FUNDRAISER: Animal Blessing – Canberra

Across the world, pets and have a special place in the heart of the owners. These animals provide companionship, encourage exercise and enable generosity by feeding and keeping them healthy.

Animals also have a very special place in Buddhist philosophy. Buddha taught that as animals are considered sentient beings, they should be treated with the same respect as humans. Many meditations and prayers remind us of the idea that all beings have been our mothers. This is a beautiful was to generate the feeling that every being is potentially our family, so deserves respect, kindness and our love.

It is one thing to follow the Buddhist precept of not taking the life of animals, but it is another thing altogether to actively bless and support the life of another, including animals.

It is with great excitement that Lama Choedak Rinpoche will be hosting a special pet blessing ceremony.

All animals are welcome to attend. If your animal is too large, sick or mischievous to leave the house, you can still attend: you can bring a photo if you can and we will prepare some blessed water for you to take to your animal.

This event is a great way to meet other members of the community and engage in a very selfless and special act of kindness and joy for the benefit of other beings.

All donations are going to the building of our new temple in Kambah, ACT. We ask that you donate generously to this special cause. You can read more about new temple project here.

Please register online so we can organise the day.

We have prepared a few guidelines about the event, see below.

If you have any questions, please email us.
We hope to see you there!

Guidelines

• We will provide water for the animals to drink.
• All animals should be supervised at all times. Dogs should be leashed and under control. Other animals should be suitably contained, e.g., in a carrier.
• There will be lots of different animals present. With the aim of avoiding fighting, please be mindful to keep dogs from being near cats, birds from both and so on. Having a light cloth to cover a cage can help reduce stress in less confident animals.
• We ask you to please avoid or be careful giving your pets snacks in front of other animals, which could lead to some jealousy and fighting.