Human Rights Activists

"Also let us not forget that realization is simplified through clear consciousness. But let us not lose the shortest Path. Time is precious. We should not deprive anyone because of our sluggishness. Laziness and ignorance sleep in the same cradle. 6"

"So much has been said about doctrines; yet humanity does not know how to accept the doctrine of the Brotherhood. How many distortions have been accumulated about the Truth! How many principles have been destroyed! They will ask, “On what is the Stronghold of the Brotherhood built?” Answer, “On the doctrine of the heart, the doctrine of labor, the doctrine of beauty, the doctrine of evolution, the doctrine of tension—the most vital doctrine.” We are Votaries of the Infinite. Where the all-encompassing striving cannot penetrate, the Brothers of Humanity do not affirm their manifestation. We suffuse space with the flux of evolution. The Brothers of Humanity willingly renounce Paranirvana for the affirmation of human evolution, in their desire to lay the foundation for a better step. The goal is not divested of labor. The goal is not divested of sacrifice. Thus, point out the closeness of the manifestation of Maitreya. According to the prophecy of the most ancient Teachers, when humanity loses the foundation of the Teaching and sinks into obscurity, the Epoch of Maitreya will take place. Our pillars of the foundation are sent to regenerate the spirit-understanding. Thus say to those who do not understand, thus point out the doctrine of the Heart! 1."

"They will ask, "Can the time of Maitreya create a New Era?" Answer, "If the Crusades brought a new age, then truly the Era of Maitreya is a thousandfold more significant." In such consciousness should one proceed. 1."

"Cupidity is coarse ignorance. Only true cooperation can save from such a malignant mange. A greedy man has a stamp on his face. He is not concerned with the heart; his cup is a bitter one. And for the greedy man the Subtle World is only a source of torment. 113."

"The triple consonance is pronounced as “Om!” It is as if two letters merge together, but in reality the Basis and the First Cause are blended in the one Indivisible. One can observe everywhere how goal-fittingly the laws of consonance have been established. (189)"

"Toiler, when the energy is transmuted into an ocean of light, does thy consciousness quiver or expand? Toiler, is thy heart fearful or exultant when before thee looms Infinity? (Closing sentence)"

"The path of life is one of mutual help. Participants in the great task cannot be humanity-haters. This term denoting a shameful hatred is a long one. But perhaps people will the better remember it and be ashamed. 5."

"We are dissipating superstition, ignorance and fear. We are forging courage, will and knowledge. Every striving toward enlightenment is welcome. Every prejudice, caused by ignorance, is exposed. Thou who dost toil, are not alive in thy consciousness the roots of cooperation and community? If this flame has already illumined thy brain, adopt the signs of the Teaching of Our mountains. Thou who dost labor, do not become wearied puzzling over certain expressions. Every line is the highest measure of simplicity. Greeting to workers and seekers! (preamble)"

"Family, clan, country, union of nations — each unit strives toward peace, toward betterment of life. Each unit of cooperation and communal life needs perfecting. No one can fix the limits of evolution. By this line of reasoning a worker becomes a creator. Let us not be frightened by the problems of creativeness. Let us find for science unencumbered paths. Thus, thought about perfectionment will be a sign of joy. 1."

"Wayfarer, friend, let us travel together. Night is near, wild beasts are about, and our campfire may go out. But if we agree to share the night watch, we can conserve our forces. Tomorrow our path will be long and we may become exhausted. Let us walk together. We shall have joy and festivity. I shall sing for you the song your mother, wife and sister sang. You will relate for me your father’s story about a hero and his achievements. Let our path be one. Be careful not to step upon a scorpion, and warn me about any vipers. Remember, we must arrive at a certain mountain village. Traveler, be my friend. (preamble)"

"There is no worse occupation than forcible imposition of one’s creed. 334."

