KARUNA 02

Introduction

An ancient Buddhist text says: 'Hatred is never overcome by hatred. Hatred is only overcome by love. This is an eternal law.'

In the past few months the news from India has been dominated by reports of extreme violence in the State of Gujarat as ancient sectarian tensions have erupted into riots and massacres.

Thankfully none of our friends or project partners in Gujarat has been directly affected. But it has been a stark reminder of how fragile the social order in India can be and how difficult the situation can become for the people involved in our projects. One of our project partners in Bihar told us recently that he has received death threats from local landowners because he has helped to educate children from the lower castes. When we asked him whether the threats ever made him want to give up his work, he replied, no, they made him more determined than ever to carry on.

This kind of courage is typical of many of the people involved with our work: men and women who are prepared to dedicate their lives to helping others often at considerable risk to themselves. It really is a privilege to spend time with some of these people and to be involved with their work - projects that are helpin to bring people together and enabling them to make genuine progress towards lives of greater dignity and freedom.

Dr. William Stones
Chairman, Karuna Trust

Credits

The Trustees of the Karuna Trust:

Dr William Stones (Chairman), David Zukas, Hilary Blakiston. Dr Keith Downer, Iain Robertson, Simon Turnbull
The Trustees are all members of the Western Buddhist Order

Director
Peter Joseph

Patrons
Dame Judi Dench DBE
David Morley MD, FRCP
Sir Edmund Hillary KBE

Text
Jonathan Clark

Photographs and design
Ian Waddell

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KARUNA 02

Introduction

Contents

Credits