Synthèse

This blog was originally intended to be about work-related issues, not political, religious or social ones, but the situation in Burma is of such concern to me, I feel I must say something here.

First of all, there is a good summary in the New York Times today describing what happened this week between the Buddhist Monks and the military junta. I think the article gets it mostly right, except for a few things (it refers to Burma as “Myanmar” but this BBC article explains why the country should be called “Burma”), such as describing alms-bowls as “begging bowls” and mendicant Monks as “begging”. In fact Theravada Buddhist Monks don’t beg or even ask for food, they create an opportunity for lay people to give, which is a subtle but very important distinction. It’s hard to understand this distinction unless you have a devotional respect for the renunciate life.

But the article does offer a good explanation for why the refusal of the Monks to be fed by the military was such an affront to them. Now that the monks are imprisoned in their own monasteries, it means that the military are starving them. One thing is for sure: things are going to get worse before they get better.

The Amnesty International web site has good coverage of the human rights abuses that are being perpetrated in Burma although it should be noted that Amnesty (and the western press as well) are very conservative in their assessment of the atrocities being perpetrated. I am aware of first-hand anecdotal evidence that things are in fact a lot worse than is being reported.

I sometimes think about the untold suffering that Vietnam veterans suffered after committing the terrible crimes of that war. No matter what happens now the Burmese soldiers who committed these horrific deeds will be haunted for the rest of their lives.  This aggression by the military must be stopped as much to protect the Monks and ordinary lay people as to protect the soldiers.

(more…)