Question asked by Thierry
Dear Rinpoche, I come across dead animals on the road everyday, cats and dogs mainly. These animals are dead already when I see them and sometimes I see their bodies decompose day after day. Whenever I come across these animals, I do the Medecine Budhha mantra (7 x) and Namgyalma mantra (7x) focusing my mind so that they get a better chance at encountering and practicing Dharma in their future lives. Is this the correct thing to do, or is there a more efficient way to help their mindstreams?
Dear Thierry,
What your doing is very good. You can also get consecrated holy water with HH Dalai Lama’s mani pills in it and pour alittle over these animals when you come across them. You can of course give it to living animals also to drink or bath.
For the future:
You can keep a piece of their hair or bone and do a ritual on it called Vajra Yogini Ruchok which is very powerful to purify their karma to help them take rebirth. After the ruchok is done, their hair or bone may even be inserted into a stupa for the sake of them collecting merits. As long at the stupa exists, these beings will collet merit. You will have to have the Vajra Yogini empowerment to perform this ritual. Not only animals, but human hair and nails can be used also.
I thank you for your sincere concern for animals. It would be nice to have a huge animal sanctuary and on it have a huge stupa for all the animals to circumambulate around.
Tsem Rinpoche