What Can Buddhists do When a Beloved Animal Friend Dies?
May 27, 2009 Question: About two weeks ago my pet dog (14.5 yrs old) has passed on.We have conducted a basic chanting of Buddha Name for 8 hrs plus another 4 hrs of random chanting.The body was then sent for cremation at the 15th hour. Is that safe?After cremation the remains of ashes was then scattered into the sea (sea burial by ourselves).Hope i have done the right thing since so much of supportive prayers for human but nothing much mentioned for animals.Really pray and hope we have done sufficient for this little living being. May he also be liberated into the Land of The Ultimate Bliss.
Response: Your dog was extremely fortunate and yes, you did all the right things from the chanting to waiting fifteen hours before sending him to be cremated to the dispersing of the ashes on the sea.
Chanting for eight hours is recommended as necessary for humans, with longer being even better. Humans need this long because we are so attached to our bodies it takes a long time for our consciousness to completely leave the body. But animals do not have the ego we do. They are not nearly so attached to their bodies. So the consciousness of your dog was able to leave the body more quickly.
Just as the human consciousness can detect our chanting, your dog's consciousness could do the same. And wherever he is reborn all those seeds will be in that consciousness waiting for the right time to mature.
To take the ashes and scatter them on the sea shows there was much love between you. I, and the readers of this entry, know many people who sadly would not have done all you did for another human. Also, there was much respect that did not discriminate, but understood that your dog had a Buddha nature the same as your own.
All that remains to do now is for you to send out thoughts to your dog encouraging him to seek rebirth in the Pure Land. Just talk to him like the very special friend he was.
Your little friend was very fortunate in both his living and his dying. May your mind be at peace for you have done more than was necessary, and a portion of the merits from all your chanting will accrue to your dog, and he will receive the benefit from them.
Reader Comments (3)
Sunny, my pet bird, age 12 years old, passed away peacefully on 5th May 2009. He was a chanting bird (chants Amituofo). I chanted "Amituofo" for him for a few hours, and when I took a break, there will always be the sound of chanting by our Chanting Machine.
He was put in the centre of our chanting room with non-stop playing of "Amituofo" chants from chanting player and my daily chanting, and we buried him in our garden next to our chanting room five days later.
Three days before he passed, I started playing the chanting machine for him 24 hours next to his home. I just did it as a spur of the moment, like something I have to do.
On the day he passed away, I happened to look out at the veranda where he was, thought he was acting a bit "strange" as his behavior was different on that day. I had a strange feeling about it, and wondered whether may be he was dying, and when I looked again a few times, I decided to take him to our chanting room for chanting, and able to chant for him before his last breadth, and after. In fact within minutes of arriving at the chanting room, which is at our basement, he took his last breadth peacefully. I talked to him, to follow the Amitabha buddha, and to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land.
I have to overcome my sad emotions and tears as I played the hand bell and chant "Amituofo" when his body was in the process of dying, and after his last breadth. Sunny loved the sound of the hand bell and "Amituofo" chants. He often gets really excited if you chant to him, or say the word, "Amituofo", he will say it back to you many times. In the morning, if he sees me, he will greet me "Amituofo", and that makes me feel so happy!
The day when we buried him (5 days later), his body was soft, he looked like in deep sleep, and he was at peace.
Here is the link I set up to remember Sunny. He is warmly remembered, and dearly miss.
http://www.amtbweb.org/sunny.htm
Thank you so much for sharing such a personal experience with us. Sunny had much good fortune to live with you for so many years and for you to be so attuned to him that you understood what was happening and knew what to do for him. It's almost as if he was waiting for his last time to be in your chanting room.
To those who have recently lost their companions, may their love live on in your hearts.