Elephants are in the news due to Hillary Clinton’s recent announcement of a new global effort to end elephant poaching in Africa. She stated that “unless the killing stops, African forest elephants are expected to be extinct within 10 years.”
According to the Washington Post, “Clinton joined the presidents of several African nations and wildlife preservation advocates … to unveil an $80 million, three-year program aimed at ending ivory trafficking, including new park guards at major elephant ranges and sniffer-dog teams at global transit points.” Terrorism is linked to poaching since the sale of elephant ivory is so profitable, bringing in 7 to 10 billion dollars annually. That can buy a lot of weapons.
The population of African elephants has plummeted from 1.2 million in 1980 to under 420,000 today. 35,000 elephants were killed in 2012 alone.
What a starkly clear example this is of how the chain of violence perpetuates itself. The people who are killing these innocent and majestic elephants are lost in the illusion that they are separate from the oneness and wonder of life on earth. They live in fear that they are under attack and must dominate and kill people and animals in order to survive. They literally know not what they do. They know they are killing, but they don’t know whom they are killing. They are killing their sacred brothers and sisters, and they are killing their own souls.
This week let us hold this new global effort to save elephants in our prayers and thoughts. As we meditate, let us imagine it, see it happening, see it working. Let us also memorialize and bless those elephants who have died under this horrific reign of terror. And let us embrace those people who are killing the elephants in the light of love and tenderness. May they look into the eyes of an elephant and see his or her soul; may they be transformed suddenly into elephant protectors and finally find peace in their hearts.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and visionary thoughts. Thanks to all of you, compassion is encircling the earth for all beings. Thank you for your devotion to truth, love, liberation and peace for all beings.
With Love, peace, and gratitude from Judy, and Will, Madeleine, and the Circle of Compassion team.
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