"Depression is the enemy of each improvement. There can be no constructive building in doubt. There will be no learning under fear. Observation is a step toward justice. Selfhood is betrayal of self-renunciation. Without achievement there is no path. 2."

"You are sure to encounter a certain kind of person who flies into a frenzy at the mere mention of the Masters. Such people are ready to put their trust in any shameless stock market speculation, they are ready to believe in any swindle, but for them the idea of the Common Good is inadmissible. Gaze into the pupils of such people’s eyes, and you will find a restless shadow. They will not be able to stand your gaze for long. These people are secret dugpas. Often they are more dangerous than their colleagues who openly practice black magic... If you brought these seemingly well-meaning people to the very edge of Our Abode, they would declare that they were seeing a mirage. It might seem that this is all due to ignorance, but the real reason is far worse. Beware of them! Most of all, protect the children. These people are the cause of many of the disorders that children suffer. They manage to get into schools. Historical fact and the law of knowledge do not exist for them. 340."

"Our Ray sends out myriads of purified atoms that enwrap a person if there is no astral whirlwind around him. This is the foundation for calmness of spirit, for without it the residue of karma will obscure what is being sent. The lower spirits tear away at the Ray like monkeys, ripping up the precious fabric without any benefit to themselves, since the atoms of matter are useless for agitated shells. One should keep this in mind when uniting the spirit with the Infinite in prayer. 308."

"Two signs of the authenticity of the Teaching are: first, striving for the Common Weal; second, acceptance of all previous Teachings which are congruous with the first sign."

"If we begin to break matter down into its constituents, we see that the atoms liberated start to arrange themselves according to their basic tone and, passing into the ether, form a rainbow that sounds like the music of the spheres. If an entire planet decomposes into its parts, then of course a rainbow will result. This can be observed whenever visible matter decomposes."

"The Teacher will bridle the unruly ones. The Teacher bids you read the words of Origen. You will begin to understand the transgressions committed by the Church. The ways of Origen’s school will be of guidance for our day."

"New discoveries will stimulate the process of collecting knowledge."

"It must be noted that the primary form of a Teaching does not contain negative postulates. But superstitious followers begin to fence in the Covenants with negations, obstructing the good. There results the ruinous formula: “Our creed is the best,” or, “We are the true believers; all others are infidels.” From this point it is a single step to the Crusades, to the Inquisition, and to seas of blood in the name of Those Who condemned killing."

"Instead of stock market speculation let there be striving for discoveries, supported by cooperative societies. 169."

"Monasteries were often called communities. The communal life has long been a sign of cooperation and of mutual respect. So too each workshop can be a cell of a community in which everybody contributes his skill. Altruism is a requisite if one is to devote one’s talent to the common work. 3."

"In the name of Christ great crimes have been committed. Therefore, Christ nowadays clothes Himself in other garments. One must discard all the exaggerations. We are not speaking of slightly embellished works only, as even through the volumes of Origen corrections were slipped in. Therefore, it is time to change conditions in the world."

"In ancient times, the face of the person communicating the commands of God was covered. Later people tried to overcome matter by proclaiming the existence of powers they had not really mastered. Of course, this gave rise to the Inquisition. The essence of an inquisition is persecution of the unusual."

"It was after the time of Origen’s disciples that the false religion of the priesthood began to spread."

"...believe me when I say that your two letters and especially "The Evolution of Man" is simply superb. Do not fear any contradictions or inconsistencies. 302."

"Let miracles exist only in the consciousness of the few, those who are able to catch a glance of the Infinite."

"One must manifest discipline of spirit; without it one cannot become free. To the slave discipline of spirit will be a prison; to the liberated one it will be a wondrous healing garden. So long as the discipline of spirit is as fetters the doors are closed, for in fetters one cannot ascend the steps. One may understand the discipline of spirit as wings. Introduction"

"At the foundation of evolution lies striving to true cooperation. The path of ignorance can be wiped away only by the awakening of creativity. Though the forms it takes may even be monstrous, though people may attempt to make a backyard fire of woodchips into something as bright as the sun, the seething stream of creativity will break through the walls of matter all the same."

