed on the topic by monks for the laity, two of which, composed five centuries apart, appear here.
The first work is an excerpt from one of the more famous and celebrated of these lay tracts. It is entitled Verses on Resolving Doubts and Replacing Blood Sacrifice with Vegetarian Feasts and Fasts and was composed by the monk Ciyun Zunshi (964–1032). He is revered not only as a reviver of the Tiantai school, but also as an active evangelist of the lay populace, renowned for his efforts to promote vegetarianism. He compiled a number of Buddhist ritual tracts and homilies that were designed to convert the local populace from traditional forms of blood sacrifice to Buddhist observances. His work takes the ancient Chinese form of questions and answers. He begins with questions about ghosts, the evil spirits who were said to haunt those who did not offer them blood sacrifices. Do such ghosts exist? He answers that ghosts do exist; the realm of ghosts is one of the places of rebirth. However, they cannot harm humans. Instead, they seek to frighten humans into making offerings to them by causing supernatural events (‘anomalies’); such events should simply be ignored. Some may assume that a sacrifice is efficacious because a negative situation ended after its performance. However, this is simply coincidence; it is virtuous deeds done in the past (and not the sacrifice of animals) that bring about present happiness. Once convinced of the sinfulness of animal sacrifice, one would naturally be concerned about all of the negative karma one and one’s family had accumulated in the past prior to learning that it is an evil practice. How can such karma be eliminated? In a section of the text not included below, Zunshi counsels each household to produce a handwritten copy of the Sūtra of Golden Light, enshrine it in the home, and make offerings to it, dedicating the merit of doing so to the animals slain. If the members of the family recite the names of the three jewels and recite the name of the sūtra, they will be safe and their prosperity will increase.
The second work, simply entitled Tract Against Taking Life, was composed by Yunqi Zhuhong (1535–1615), the author of the rite for releasing life that appears in the previous chapter. Zhuhong’s tone is very different from that of Zunshi. Instead of citing Buddhist texts against blood sacrifice, he proceeds through the various ordinary occasions in which it is common to sacrifice an animal: a birthday, the birth of a son, an offering to the ancestors, a marriage, a meal for a guest, to avert calamity, or in the occupation of a hunter or butcher. In each case, he provides a reasoned argument why killing is unnatural and inappropriate. His essay concludes, as many such tracts do, with an admonition to the reader to disseminate the tract widely, describing the many benefits that will result for all concerned.
Verses for Resolving Doubts about Replacing Sacrifice with Vegetarian Feasts and Fasts
Recently we have seen many people turn from rites of [blood] sacrifice and vie to cultivate meritorious blessings through vegetarian feasts and fasts, or choose to give up meat and desist from taking of life in favour of true faith and recitation of the Buddha’s name. Truly this is an extraordinary thing! Yet among these persons there are some who, not yet knowing what makes the difference between benefit and harm, perversely set out to undermine [their faith], claiming that sacrifice [to the local gods] historically came first among the common people. Others say that vegetarian fasts and the observance of moral precepts cannot deliver one from crises. When they spy other people keeping a vegetarian diet or reciting the Buddha’s name, they question how future generations [of descendants] could possibly benefit from wholesome karmic roots acquired through individual restraint of the mind and listening to accounts of good and evil retribution. Persons whose faith is not yet deep end up being misled and confused by these [people], so that many lapse from their initial resolve.
Here I have drawn clear proof from the scriptures in order to resolve their doubts. I have also composed homilies to go along with them, so that people may remember them easily. They should rely on these sincere and true words and not believe in depraved and heterodox preachings. And yet, faced with the fact that ordinary people’s doubts and speculations are beyond count, I have here merely distilled the essential ones and sketched out briefly a set often verses [four of which are translated here].
First Doubt: Do ghosts exist or not; and [if so] can they cause fortune or misfortune
?
Explanation: The sūtras teach that ghosts or demons constitute one of the six realms [of existence]. How could one think that there are no ghosts? The Āgama sūtras state that all inhabited places such as houses, streets, alleys, paths, city wards and markets, as well as [abandoned places] such as graveyards and mountains, are filled with ghosts, demons and spirits. However, they cannot visit benefit or harm on human beings.
The Sūtra of the Parables states that ghosts and spirits of this world can neither kill people nor extend their lives. Nor can they bring people wealth and nobility, poverty or meanness. However, taking advantage of a person’s degenerate or base character, they will create awe-inspiring anomalies in the hope of obtaining sacrificial offerings from them. If one seeks good fortune [through such practices] it will definitely never come. But incognizant of the fact that such practices are pointless, common people are easily taken in, some [going so far as to] kill living creatures and commit evils [in the hope of realizing blessings from the spirits]. The verse reads:
Ghosts and spirits are to be found everywhere,
Tricking and deceiving ordinary people.
Offering sacrifices to ghosts brings no blessings whatsoever,