Saturday in the Park With George...

... and about two dozen other Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Here they are. A handful of them, anyway.



We were just a bit worried about taking George to this meet-up, since he can be a bit alpha with other dogs. A Napoleon complex, perhaps. He's small enough to need to assert his authority. But as things turned out, he soon adjusted to the masses, and was chasing about with the rest of them like a pro.

We've had this breed for twenty years. In the early days, we could hardly make our way from one end of the boardwalk to the other, for people constantly stopping us to ask about the dogs. They sure are attention-getters. Cute. And smart, and loyal, and a whole lot of fun. Their owners--that's not quite right: "the people they own" might be more accurate. Or "their slaves"--are manic ("dogic") in their affection for the breed. Not me, of course... I am not blind to George's faults. He is intolerant, for example, of small children, and tends to leap up and grab at the loose ends of various forms of women's garb. Still...

We found our first Cavalier in the Bel Air mansion of a television mogul. Her full name was Margaret Rose of Bel Air, but we called her Mags, which suited her just as well. She was a gift to us from her owner, and brought us many years of delight. They do sound like a snobby lot, these Cavaliers, but at heart they're just like the rest of us, playful at times and sad at others, and almost always hungry. Anyway, our George (NOT Bush, may I remind you? HARRISON...) is at the center of this picture, running forward, having a great time...

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/30/2007

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

~The Dhammapada

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Situation in Burma Day 12. Hope Fading, Monks Tortured and Killed.

AP, Sept 29, 2007

YANGON, Myanmar -- Soldiers and police took control of the streets Friday, firing warning shots and tear gas to scatter the few pro-democracy protesters who ventured out as Myanmar's military junta sealed off Buddhist monasteries and cut public Internet access.

On the third day of a harsh government crackdown, the streets were empty of the mass gatherings that had peacefully challenged the regime daily for nearly two weeks, leaving only small groups of activists to be chased around by security forces.

Thousands of monks had provided the backbone of the protests, but they were besieged in their monasteries, penned in by locked gates and barbed wire surrounding the compounds in the two biggest cities, Yangon and Mandalay. Troops stood guard outside and blocked nearby roads to keep the clergymen isolated.

Many Yangon residents seemed pessimistic over the crackdown, fearing it fatally weakened a movement that began nearly six weeks ago as small protests over fuel price hikes and grew into demonstrations by tens of thousands demanding an end to 45 years of military rule.

The corralling of monks was a serious blow. They carry high moral authority in this predominantly Buddhist nation of 54 million people and the protests had mushroomed when the clergymen joined in.

"The monks are the ones who give us courage. I don't think that we have any more hope to win," said a young woman who had taken part in a huge demonstration Thursday that broke up when troops shot protesters. She said she had not seen her boyfriend and feared he was arrested.

James: Despite this news of fading hope we know that things will change one day for the Burmese people. We take refuge in the Dharma which involves realization and a deep understanding of impermanence. The impermanence of the situation in Burma is evident on so many levels and the crackdowns remind those of us who live in better situations to not take that reality for granted, for it will indeed disappear one day. All is impermanent so now is the time to find peace within, so that just like these monks, nothing will keep us down or terrorize us with fear.

MONKS BEATEN, TORTURED AND KILLED:

Eye witnesses said that numerous monasteries were raided on Friday with reports that many monks were beaten and arrested. Whole monasteries were reported to have been trashed with blood and broken glass seen everywhere.

An unconfirmed account had it that a monastery at an obscure neighborhood of Yangon, called Ngwe Kyar Yan (on Wei-za-yan-tar Road, Yangon) was raided early in the morning of Sept 28, 2007.

A troop of "lone-tein" - the local name for the riot police which comprises mainly of paid thugs and protected by the military, attacked the monastery with 200 monks studying there.

They systematically rounded up all the monks and ordered them to line up. Then, one after another, brute force was used to push their heads against the brick wall of the monastery, in many cases crushing the monks' skulls.

One by one, the non-resisting monks fell to the ground, screaming in pain. The "lone-teins" then tore off the red robes from the monks, threw the bodies into the military trucks (like rice bags) and taken away to an unknown location.

The head monk of the monastery, who was tied up in the middle of the monastery was tortured and bludgeoned. He was said to have died later in the same day.

James: Despite this awful news I would imagine that those monks (and citizens) who gave their lives are well on their way to Buddhahood.

LETTER OF APPEAL FROM VENERABLE AJHAN SUMEDO:

I am making a statement of support and sympathy for the heroic efforts of the Buddhist Monks, Nuns, Students, and all the Burmese Laypeople who are peacefully protesting against the injustice and oppression of the present government of Myanmar.

It is very confusing and distressing to witness a government which claims to respect the Buddhist religion react to a peaceful protest in such a violent and brutal way.

I have always held the Sangha in Burma with great respect. I ask the present government to listen to the Sangha and to seek a way of reconciliation in accord with the Dhamma which will be for the welfare and happiness of all.

I send all my blessings to the peaceful protesters and my compassion to the Government of Myanmar which has strayed so far from the wisdom and compassion of the Lord Buddha.

~Peace to all beings~

A Visitor

He struts ahead
pompously, chest
thrust forward, head
nodding, nervous, eyes
alert for danger, past
our house. A touch
of self-importance there,
I judge. I have
a question for this
crow: why walk
when you can fly?