"I cannot avail myself of your kind advice to write to... since it would be opening- a new door for an endless correspondence, an honour I would rather decline. But I write to you instead... What talk of his is this? Reverence may not be in his nature, nor does any one claim or care for it any way! But I should have thought that his head, that is capacious enough to hold anything, had a corner in it for some common sense. And that sense might have told him that either we are what we claim, or we are not. That in the former case, however exaggerated the claims made on behalf of our powers still if our knowledge and foresight do not transcend his then we are no better than shams and impostors and the quicker he parts company with us — the better for him. But if we are in any degree what we claim to be, then he acts like a wild ass. Let him remember, that we are not Indian Rajahs in need of and compelled to accept political Ayahs, and nurses to lead us on by the string. That the Society was founded, went on and will go on with or without him — let him suit himself as to the latter. 269."

"On the 17th November next the Septenary term of trial given the Society at its foundation in which to discreetly 'preach us' will expire. One or two of us hoped that the world had so far advanced intellectually, if not intuitionally, that the Occult doctrine might gain an intellectual acceptance, and the impulse given for a new cycle of occult research. Others —wiser as it would now seem —held differently, but consent was given for the trial. It was stipulated, however, that the experiment should be made independently of our personal management; that there should be no abnormal interference by ourselves. ...we found in America the man to stand as leader —a man of great moral courage, unselfish, and having other good qualities. He was far from being the best, but ...he was the best one available. With him we associated a woman of most exceptional and wonderful endowments... she had strong personal defects, but just as she was, there was no second to her living fit for this work... Their success has not equaled the hopes of their original backers, phenomenal as it has been in certain directions. In a few more months the term of probation will end. If by that time the status of the Society as regards ourselves —the question of the "Brothers" be not definitely settled (either dropped out of the Society's programme or accepted on our own terms)... We will subside out of public view like a vapour into the ocean. 263-264."

"I could and had no right to influence you any way—precisely because you are no chela. It was a trial, a very little one, tho' it seemed important enough to you to make you think of 'wife and child's interests. You will have many such; for though you should never be a chela, still we do not give confidences even to correspondents and "proteges" whose discretion and moral pluck have not been well tested. You are the victim of Maya. It will be a long struggle for you to tear away the 'cataracts' and see things as they are. 260."

"Unity is pointed out in all beliefs as the sole bulwark of success. Better attainments can be affirmed if the unity of coworkers is assured. One may cite a great number of examples when mutual trust among the coworkers helped in lofty solutions. Let people, from home and hearth up to the spacial preordinations, remember about the value of cooperation. The seed of labor withers without the moisture of reciprocity. Let us not look backward too much. We hastening fellow-travelers shall become weary if we jostle each other. We shall realize a beautiful meaning if we can introduce the great concept—friend. Community may consist only of friends. 4."

"There were not four but FIVE races; and we are that fifth the remnant of the fourth. (A more perfect evolution or race with each mahacyclic round); while the first race appeared on earth not half a million of years ago (Fiske's theory)—^but several millions. The latest scientific theory is that of the German and American professors who say through Fiske — we see man living on the earth for perhaps half a million years to all intents and purposes dumb. He is both right and wrong. Right about the race having been "dumb" for long ages of silence were required, for the evolution and mutual comprehension of speech, from the moans and mutterings from the first remove of man above the highest anthropoids (a race now extinct since " nature shuts the door behind her" as she advances, in more than one sense)—up to the first monosyllable uttering man. But he is wrong in saying all the rest."

"Yet it cannot be a question with him what the visible Sinnett may be -- what his impulses, his failures or successes in his world, his diminished or undiminished regard for him. With the "visible" one we have nothing to do. It is to us only a veil that hides from profane eyes that other ego with whose evolution we are concerned. In the external rupa do what you like, think what you like: only when the effects of that voluntary action are seen on the body of our correspondent—is it incumbent upon us to notice it."

