His Holiness:
Hmm..Although my English is very, very poor, and my vocabulary is very limited, somehow I will try to speak with my good English in order to save time and also in order to reach directly to your heart or to your brain, I don't know.

Amnesty International is a projection of the human being in general and particularly, those human individuals who have immense potential to take the initiative in order to uplift society in, I think, various fields. Economy, or culture, or education - in various fields. So therefore, you see, I feel, their contribution, if they have the field, would be an immense benefit concerning many people of the community. So therefore, your effort to save individual rights and especially to take care helps those who suffer under human rights violations. Indirectly, your introducing helping upon humanity and to protect further humanity.

And then second I want to mention since I come from the East that sometimes, you see, some people have some type of animosity to freedom and tradition. The concept of human rights that comes from the West, it may not suit different countries. I believe that where basic human rights is concerned, Westerner, or Easterner, or Northerner, or Southerner- no differences. All have equal right without discrimination of color or race, and men, women, and some other ideology, or faith. So human rights is universal. And some case either religious belief or some traditional customs sometimes may have some kind of hostility or conflict. Then in that case, it is possible that sometimes in a given society certain traditional customs or aspects of one's religious faith may come into conflict with the basic principles underlying the concepts of human rights. And under such circumstances, it is the traditional customs and aspects of the religious faith that needs to accommodate the concept of human rights rather than the other way around.

The third point, I want to share with you is that usually the human rights violation is a symptom, a kind of symptom. So, the people who are involved in human rights, I think, should take care, should pay more attention for the root of the human violation. So here, obviously democracy, liberty, freedom- these are the most important matter. Without our freedom and individual liberty, then human rights violations happen. So on occasion, I express this. So, I want to express this here also. Then, finally, I want to join with you to remember those individuals who sacrifice their own lives for others' individual rights. Individuals or groups of people, they may not still exist, but their spirit, their desire, their wish should be permanent, and we should follow and should make every effort to materialize their wish and their prayer.

Then another thing, perhaps, if not too long. I feel that we should have the determination and the enthusiasm because there are signs of improvement. Today the world compared, I think, with 50, 60 years ago, I think the concept of human rights and also the right of preservation of one's own human identity, one's own culture and these things are much stronger. So, because of the continued effort of Amnesty International and organizations of individuals, I think that largely things are improving. So there is grounds for enthusiasm and determination. This I want to share with you.

Then finally, I want to make a statement.

Translator:
The translation of the prayer which His Holiness is going to recite now reads as follow and is from around approximately 4th century Buddhist poet and he wrote:

May those who are afraid, be fearless.
May those in bondage, be free.
May those who are powerless, be empowered.
May all our hearts join in friendship.

His Holiness:
So while I recite or chant that prayer in Tibet, please join with me for this reading.

He chants the above prayer in Tibetan.

Last sentence, I want to explain the last line, "May all our hearts join in friendship." I think that is very important. This looks to the aggressor who creates pains. Sometimes in our mind there is sometimes tendency in order to save, in order to protect this group of people or this body, there is some kind of negative feeling towards the other. I think that is wrong. That not, I think the correct attitude. So the best thing is to try to eliminate, try to make honest effort on the other side. We also have a right to be happy as they themselves without negative feeling. Bring them to the happier in society. So that is why the last sentence is very significant. This last line which says, May all of our hearts join in friendship. Thank you.

For information about the North American Seat of the Drepung Loseling Monastery, please visit them on the Web, http://www.drepung.org/institute/index.htm

Resources for further study

His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Tibetan Buddhism

Human Rights Advocacy