Burma: An Insane Regime Dedicated to Beating Up The Sane
September 26th, 2007 by DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS, TMV Columnist
This morning it was reported by the BBC that police beat and arrested demonstrators at Shwe-dagon Pagoda, one of the holiest sites in Burma… including up to 100 monks, on the ninth day of unrest against the military government. Some of the monks and civilians are said to be severely injured. (UPDATE: MSNBC says at 6:15am MST, that two monks have been murdered by the police. There may be other deaths as a result of the severe beatings yesterday)
This violence against peaceful innocents is all the more egregious because the Buddhist concepts many of the Burmese live by are antithetical to doing harm to others… The bootjack Burmese goverment seems it is counting on the Buddhist’s commitment to non-violence, to keep the people in line.
However the government is ignorant, for it doesnt realize or has forgotten that Buddhism is a warrior religion, one not of ***bombs but of the sharp swords of fully developed character and focused minds. Thus, the government which batters and arrests the sane and clear-minded, is attempting not only to silence individuals, but more so, to silence the archetypal principles of character and ‘being’ which Buddhists are committed to. In essence, the goverment is trying to murder the soul.. for these are some of the core commitments of the Burmese people who are striving for justice, parity and democracy:
***The holding of each life as sacred; No killing life, rather cultivating and encouraging life
*** The remaining faithful to a higher good and relationships, no illusory words, no hypocrisy
*** Communicating truth; no selling of the wine of delusion
*** The not dwelling on past error; rather drawing wisdom from ignorance
*** No self-praise, rather extolling the good in others
*** No theft of form, idea, object, person from another: rather honoring the gifts of others
*** Living to relieve the suffering of all sentient beings.
One can see immediately why a totalitarian government would be threatened; any of these traits of character being suddenly present would cause a dictatorship or military junta to have to put ‘the people’ first, which is antithetical to the narcissism of a junta.
Yet, when the government orders one armed human being to strike down and harm another unarmed human being, the archetypes, that is, the universal ideas that spontaneously erupt and drive humans toward consciousness and something approaching equitable balance in all matters, have a habit of becoming all the more pronounced. The elemental psyche that carries the ideas of justice and decency is then made all the more visible, and becomes all the more determined to overwhelm the inferior force that is set against it.
You can barely grant more strength to decency and clear-mindedness than by berating, ridiculing, beating or attempting to kill the persons who carry these. Inner resolve regenerates very quickly in those who suffered the aggression, for these traits are their elemental nature, and this next ought to be most alarming to the government… trying to do away with people utterly radicalizes those who witnessed the battering. In the place of one down, two more are made whole.
(UPDATE: as of 6:15am MST, it is coming over the newswire that two monks have died as a result of being beaten. Two dead, four new ones radicalized. Sometimes governments forget that peacefulness does not mean to be without great passion.)
Read more here about the police beating of citizens and monks in Burma: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7013638.stm
Also see this cogent piece with insight into the Burmese Military over at Left Flank…
http://www.radicalcontrapositions.com/left_flank/2007/09/26/betrayed-again/
h/t Helaine
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007 at 4:11 am and is filed under Burma, Hypocrisy, Human Rights, Death, Crime, Psychology, Freedom of Speech. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:12 am
[…] Pundit has a breaking news round-up with photos. Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés weighs in on “An Insane Regime Dedicated to Beating Up The Sane.” Posted in: […]
September 26th, 2007 at 8:53 am
If you practice Theravada Buddhism:
Harming a monk = bad!
Harming a monk on a full moon = even more so, because a full moon day is a one of the monthly holy days
When I saw the Dalai Lama in 1990 someone asked him what we can do about the war in Yugoslavia and he basically said when people have that much anger and hate really the only antidote is love and compassion.
September 26th, 2007 at 8:58 am
[…] them are of a remarkable quality and truly worth the read. Click on the titles to read them: “Burma: An Insane Regime Dedicated To Beat Up The Sane,” “Burma: The Banishment Of The Cyber Dissident” and “Aung San Suu Kyi, […]
September 26th, 2007 at 9:29 am
[…] The Moderate Voice writes: This violence against peaceful innocents is all the more egregious because the Buddhist concepts many of the Burmese live by are antithetical to doing harm to others… The bootjack Burmese government seems it is counting on the Buddhist’s commitment to non-violence, to keep the people in line. […]
September 26th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
This really is nothing. Starting in the 90’s the gov’t of Myannmar began exterminating a large portion of its ethnic minority population. I’ve always been surprised how it never really made the news. Its one of the most brutal and repressive regimes around, very reminiscint of North Korea. Guess beating up priests makes for better headlines. I’m sure there will be a “Free Burma” concert in the near future.
September 26th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
[…] The Economist’s third option seems to be the verdict for Myanmar. As the Burma expert in the second Reuters video above puts it, it’s a test of wills between the military and monks. The monks have, according to one report, now lost one and several others injured. […]