"The BBC named Nu to its Top 100 Women list in 2014, and in 2015 she was named a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy Magazine and among the 100 Most Inspiring Women by Salt Magazine. She also participated in a democratic-transition training program for young leaders at the George W. Bush Presidential Center that year... Nu has spoken at human rights forums around the world, including the Oslo Freedom Forum last May. She recently helped persuade the United Nations to conduct a fact-finding mission in Burma — though she lobbied for a more intensive Commission of Inquiry... Nu wants to channel the legal expertise she gains in Berkeley this summer and next toward reforms aimed at the rule of law. She hopes to advance constitutional reform, in part by developing analytical research papers on certain laws, and eventually set up a small law firm to counsel and support international businesses in Burma — which can help support her nonprofits... Nu has fond memories of growing up on Burma’s western coast, where she faced little discrimination and interacted freely with people in different communities and ethnic groups. Now, however, she sees a region rife with fear and hopelessness."

"When the female judge read out their sentences — 47 years for her father, 17 for herself, her mother, sister and brother — she asked herself: “Is this really true?” Wai Wai Nu’s father was sent into solitary confinement... she, her mother and sister were jailed at Yangon’s notorious Insein prison. There, they were held in the same room as more than 100 other women — prostitutes, thieves, murderers, drug dealers and illegal gamblers. Once the shock of the filth and discomfort wore off, Wai Wai Nu began to talk to the other women and listen to their stories. Some were indeed hardened criminals but others were victims of circumstance... In 2015 she launched the #MyFriend campaign, meant to showcase love and tolerance among Myanmar’s diverse communities through social media... The aim, says Wai Wai Nu, is “to bring a positive narrative to the public to promote tolerance”."

"Instead of being cowed by her seven-year imprisonment, Wai Wai Nu, emerged stronger and more determined to fight for the rights of all people, including the Rohingya in her native Myanmar... Wai Wai says her prison experience made her all the more aware of the need for human rights activism. What kept her going during her prison years was the desire to help other women inmates to ‘have a dream’. The youngest of three siblings, Wai Wai (33), spent seven years as a political prisoner with her family. Imprisoned at only 18, she was forced to give up her education, her everyday life. Still, she came out of prison undeterred and today is an inspiration to many women and activists fighting for human rights and dignity of their communities and beyond... She considers her most outstanding achievement to be the ability to emerge as a woman leader from her community and inspire many like her to be changemakers."

"Some were sentenced without having had a fair trial... Some were put in jail because they didn’t have enough money or couldn’t get legal counsel, or were the victims of false accusations... I was able to learn about the life of women, and to learn about structural corruption in the political system... It was really a life education — to understand people’s lives and feelings, mainly about women."

"I feel I was privileged when I compare myself to the other young girls and women that I interacted with while I was in prison... Most of them were unaware of how corrupt the political system was. I had a dream, a vision, whether or not I could achieve it because of my imprisonment was secondary. I felt I could help them have a dream... I started my activism when I was 25-years-old. Apart from the many challenges, I was faced with patriarchy from within my community initially as there were close no women in leadership roles. Now I see an acceptance from the same community, and I am proud to have been able to break this stereotype... I speak Burmese fluently, I grew up in the city, and I think, through my activism, I have been able to break the stereotypes created in part by the media and address the Islamophobia around my community, which is seen by so many as alien."

