Interview of HH Karmapa for Wildlife Trust of India

First published: June 29, 2009

His Holiness the Karmapa appeals for wildlife conservation

Photo: Wasfia Nazreen

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh): His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, today, appealed to his fellow Tibetans not to harm wildlife, at an awareness event organised by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Care for the Wild International (CWI).

“Animals are not our enemies. We are all interdependent; every animal has a role to play in the ecology by being a part of the food chain. If you remove one layer, the entire chain is affected. Even while talking in the interest of human beings, by saving wildlife, you are ultimately helping yourself,” said His Holiness the Karmapa, addressing the audience at the TCV Upper School, Dharamsala, the venue for the event.

“From the Buddhist viewpoint, we say every sentient being is a mother sentient being. We believe in bringing no harm to others including animals, but the ground reality is that this is being neglected. Some may believe that the environment is so huge that it cannot be affected by the action of one person. However, individuals can make lots of differences; the kind of difference, whether positive or negative, depends on the character and belief of humans,” His Holiness added.

Dr Barbara Maas, Chief Executive, CWI, said, “One of the key principles of Buddhism is compassion towards all sentient beings. Yet, the life of each and every animal killed for its skin and body parts ends in an act of violence.  Cumulatively, this violence has consequences not only for the fate of individuals but for that of whole species. The list of animal species threatened with extinction as a result of human behaviour grows longer and every year.  It currently stands at over 7,200.  If our own species continues to extinguish others, it will spell disaster for us too, because we are part of nature and cannot survive in isolation.”

The event was a part of the Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign (TCAC), a WTI-CWI project aimed at spreading conservation awareness among Tibetans. The campaign was launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on April 6, 2005, to address the involvement of Tibetans in wildlife crimes and the use of wildlife articles in Tibetan medicines and traditional dresses.

The importance of this campaign has been highlighted by the recent arrest of four alleged Tibetan wildlife traders in eastern Nepal late last week. About 23 deer traps and parts of Impeyan pheasant (Lophophorus impejanus) – the national bird of Nepal listed in Appendix I of CITES, were among the articles reportedly seized from their possession.

“Tibetan leaders wield tremendous influence on Tibetan people. So, we approached leaders of various Tibetan sects for their blessings and support for our campaign to help conserve wildlife,”  said Ashok Kumar, Vice-chairman, WTI.

In 2006, a conservation message by His Holiness the Dalai Lama had generated tremendous emotional response, culminating in several instances of wild animal skin burning by Tibetans across Tibet as well as in Dharamsala. The skin burning episodes- an indication of Tibetans shunning use of wild animal articles, continued sporadically, with latest incidents reported as recent as April this year.

“Four years ago, TCAC was a vague idea in the minds of a few people with faint hope in their hearts. Since then it has become not only one of the most successful conservation initiatives the world has ever seen, it has also set a new standard for how the right attitude towards nature, of which we all are a part, can make the world a better place. The unprecedented success of TCAC is due to you, the Tibetan people, including the most famous of them all, His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” added Dr Maas.

Over the years, TCAC field officers of Tibetan origin have visited urban areas as well as remote rural areas to spread the message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to spread conservation awareness among Tibetans. Till date, the TCAC campaign has reached 53 Tibetan settlements, 68 schools and 106 monasteries across India, in addition to a few in Nepal.

“We have observed a visible increase in awareness levels within the Tibetan community, but obviously our work is far from complete (as proven by the arrest last week in Nepal). The words of His Holiness the Karmapa will help fortify our campaign and benefit the cause by leaving a lingering message in the minds of young Tibetans and adults alike,” Kumar added.

Excerpts of an interview of His Holiness the Karmapa (HHK)

– by Wasfia Nazreen (WN), Freelance photo-journalist

WN: Your Holiness, what is your most favorite animal?

HHK: Hmm (laughs & ponders). Not quite sure. (Reflects for while) Maybe something like rabbit, but I’m not quite sure.

WN: Would you consider humans having pets or having fish in an aquarium in homes, a form of capturing the wild?

HHK: There are many angles to look at it. It depends on which animal, in particular, we are talking about. There are some animals that depend on human care. For them, it is okay to be kept as pets. In the case of when an animal need is independent and would like to be independent and instead it is being tamed and kept as a pet in a house then that is not good for it. Also, it would depend on the individual person who is taking care of the pet. So there is more than one angle to look at it.

As for me, I cannot take care of any animals as my pet or pets, so I would rather have them go back to their natural wilderness.

WN: We are living at an intensely volatile time, where we don’t have to even look at the rest of the world, but if we just see within South Asia or Asia as a whole- countries are torn with all kinds of human war, human rights violations and there is a lot of work that needs to happen on that level. In this era, how do we make or motivate people to have concerns prioritized towards animals when there are all kinds of crisis going on at the human level.

HHK: When we talk about human rights, we are talking about putting proper values or not putting proper values in people’s lives or to the happiness of others, and it is a question that everyone is trying to be winning all the time for oneself. Here we have egocentric wishes tried for the Self. These are the issues we are talking about when we consider human rights and apart from human rights, we are here trying to talk about all beings including the animals. Now if we can go a little further out of the ordinary limit and consider all beings irrespective of friends or foes- if we talk about their welfare or their benefit? If we can impact proper change in our thoughts and in our actions then we can make a meaningful difference. Of course, you must realize that the problem we are encountering today encompasses the entire beings- not only human beings. Therefore, what we need to do is shift our attitude, our behavior, so that we can consider all beings.

The human situation is telling us- we must change our behavior and moderation. Also, there are different being in different environmental systems- they are telling us we should change our behavior. Maybe we need more and more information and only then people can see clearly.