The Ritual of Releasing Lives to Freedom

The practitioner sends animals back to their natural state. They can be any animals which were in captivity, or condemned to death to provide food, etc. Among the auspicious animals are turtles to pray for longevity and fish to pray for Enlightenment. (The individual loses the ego and becomes one with the universe just as the fish, upon being released, become one with the ocean.)

1. TAKING REFUGE

On behalf of the animals, repeat three times the tantric formula of the four refuges:

    NAMO GURUBEI
    NAMO BUDDHAYA
    NAMO DHARMAYA
    NAMO SANGHAYA

2. DEVELOPING THE BODHICITTA

In order to free the animals from the six realms of transmigration, repeat 108 times the mantra (in Pin Yin «÷­µ) of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva who is representative of Compassion:

Weng Ma Ni Bei Mi Hong

3. PRAYING FOR REBIRTH IN THE PURELAND

Repeat three times the Mantra of Rebirth-in-the-Pureland (in Pin Yin «÷­µ):

    Na Mo O Mi Duo Po Ye
    Duo Tuo Qie Duo Ye
    Duo Di Ye Tuo
    O Mi Li Duo Po Pi
    O Mi Li Duo Xi Dan Po Pi
    O Mi Li Duo Pi Jia Lan Di
    O Mi Li Duo Pi Jia Lan Duo
    Qia Mi Ni
    Qia Qia Nuo
    Zhi Dan Qie Li
    Suo Po Huo

4 DEDICATING THE MERIT

a) Repeat the Stanza of Releasing Lives to Freedom (written by Yogi Chen):

        Send you from Samsara and Nirvana
        To the original state of Tathata.
        When one is sent, all beings are sent, too;
        Born from non-born, same as the Buddha.

b) After dedicating the merit of this Puja to all sentient beings, the practitioner may then pray for any specific good intentions, such as long life, good health, accomplishment in meditation, etc.

Source

Following the oral transmission of the Buddhist Yogi C. M. Chen
Under the supervision of Dr. Yutang Lin
Written by Dr. Juan Bulnes
yogichen.org