Tibetan Buddhists & Life Liberation

Here’s an interesting Buddhist practice reminiscent of the Janist reverence for all life, even small bugs.

Tibetan Buddhist monks release tiny river shrimp stuck in a dried river bed. The practice is called “life liberation” or “early release.”

Four years ago, an earthquake killed over 3000 people in a small Tibetan city called Yushu.

According to this fascinating New York Times story,  this practice of life liberation grew after the earthquake. One young Tibetan woman told the New York Times, “to save these lives is not only for me and my family but for all the people who died in the earthquake.”

It’s painstaking work and while local monks says that it has little effect on the number of animals saved, it “serves to remind people about the sanctity of life and can also produce concrete benefits for adherents.”