Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s understanding of animals is influenced by both traditional Buddhist principles and modern scientific theory of evolution in the West. His understanding of animals can be summarized in three aspects: animals have minds of buddhas ‒ free and lucid; animals are beings that live in coexistence with humans; and animals make good teachers of life education for humans. Based on these, Venerable Master Hsing Yun proposes life protection over life release, and promotes animal protection in the right to life ideology. Concurrently, the Venerable Master integrates his idea of animal protection with Buddhist precepts, hence resulting in a more sustainable, broader, and powerful effect. Venerable Master Hsing Yun is devoted in creating a Pure Land on Earth. Animals, recognized as beings living in coexistence with humans, pose relevant concerns such as how to reduce conflicts between the two, as well as protecting and implementing the rights of animals in establishing that pure land on earth.
