Blessing of the Animals - Some assistance

Since I guess I am one of the few Buddhists in my community that is public nuff, I got this from a friend via email:

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[...]The San Juan Unitarians are doing a Blessing of the Animals service on the feast day of St. Francis, October 4th. I'm getting a Wiccan to give a witchy blessing, a Christian to give a Christian blessing, and a non-Maori to give a Maori blessing. [...]thought of you when I began to cast around for a Buddhist to give a Buddhist animal blessing.

This takes place during worship, Sunday, October 4th, starting at 10:30, and ending about 11:30 AM. Each blessing (Wiccan, Christian, Maori and Buddhist) would only be about a 30-second blessing. There are all kinds of other "blessing"-type stuff scattered throughout the worship service.
[...]

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What are some "blessings"/recitations that I could do? :shock: :?: :?

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Originally Posted by chicanobudista

Since I guess I am one of the few Buddhists in my community that is public nuff, I got this from a friend via email:

Quote:

---

[...]The San Juan Unitarians are doing a Blessing of the Animals service on the feast day of St. Francis, October 4th. I'm getting a Wiccan to give a witchy blessing, a Christian to give a Christian blessing, and a non-Maori to give a Maori blessing. [...]thought of you when I began to cast around for a Buddhist to give a Buddhist animal blessing.

This takes place during worship, Sunday, October 4th, starting at 10:30, and ending about 11:30 AM. Each blessing (Wiccan, Christian, Maori and Buddhist) would only be about a 30-second blessing. There are all kinds of other "blessing"-type stuff scattered throughout the worship service.
[...]

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What are some "blessings"/recitations that I could do? :shock: :?: :?

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How about doing a Metta Chant for animals? That might be lovely. Perhaps you may need to play with the words ... hmmm ....

How about this (you may adjust the words to make it more appropriate than this) ...

1. May they be free of suffering; may they feel safe and still.

2. May they be free of danger; may they live loving, gentle and kind.

3. May they be healthy and at ease in all their ills.

4. May they be at peace, at one with all conditions of life

I also found this online, and I am not sure of the source ... it appears to be Tibetan ...

O Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and
disciples
of the past, present, and future:
Having remarkable qualities
Immeasurably vast as the ocean,
Who regard all helpless sentient
beings
as your only child;
Please consider the truth of my
anguished pleas.
Buddha’s full teachings dispel the
pain of worldly
existence and self-oriented peace;
May they flourish, spreading
prosperity and happiness through-
out this spacious world.

Composed by the Dalai Lama
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/1299/buddha.htm

Also, there is this video ... terrible images of animal mistreatment ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9lk5pe6HkM[/video]]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9lk5pe6HkM

Gassho, Jundo

Thanks!

gassho...Erik

There are also ceremonies that temples do here as "blessings" ... and they will do it for many things, a new car for example. I am guessing that that use a Dharani for safety, maybe the "All Purpose" Heart Sutra. I will look into that (although people seem to prefer a Shinto ceremony for that, to prevent accidents).

I will ask the AZTA Zen teachers association what folks are using for animal blessings ...

The teacher of my local sangha (tibetan) will be coming to my town next month and she is doing a blessing at a local animal shelter/sanctuary (actually, largest in the nation). If I am able to make it to it I will take note of what she says/does, though it will obviously be from a Tibetan way of doing things.

I'm actually curious as well. When the Tibetan monks come through town they do the same, but they do a chant of the 'Om Mani Padme Hum' mantra.

Jundo and Scotty...thank you both!
:D