Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Opposition Leader: The Terra Firma of Burma

There is amongst Buddhists in Asia the story of Kwan Yin, sometimes called Kwannon and other spellings of the name… it is said, Kwan Yin had become a Bodhi-sattva… an Enlightened Being, who thereby was allowed to step off the Wheel of Life and Death, to bypass all future suffering in earthly incarnation, and instead to ascend to Nirvana; to the place of perfected All.

As Kwan Yin began to ascend the golden staircase into the heavenly realm of Nirvana, she heard a sound, and saw a motion below and looked down over the banister. Down below on earth was all of suffering humanity, and their voices were a single cry that reached to the sky, and their prayers were a single prayer for help that reached to the heavenly realms.

And Kwan Yin hearing and seeing them, was hurt in her heart. She suddenly reversed her ascent, and began to descend the staircase toward earth again, vowing she would never return to Nirvana again until all human beings suffering on earth could come with her too. All manner of demons and voices reached out to her trying to tell her to turn back, speaking slyly that she had earned her peace, and that it was each man and woman for themselves. But Kwan Yin, resolute, and carrying the love of humanity in her heart, continued her descent to earth… and it is said that she still lives amongst us today.

Kwan Yin is known as the Mother of Compassion, also as the Goddess of Compassion… and Burma has its own Kwan Yin in the person of Aung San Suu Kyi, 62 years old, who was given a Nobel Peace Prize for her decades long activism and putting herself in harm’s way to raise up the Burmese people. She has been in prison and under house arrest in Burma for the last twelve years. Yesterday, a small group of the 20,000 monks who marched in Burma to protest the government further burdening the poor by doubling fuel prices last week, were marching directly to the house in which Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest. They strove past the military units stationed around her house. She was able to come to the gate to bless the monks before the military closed off access.

She has been offered sanctuary and refugee status by many countries worldwide, but refuses to leave Burma. Read more here about her life and her dedication to the Burmese people, and why she and the people and country she loves are currently in such danger…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1950505.stm

and if you would, pass this story on to others who may not yet know about Burma; Many brave people in Burma, for the first time in its history, are leaning out into the world through a huge rip in the hardshell the militarized government has squashed the country’s outside communication with for decades. The current breach has been made ‘by the people, for the people,’ via internet, cell phone, and satelite communications which, though the government is trying to jam those outlets as we speak… surely there are many, many male and female Kwan Yins of electronic compassion, also.