On Nov 12th, Dharma Masters of Lingyin Temple lead more than 150 volunteers of the Yunlin Volunteer Association to participate in the third annual life liberation festival in Dongtou county of Wenzhou, Zhejiang.

Preceding the ceremony amidst the rain

Preceding the ceremony amidst the rain

Fourfold Assembly (four groups of Buddhist practitioners) gathers for the event

waiting for the ceremony in queue

                                                                          Joy of release for volunteer group members

 On Nov 13th, Lingyin Temple's Dharma Masters lead more than 150 members of the Yunlin Volunteer Association to the third annual festival for the liberation of sentient life. The group departed in three coach buses from Hangzhou to arrive six hours later in Dongtou Xian of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province to begin preparation work for the ceremony.

This year's festival featured the release of 17,000 juvenile black sea bream, Sparus macrocephalus, with the theme 'protecting ocean resources, respect the great sea'. This event enabled over a thousand participants to stand together and endorse intellectual environmental consciousness that respects the natural environment and is in harmony with the natural environment, all while emphasizing awareness for the ocean.

The Lingyin group approached the ceremony site in heavy rain on the morning of the November Twelfth though the rain was not a hindrance for the ceremony. Fish was largely the life form selected for this act of compassion and the rain-soaked scene was actually favorable for transporting them throughout the release efforts. As if the heavenly Dharma protectors went along with the festivity, the rain poured on as the rituals proceeded while lay volunteers scrambled around local shops to snatch up rain gear as offering to the Dharma Masters in ceremony.

 Along with Dharma Masters and lay participants from Wehzhou, Taizhou and regional cities, the thousand-plus participants braved the cold wind and autumn rain to recite the Four Great Vows in the grand ceremony. The recital of the Four Great Vows, the vow for the Bodhi heart, rang clear and loud even in the rain as compassion for all sentient beings--for the live fish, deer, and cows to be released, whose souls will have refuge in the Triple Jewel.

Dignitaries of this event praised the Buddhist teachings of compassion for all living beings in a speech compiled from their scientific perspective of a seaside island as they urged all to respect and protect the ocean. Representatives from environmental groups also encouraged proper acts of release that conforms to the environment's natural habitats. Under the exchange of well wishes the participants carefully released the fish into the ocean, bucket by bucket, as the fish wagged their tails and swam away.