Far From Nirvana

New York City's Amitabha Buddhists are full of good  intentions. Last summer members of the group bought hundreds of eels, frogs, and turtles from the city's Chinatown markets and released them into New Jersey's Passaic River to save them from the dinner table. The problem: the state's Department of Environmental Protection has strict rules for the release of animals into its watersheds, and the group now faces fines for illegally introducing invasive species. To make matters worse, the animals may not survive. 

Illustration by Steve Wacksman