For those who have not yet clued in, the title of this post is significant not just for its spatial implications. Implications such as:
-Are we not all born within a defined spatial boundary, be it a nation, a state, a city, a room?
-Do we not all owe our lives to architects and their work? The local maternity ward certainly didn’t design itself.
-Is not every great building at some point born into the world? Either conjured as an idea in a moment of creative inspiration, or else realized through the labored efforts of a team of architects, engineers, clients and builders.
-Is the voyage out of our mother’s wombs not our first experience of time and space and the essence of architecture itself?
-Are some birthday cakes not large enough to inhabit?
Rather than delve any further into these fertile subjects, I will instead divulge the very important reason for this post on birthdays.

THE BI BLOG turns one year old today!

A great many thanks to our legion of writers for their original contributions and to our readers who make it all worthwhile.

E. Sean Bailey

In many ways the annual commemoration of the Buddha’s birth resembles celebrations marking the births of other religious figures with numerous religious festivities, lights, feasting and gift giving. Along with these typical celebratory rituals, large numbers of insects and animals are ceremonially released by the thousands, from confinement, back into the great wide open, in a compassionate act which is all in the name of good karma.

In cities like New York, this ritual emancipation has lead to numerous problems. With stores in Chinatown selling diseased turtles for “cooking or releasing”, their liberation into nearby natural lakes is believed to have had a potentially negative affect on the existing turtle gene pool. Many non-native turtles also end up dead, unable to survive their new environment, a fate met by many birds who have also been liberated for karmic benefit. Like turtles, goldfish are another popular choice for release, being set free in groups as large as 25,000 and threatening native fish populations with their prolific breeding, inciting fears of a territorial takeover. This invasive problem grew to such proportions in New York City in the late 1990s that the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo stepped in with its members reaching out to the local Buddhist community. More recently, in 2004, there was speculation in Washington that the recent spawning of the sturdy Interloper Fish (popular on dinner tables in China and Thailand) in the Potomac River may have had something to do with this type of ritual release. While these acts of liberation may fulfill their intended effect in an Asian setting, which is home to these species, releasing animals into non-native environments, although done with the best intentions, is problematic for the local ecosystem and ones karma. Where life is concerned, being mindful of ones context is often critical for survival and prosperity.

Erandi de Silva