Blessing the Animal Land
December 2011
Kopan Monastery monks recently held a special blessing ceremony on the land where the Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal will soon begin construction on the new sanctuary facilities. The sanctuary holds animals, mostly goats, that Lama Zopa Rinpoche has rescued from butchers in Nepal and India. The animals have been in temporary facilities at the monastery and Kopan nunnery. The new land is only 10 minute walk from the monastery but there have been many obstacles to moving the animals here.
Kopan monks blessed the land and construction of the new sanctuary facilities is now going ahead, beginning with road access.
The full cost of the shelters and facilities has not yet been raised due to increasing construction fees and the ongoing medical, food and infrastructure costs associated with caring for the animals in their temporary facilities. The number of animals has also increased this year as Lama Zopa Rinpoche has rescued more.
Enlightenment for the Dear Animals is promoting this project as one of its priorities as it fulfills its criteria for a Buddhist sanctuary - the animals have been rescued from death, the animals will be given the best care available for the duration of their lives, and the animals will be given Dharma. It also fulfills Rinpoche's wishes. In September 2011 Rinpoche explained that he would like this sanctuary to be an example for the rest of the world (see the video).
If you would like to contribute, please go to our website and follow the links to the FPMT Animal Liberation Sanctuary donation page. As this is supporting animals rescued from death (the majority by Rinpoche himself) and that have been given Dharma, any contribution is considered to be the equivalent of doing an animal liberation yourself (as explained by the late Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup). Therefore you should make strong dedications.
