RP Thesis and Outline (NEW)!!

Thesis: Buddhism encourages people to have kindness toward animals (for saving not only our family and friends in the previous lives but also the “Buddhas” in the future), and therefore Buddhists carry out the practice of releasing the captured animals out of pity. However, many people starts to oppose such practice because it might do harm to the animals, the ecological environment, and even human beings if we do it in an improper way. Thus, we need to know the proper way of performing such practice. We should bear the following suggestions in mind: 1. no beforehand order, 2. no fixed patterns, 3. the appropriate locations and environment, 4. time control. By releasing the animals properly, we could save even more lives. Finally, the intention is even more important for such practice. As long as one has a good intention, the trivial practice in daily lives such as to save a tiny insect or not to kill a mosquito will be infinitely significant.
I. The motif of releasing the captured animals:
A. All the living beings we can see now might our relatives or close friends in our
countless past lives.
B. People feel compassionate toward the captured animals.
C. If we save a being, we might save a Buddha in the future since every being has the
potential to become a Buddha.
II. Why do some people oppose such good-intended practice?
A. The practice has become too commercialized (even to be a cruel business).
B. It is apt to cause the death of those captured animals as well as other animals that are
inhabiting the releasing spots.
C. It is apt to destroy the ecological balance.
D. It is apt to bring health risk to human beings (e.g. bird flu).
III. The methods of releasing the captured animals properly:
A. No beforehand order.
B. No fixed patterns.
C. The appropriate locations and environment.
D. Time control.
Ⅳ. The importance of one’s attitude and intention:
A. “Karma is volition.”
B. To avoid killing in daily lives could be another good choice for one to cultivate
as well as carry out compassion.
C. The power of volition could turn a trivial practice into being infinitely significant.