Watch His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa Talk about Care for Wildlife and the Natural Environment

His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa and Ragni the elephant.

From April 18-24, 2020 His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje led livestreamed prayer sessions to pray for world peace and an end to the pandemic.

On April 19 he spoke about wildlife and the natural environment. Watch the April 19, 2020 video on the Karmapa YouTube channel.



A transcript was published on the official website kagyuoffice.org.

"Tashi delek to everyone. Today is the second day of our prayers for the pandemic to subside. The prayers we will recite today are the Noble Aspiration for Excellent Conduct and the Sutra in Three Sections. These teach the two main points of the bodhisattva path: gathering the accumulation of merit and purifying obscurations. So these two are crucial for bodhisattvas.

"This current pandemic has brought great changes we never imagined before. Already, in only a few months, there have been over two million confirmed cases, and more than a hundred and sixty thousand people have died.

"There have also been major changes in our way of life. We can no longer move freely. We are not able to meet the people we love. Losses to the economy and jobs are huge. We hardly dare to think about all the details. When we face such challenges, they can be a wake-up call that makes us examine ourselves much more deeply.

"This pandemic didn’t just fall out of the sky. The way it started and the way it spread are strongly connected to human actions. According to many sources, the origin of the virus was connected to wet markets. In any case, we humans have not cared about the freedom or life of animals, and the negative consequences of that now envelop us.

"The current bans on travel have actually been good for the natural environment. We are creating less impact on the environment, and the atmosphere is less polluted. Many animals have been seen coming into cities without fear.

"These are facts that we can’t ignore. We now have the experience of seeing how much violence and destruction we have caused the environment and wildlife.

"The point of gathering the accumulations and purifying the obscurations is to see what good qualities we have and what our weaknesses are, in order to increase our good qualities and decrease our weaknesses. But if our prostrations and confessions are just a ritual or for show, then we have missed the point.

"Now we will recite the Noble Aspiration for Excellent Conduct and the Sutra in Three Sections together."

The prayer appears in Prayers for a Time of Pandemic compiled by His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa. It's available for free download on www.dharmaebooks.org.

Kagyu Monlam Animal Camp, 32nd Kagyu Monlam, www.kagyuoffice.org.

Read about the Kagyu Monlam Animal Camp His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa instigated during the 31st Kagyu Monlam.

Read about NGO Wildlife SOS's campaign Refuse to Ride. "If you truly love elephants you'll never ride one."