放生为哪般？ | Why Should We Free Captive Animals?
答疑解惑
Q & A
网友：我心向佛，但乃凡人一个，贪鲜鱼味美，每每从集市买鱼都心有愧疚，但又忍不住贪嘴，我该怎么办？
学诚法师：无论多美味的东西，一旦肚子吃饱，再继续吃就变成了一种痛苦。所谓的“美食的快乐”，只是短短几十分钟内舌尖上的一点感受而已，为了这么短暂的感受，就要伤害一条性命，于心何忍呢？
Q: I believe in the Buddha, but as an ordinary person, I like the delicious taste of fish. Whenever I buy it from the market, I do feel guilty, but I can't help being greedy for it. What should I do?
A: No matter how delicious it is, once you are full, it will bring you pain if you keep eating it. The so called 'pleasure from delicious food' lasts for only a few minutes on the tip of the tongue. How can we be so merciless as to take the life of a living creature just for such temporary sensory pleasure?
网友：放生到底是错还是对？
学诚法师：放生，三种布施兼具。财施（舍贪著）、法施（放生仪轨，得闻佛法）、无畏施（远离恐怖）。放生、护生，重在改变我们的心态，由冷硬变成柔软，培养慈悲心，体会万物众生平等一如。放别人的生就是放自己的生，利益无穷，功德无量。《大智度论》云:“诸余罪中，杀业最重，诸功德中，放生第一。”放生不仅是慈悲心的体现，更是偿还多生多世以来所积造的无数杀业。简单地说，就是“将心比心”，把自己设身处地想成是异类众生，你希望人家如何对待你？
Q: Is it wrong or right to free captive animals?
A: Freeing captive animals is the practice of three kinds of giving of gifts, i.e., the gift of material things (to forsake greed and attachment), the gift of the teaching (to have a chance to hear the Dharma through the procedures of releasing animals) and the gift of fearlessness (to keep away from fear). The key in releasing and protecting living creatures is to change our own attitudes, from being cold-hearted to soft-hearted, to cultivate our compassion, and to realize that all living beings are equal and of the same fundamental nature. Setting others free is setting ourselves free, and it brings forth immeasurable benefits and merits. The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says: 'Among all the other sins, killing is the severest. Among all the merits and virtues, freeing animals is the first and foremost.' Releasing animals not only manifests the heart of compassion, but also pays back the immense karma of killing committed and accumulated in innumerable lifetimes. In short, try to 'be empathic'. Put yourself in the position of those animals. How would you like to be treated?
网友：我们应该怎么对待庄稼里的虫类呢？阿弥陀佛！
学诚法师：虫类也是有情众生，善待生命，一方面不要喷洒农药等伤害它们，另一方面可以尝试划一小块区域作为虫类的自留地，真诚地沟通，请它们入住，这样就不会大面积影响庄稼。很多有机农场有成功案例，可多参考借鉴。
Q: How should we deal with the insects in crops? Amitabha!
A: Insects are also sentient beings. We should treat them with kindness. On the one hand, do not spray pesticides to hurt them, and on the other hand, try to leave a small area as a private plot for them. Communicate with them sincerely and ask them to live there. Then the crops will not be affected over large areas. Many organic farms have successful examples. You can use them for reference.
网友：是不是因有放生才加大了伤害？
学诚法师：天地万物皆相对存在，有善必有恶，放生有放生的善报，捕杀有捕杀的恶果。死亡只是其中少数，绝大部分的放生物命均得以重拾生命。若非放生，百分之百的物命均将遭受宰杀。总不能因为少数物命死亡，而完全否定放生的善举吧，如此岂不因噎废食？
Q: Does releasing animals cause more suffering to them?
A: All things on earth exist relatively. Where there is virtue, there is evil. Releasing living creatures has its reward, and killing its retribution. Among the released animals, only few may have been killed, but most of them have a chance to live their own lives. If they were not released, all of them would have been slaughtered. We can't completely deny the act of kindness only because a small number of the released animals died. If we did so, that would be like giving up eating for fear of choking.
来源：学诚法师的微博
Source: Microblogs of Ven. Master Xuecheng
翻译：北京龙泉寺翻译中心
Translated by: Beijing Longquan Monastery Translation Center
