- What are the merits that can be accrued from performing life liberations? The performing of life liberations encompasses all three types of giving: the giving of wealth, the giving of Dharma, and the giving of fearlessness. Hence, it can help us accumulate immeasurable merits and virtues. The greatest benefits that we can receive from performing life liberations are quelling disasters and extending our lifespan. When we seek the mercy of the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva for protection and blessings in the event of major incidents, better results will be achieved if life liberation is performed in addition to reciting Buddhist scriptures.
- Individuals who need to perform life liberation in particular include Buddhist devotees, senior and middle-aged people, elders with health problems, and people showing filial piety to their parents. People in the following occupations should also perform life liberation: kitchen staff, chefs, surgeons, doctors who perform abortions, funeral and burial workers, pesticide and sanitation workers, animal farm butchers, police officers, forensic and medical examiners who perform post mortems, etc. People in these occupations should frequently perform life liberation to eliminate their misdeeds and negative karma. It would, however, be best to seek opportunities to change careers altogether.
- In regard to the timing of performing life liberation, any time throughout the year is suitable. For people who would like to pray for longevity, it is best to perform life liberations on their birthday. Other significant dates include Chinese New Year’s Eve, the transitional period between the old and new years, the 1st and 15th of each lunar month, and the birthdays of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Other suitable times to perform life liberations include the time when someone encounters their predestined calamities, such as prior to hospitalisation or a major operation, after being diagnosed with severe illness, or after being involved in unfortunate incidents such as a car accident, etc. To achieve the best results, it is best to choose a sunny day when Yang energy is at its peak. Avoid doing it at night time; cloudy or rainy days are fine during the daytime.
- It is best to release animals that are commonly consumed by humans, including fish, shrimp, prawns, crabs, clams, etc. Other animals that tend to be killed or eaten would also be suitable.
- You should recite sutras and mantras when you perform life liberations. Performing life liberations helps us to eliminate disasters and extend our lifespans; reciting mantras and sutras helps to protect us. For best results, it is suggested that you perform both together. You can start reciting on your way to the releasing site. It is best to recite the Great Compassionate Mantra. Before you recite, you should state your full name: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, , help me to eliminate disasters and extend my lifespan. I will continue accumulating more merits and virtues.” Then you can recite the Great Compassion Mantra, the more times the better. If you are performing life liberation on behalf of someone else, you can say, “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless , help him/her to eliminate disasters and extend his/her lifespan.”
- Once you arrive at the releasing site, you can face the sky and say the following prayer three times, “I express my sincere gratitude to the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva”. Then you can recite the Great Compassion Mantra and Heart Sutra once each, and the Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan 7 times. Just before you release the fish into the water, you can say the prayer once more, “ is releasing of . May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless , help to eliminate disasters and extend the lifespan of .” While you are releasing fish, you can also recite the Great Compassion Mantra, the Heart Sutra, and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra as many times as you like. The more the better. Be gentle when you release the fish into the water so that it will not cause them any harm.
- If any of the creatures to be released die during life liberation, you need to recite the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra to help the spirits of the deceased ascend to a higher spiritual realm. Generally, you need to recite 3 times for each shrimp or prawn, 7 times for each crab and 7 times for each fish that died.
- It is best to use your own money to purchase the creatures to be released. If you are releasing on behalf of your family members, it is best to use their money to make the purchase. When you use your own money to perform a life liberation on behalf of others, you can say the following prayer to Guan Yin Bodhisattva beforehand, “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva forgive me, , I am now using my money to perform life liberation for .” After this, you can purchase fish and perform the life liberation, which will be effective then. Alternatively, before you perform life liberation, you can say the following prayer at your altar: “I, , will give to . Please regard this money as his/hers.”
- If your family members or friends do not believe in life liberation, or even object to your doing it, then the effects of performing life liberation on their behalf will be reduced. However, performing life liberation for them would be better than not performing it at all.
- Once you arrive at the site of life liberation, it is best not to mention your name again. If you frequently state your name, or think about your name in your mind, a portion of the merits and virtues from performing the life liberation would be allocated to you. Simply say the following, “ has purchased . May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless ”. Alternatively, you can write the name of the person and the quantity or weight of fish on a piece of paper and read it out at the site.
- After you have performed life liberation on behalf of others, it would be best if you let them know the amount of fish that you have released for them. However, if they are completely against the practice of performing life liberation, it would be best not to mention anything to them at all. This is to prevent them from creating karma of speech.
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