OM MANI PADME HUM

I invoke the transformation and purification of the six negative emotions of pride, jealousy, desire, ignorance, greed and anger into their true nature,

enlightened mind.

mantra of compassion – avalokiteshvara

May all the Buddhas and

Bodhisattvas bless the billions

of sentient beings in factory farms

 who will never feel the

sun on their backs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWKkNAswUgE

Ajahn Brahm’s talk  NO EXPECTATIONS

http://www.bswa.org/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=15&lid=386

Ajahn Brahm reminds us to love with no expectations!

Know all things to be like this:

A mirage, a cloud castle,

A dream, an apparition,

Without essence, but with qualities that can be seen.

Know all things to be like this:

As the moon in a bright sky

In some clear lake reflected,

Though to that lake the moon has never moved.

Know all things to be like this:

As an echo that derives

From music, sounds, weeping,

Yet in that echo is no melody.

Know all things to be like this:

As a magician makes illusions

Of horses, oxen, carts and other things,

Nothing is as it appears.

-  The Buddha

Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness towards all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream.  The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality.

-         A Tibetan Master

From:  ‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’

...basically run by 2 people and 4 non-human animals :)

http://www.lobsa.org/LOBSA.htm

For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world.

-shantideva

Be kind to animals to mark Vesak Day. Remember what the Buddha teaches
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,5562,388040,00.html

April 26, 2006
Be kind to animals to mark Vesak Day. Remember what the Buddha teaches

During Vesak Day, Buddhists celebrate the birth of a religion that teaches compassion and wisdom. Releasing or liberating animals has become a traditional practice in Vesak celebration.
However, the unskillful release of animals has resulted in more suffering to the released animals as well as to other animals in the environment as a result of ecological incompatibility.
Some 2,600 years ago when the Buddha was traveling through the region of Kosala in India, he came across a group of people known as the Kalamas, to whom he gave a sermon that was recorded as the Kalama Sutra.

This was what he taught:

'Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching. Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on theory, but on experience.
'Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumoured by many.
'Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.'

Within our communities, we can 'liberate' animals by being kind to stray cats and dogs, by teaching our children to be kind to them, by speaking out against abuse, by advocating the humane method of animal population control with sterilisation instead of culling, by adopting rescued pets in shelters instead of buying them from pet shops and by supporting animal welfare organisations.

We can also 'liberate' animals from our dining tables by becoming vegetarians or eating less meat.

Dr Tan Chek Wee