"I thought, ‘What’s going on? How can I be here without committing a crime?’ I couldn’t accept that reality for some time... I saw how corrupt Burma’s legal system was and how there was no independent judiciary... I had thought only criminals go to prison, but I met so many women there who never committed a crime. I thought, ‘When I get out, I’m going to fix it.’ I had no idea how, but I knew I had to try.... Our constitution is not democratically written, and the text allows the military the most powerful positions in government... Power should be in the public’s hands, not the military’s. Another problem is our number of discriminative laws that don’t protect the people. Our so-called democratic legislation in fact restricts freedom and rights. That’s why I started advocating for legal and constitutional reform... young people are still open to a different perspective, and that’s how we can change public opinion. Once we change public opinion, it’s easier to change the policies... I want to give hope and empower those who are disempowered. Sometimes the work feels overwhelming, but I always think I should be doing more."

"Our so-called democratic legislation in fact restricts freedom and rights. That’s why I started advocating for legal and constitutional reform."

"When I was young, I was told only criminals went to prison... [I was thinking] did we really commit crimes? Were we really criminals?... There is a big gap in terms of gender inequality and social justice.... If we really want democracy, it’s not just about being able to say or do what you want but to respect what others have to say and do... Intolerance goes from the individual level to the group level... That has to be changed... I think I have the ability to reconcile society, to build trust and mutual understanding among youth... I think I can play a major role in building social harmony to promote the universality of human rights, respect and dignity."

"Wai Wai Nu, who turns 31 this month, endured more in her teens and twenties than most people will in a lifetime. In 2005, when she was 18, Myanmar’s military regime arrested her father, an opposition MP, on political offences, along with her entire family... She and her mother spent their nights over the next seven years sleeping on the floor of a group cell. In 2012, as her country’s fitful — and still incomplete — transition to democracy began, the family were finally freed. Wai Wai Nu completed the law degree she had started before her arrest, and then enrolled in a one-year political-education programme organised by the British Council. Her experiences in prison laid the groundwork for what was to become a career in activism... Wai Wai Nu set up the “Women’s Peace Network — Arakan”, an NGO that organises civics-education workshops, training and other activities aimed at promoting understanding between different groups. The initiative has expanded to include men and other areas of Myanmar since then."

"I think there has to be a mutual respect. If there is maturity, it should become apparent to them that you are happy doing it and this is what you want to do. As a second generation, we have all these resources: Do we do what we want or follow passion?"

"We’re trying to change the conversation and redefine this issue so that the focus is on the North Korean people and not just the politics. At the level of high politics, this issue is a stalemate and we didn’t feel there was hope for progress."

"[About the United Nations:] In the name of diplomacy, they solve nothing and they keep legitimizing the Chinese government and North Korean regime, and they are part of it. Their vote means as much as [the American vote]. It shouldn't be that way. Their vote shouldn't mean nothing. [...] They are not normal regimes. They are like gangsters. They are Mafia. And the UN legitimize them. [...] They don't do anything. They do so much [more] harm than [they do] good in the world. I still don't know how more people are not realizing this."

"Getting to freedom is only half the battle. Many North Koreans are separated from their families, and when they arrive in a new country, they start with little or no money. So we can benefit from the international community for education, English language training, job training, and more. We can also act as a bridge between the people inside North Korea and the outside world. Because many of us stay in contact with family members still inside, and we send information and money that is helping to change North Korea from inside."

"I am a target of these North Korean threats and of course there is anxiety that I experience. But we know that the North Korean people are watching us and cheering us on and by knowing this we can overcome these fears of intimidation. We know that what we are doing and how we do it with the North Korean society, they will experience change from within. So the harder we push, the harder we will try."

"I want to say something to my fellow North Koreans who are living in that darkness. They might not believe this, but I want to tell them that an alternative life is possible. Be free. From my experience, literally anything is possible. I was bought, I was sold as a slave. But now I'm here, and that is why I believe in miracles. The one thing that I learned from history is that nothing is forever in this world. And that is why we have every reason to be hopeful."

"The first thing my mom taught me as a young girl was not to even wisper, because the birds and mice could hear me. [...] My mom said that 'The most powerful weapon you have in your body is your tounge. Watch out what you say!' Even subconsciously you know how not to think bad things about the regime."