US mass shootings: Karmapa’s message

August 4, 2019

Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, shares the following message in the aftermath of the recent mass shootings in the US:

Dear dharma friends

In the last 24 hours, twenty nine people were killed and 42 injured in mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton in the United States.

When we hear such disturbing news, we may feel afraid. This is natural. Nevertheless, it is important to try not to become overwhelmed by fear, to lose our focus.

In this moment, nothing is more important than compassion: compassion for those whose lives have been lost, compassion for those who are injured, compassion for those who suffer waiting for news from the hospitals. Furthermore, in this moment, we may try and extend our compassion to all sentient beings in our world.

We practice the Buddha dharma so that we may not only control our emotions, but eventually work in harmony with them. We practice the Buddha dharma so that in times of storms, we do not avoid the storms, we do not carried away by them, we simply let them be. Then, something beautiful can even emerge. Something beautiful that we never thought possible can emerge from the midst of turmoil.

May we all pray together for the cessation of suffering and the causes of suffering.

Thaye Dorje

His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa