International Buddhist leaders urge Burmese to show compassion

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Yangon, Myanmar -- Seventeen Buddhist leaders from around the world - plus His Excellency the Dalai Lama in absentia - have issued a statement urging Buddhists in Burma to show mutual respect and compassion to Muslims in Rakhine State.

<< Burmese Buddhist monks rally on the streets of Mandalay on Sunday, September 2, 2012 as they support the country's president, Thein Sein, who has called for the deportation of members of the Muslim minority Rohingyas, who live in Rakhine State. Photo:  AFP

The statement comes after many Buddhist monks and abbots led demonstrations and advocated the removal of the Muslim Rohingya community from Burmese soil.

“We are concerned about the growing ethnic violence and the targeting of Muslims in Rakhine State and the violence against Muslims and others across the country,” the statement said. “The Burmese are a noble people, and Burmese Buddhists carry a long and profound history of upholding the Dharma.

“We wish to reaffirm to the world and to support you in practicing the most fundamental Buddhist principles of non-harming, mutual respect and compassion.”

The letter was signed by the following:

Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh
Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
Vietnam

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
President Buddhist Global Relief
(world's foremost translator of the Pali Canon)
Sri Lanka/USA

Dr. AT Ariyaratne
Founder Nationwide Sarvodaya Movement
Ghandi Peace Prize Laureate
Sri Lanka

Ven. Chao Khun Raja Sumedhajahn
Elder, Ajahn Chah Monasteries
Wat Ratanavan, Thailand

Ven. Phra Paisal Visalo
Chair Buddhika Network Buddhism and Society
Thailand

Ven. Arjia Rinpoche VIII
Abbot Tibetan Mongolian Cultural Center
Mongolia/USA

Ven. Shodo Harada Roshi
Abbot Sogenji Rinzai Zen Monastery
Japan

Achariya Professor J Simmer Brown
Chairperson Buddhist Studies
Naropa Buddhist University
USA

Ven. Ajahn Amaro Mahathera
Abbot Amaravati Vihara
England

Ven. Hozan A Senauke
International Network of Engaged Buddhists
Worldwide

Younge Khachab Rinpoche VIII
Abbot Younge Drodul Ling
Canada

Ven. Sr. Thich Nu Chan Kong
President Plum Village Zen temples
France/Vietnam

Dr. Jack Kornfield Vipassana Achariya
Convener Western Buddhist Teachers Council
USA

Lama Surya Das
Dzogchen Foundation International
Vajrayana Tibet/USA

Ven. Zoketsu N. Fischer Soto Roshi
Fmr. Abbot largest Zen community in the West
USA/Japan

Tulku Sherdor Rinpoche
Director BI. Wisdom Institute
Canada

Professor Robert Tenzin C. Thurman
Center for Buddhist Studies
Columbia University
USA

HH the XIV Dalai Lama
Nobel Laureate
Tibet/India

Though not able to be reached in time to sign this letter, HH the Dalai Lama has publicly and repeatedly stated his concern about the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. He urges everyone to continue to practice non-violence and retain the religious harmony that is central to our ancient and revered culture.

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Ancient Buddhist Relics Returned by Burmese Locals

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Bago, Myanmar -- Hundreds of 1,000-year-old Buddhist statues have been returned by workmen after an ancient pagoda site in Prome (Pyay) Township, Pegu (Bago) Division, dating from the Sri Ksetra era of the Pyu Kingdom, was ransacked.

<< Some of the 1,000-year-old Buddhist statues unearthed in Prome Township. (Photo: Warazein Moekyo)

Local people handed the antique Buddhist relics to the authorities on Thursday after they began to worry about possibly being arrested for stealing the artifacts. Prome residents sent a letter to The Irrawaddy about the discovery last week.

The Irrawaddy reported that the valuable antiques were being hidden and then removed from the site by car. However, after word got out those responsible eventually decided to hand the treasures back to the proper authorities.

“After news spread to the media, they were afraid and this is why they had to give them back,” said a worker who operates a drill at the site.

Local people who stay near the excavation area told The Irrawaddy that it was a shame that the township authorities did not prevent the ancient ruins being destroyed. However, the authorities ordered the digging to halt after complaints were filed in the wake of the relics being discovered on Nov. 5.

The area of Prome Township is called Pagoda Hill and belongs to a man called Thai Thai who recently bought the land from its original owner, Tin Ngwe, who moved to live in Rangoon earlier this year.

The entire plot is valued at 60 million kyat (US $70,000) with the pagoda site alone is worth five million kyat ($6,000). A group of workers found the Buddhist statues after beginning demolition work using a bulldozer on Oct. 15. The find dates from around 700 to 1300 AD, according to Burmese researchers.

Pyu was a civilization that lasted for nearly a millennium until the early ninth century when a new group of “swift horsemen” from the north, the Mranma (Burmans), entered the Upper Irrawaddy Valley. In the early ninth century, the Pyu city-states of Upper Burma came under constant attack from the Nanzhao Kingdom of the present-day Yunnan Province of southwestern China.

In 832, the Nanzhao sacked then-Halingyi, which had overtaken Prome as the chief Pyu city-state. A subsequent Nanzhao invasion in 835 further devastated Upper Burma. While Pyu settlements remained in the region until the advent of the Pagan Empire in the mid-11th century, then Pyu was gradually absorbed into the expanding Burman kingdom of Bagan over the next four centuries.

The Pyu language continued to exist until the late 12th century. By the 13th century, the Pyu had assumed the Burman ethnicity. The histories/legends of the Pyu were also incorporated into those of the Burmans.

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Burmese monks hold meditation session

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Princeton, New Jersey (USA) -- Exiled activist and Buddhist master U Pyinya Zawta and two of his companions led meditation and Q-and-A sessions on Tuesday as part of a three-part program to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the 2007 Saffron Revolution in Burma.

<< Photo by Ananda Zhu
Burmese monks host a discussion in McCormick 101 on Tuesday.

All three monks are active in the All Burma Monks’ Alliance and participated in the 2007 Saffron Revolution, an anti-government protest led by Burmese monks.

The event, which was sponsored by the Princeton Buddhist Students’ Group, started with a meditation session.

“We thought meditation was important because it’s what we do, and it’s a huge part of their lives,” event co-organizer Cristina Stanojevich ’12 said.

Co-organizer Gabriel Greenwood ’12 also noted that the meditation fit well with other parts of the program, which focused on raising awareness about Burma’s political situation.

“To them, meditation and political activism are part of the same spirit,” Greenwood said.

Over two dozen students participated in the meditation, including many students who had meditated in the past.

“It was like other meditation sessions but shorter and very relaxing,” Rebecca Smaha ’14 said, adding that she is active in the Princeton Buddhist Students Group.

The second part of the program consisted of a showing of the controversial documentary “Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country.” The documentary includes prominent appearances by U Gawsita, one of the monks who attended the event.

The film emphasized the brutal reality of the Saffron Revolution, during which monks who decided to take a peaceful stand against the military regime faced violence and long jail sentences.

Immediately following the screening, audience members had a chance to ask the monks questions about their views and experiences. A noticeable theme in the monks’ answers was that the situation has not yet improved in Burma in the aftermath of the revolution.

“We haven’t seen the real change yet,” U Zawta said through a translator. “We say that because there are still political prisoners and they also have fighting between the military leaders and the ethnic groups that are at the border.”

Of the over 200 monks originally imprisoned, only 40 to 45 have been released because their prison time was fulfilled. The remaining monks face at least five to six more years of jail time.

However, U Zawta also noted that the uprising had improved relations between the monks and the people but led to further deteriorations in relations between the government and the military regime.

When asked about the relationship between the monks and the Burmese people, U Zawta stated that monks serve as the moral authority in Burma but lack political authority.

“Monks always have close contact with the people because most of the people are Buddhist and [the monks] know how the people have been suffering from the government,” U Zawta said.

Besides University students, the event also attracted local residents interested in meditation and Burma.

 “I just heard about it and I was interested to see the monks,” local resident Allison Cryon said. “I thought it was especially valuable to hear authentic information.”

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