And...

Do you think that the US would have more leverage with nations like China, India and Russia on the Burma crisis, had we not blotted our international copybook so badly with Iraq--and with our generally arrogant, world-strutting attitude, these past few years? Just wondering... It's frustrating to see us so weak and ineffectual when monks and other citizens are being beaten and done to death by those intolerable generals and their military minions. Would we have been so completely powerless had we not squandered the goodwill extended to us at the time of the World Trade Center attacks?

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/29/2007

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.

~The Dhammapada

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The Great Republican Debate

I watched a few minutes of it last night, this great debate for Republican presidential candidates on public television, on matters of import to minority communities, moderated by Tavis Smiley. A few minutes was frankly as much as I could bear. All the "front runners" made their point by not deigning to show up at all--a big, transparent fuck-you, if ever I saw one. The rest, as I saw it, were a bunch of morons, to put it charitably. (Not exactly Right Speech, perhaps, in Buddhist terms, but accurate enough!) To resolve the health care crisis, for example, and the awful disparity in health care service available to rich and poor (read Black and Hispanic vs. white,) these notables suggested fixing the malpractice problem and teaching poor families the values of self-reliance and responsibility. Ah well. I only hope the absentees get their comeuppance at election time for having thumbed their noses at these huge blocs of voters (read "human beings.") Enough. Sufficient unto the day.... As the Bible says.

Saffron Revolution in Burma Day 11

Yangon, Myanmar -- Speculations have it that the country's top two in the junta is divided over the handling of the riots in the country. "Maung Aye and his loyalists are opposed to shooting into the crowd," a source close to the military hierarchy told Mizzima referring to the major differences that the head of junta Senior General Than Shwe and his second-in-command, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye have over the brutal crack down on protesters in Burma.

James: It appears that the military might be splitting in two and that might be the best news possible during the week long Saffron Revolution in Burma. If the protests can divide the regime then they have a real chance to bring about change within their government. More information on the possible trouble within the regime can be read below.

I just saw on CNN that there are many in Burma who are prepared and ready to keep this revolution going despite the dangers. They say that they are ready to lay down their lives and/or be jailed for the good of their countrymen. This greatly moves me for they are engaging in the ultimate acts of letting go. It is heart-breaking yet inspiring.

Also, other reports are saying that the monks are locked inside their monasteries and that is awful in and of itself but it seems to be the best case scenario during these turbulent times in Burma.

This information was sent out by Jason from the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, The Buddhist Channel, Sept 28, 2007.

Yangon, Myanmar -- Kindly forgive the brevity and the lack of formatting of the following email. I am now sending this information out as we are now receiving it. As many of you are now aware phone lines have been cut, mobile networks have been disabled, and Internet access has also been disabled.

Information, therefore, is now very difficult to obtain and confirm. I therefore am unable to confirm any of that which follows, but my sources are adamant that this is the truth:

Soldiers from LID #66 have turned their weapons against other SPDC soldiers and possibly police in North Okkalappa township in Rangoon and are defending the protesters. At present unsure how many soldiers involved. Some reports cite "heavy shooting" in the area.

Other unconfirmed reports have stated that soldiers from LID #33 in Mandalay have refused orders to act against protesters. Some reports claim that many soldiers remained in their barracks. More recent reports now maintain that soldiers from LID #99 now being sent there to confront them.

Reports of approx. 10,000+ protesters gathering around the Traders Hotel in Rangoon. Other reports of 10,000+ protesters gathering at San Pya Market in Rangoon. Further reports of approx. 50,000 protestors gathering at the Thein Gyi Market in Rangoon.

According to Mizzima, an unknown number of soldiers from Central Command and South East Command are presently on their way to Rangoon to reinforce SPDC army troops.

Also according to Mizzima, an unknown number of aircraft have been scrambled from "Matehtilar" airbase - probably a reference to Meiktila in Mandalay Division.

According to one journalist, SPDC have turned water cannons against crowds at Sule Pagoda. The report maintains that the water contained some type of chemical. awaiting further information. Please circulate this information as widely as quickly as possible.

James: The following is a statement form ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations:

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers had a full and frank discussion on the situation in Myanmar at their Informal Meeting this morning in the UN and agreed for the Chair to issue this Statement. They were appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used and demanded that the Myanmar government immediately desist from the use of violence against demonstrators. They expressed their revulsion to Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win over reports that the demonstrations in Myanmar are being suppressed by violent force and that there has been a number of fatalities. They strongly urged Myanmar to exercise utmost restraint and seek a political solution. They called upon Myanmar to resume its efforts at national reconciliation with all parties concerned, and work towards a peaceful transition to democracy. The Ministers called for the release of all political detainees including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers expressed their concern to Minister Nyan Win that the developments in Myanmar had a serious impact on the reputation and credibility of ASEAN. They noted that Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has spoken to his ASEAN counterparts over the past day, and will be writing to Senior General Than Shwe.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers gave their full support to the decision of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar. They welcomed FM Nyan Win’s assurance that a visa would be issued to Mr Gambari in Singapore. They asked the Myanmar government to cooperate fully and work with him. Mr Gambari’s role as a neutral interlocutor among all the parties can help defuse the dangerous situation. The Ministers urged the Myanmar government to grant him full access to all parties in Myanmar, as they had done in the past.

EMAIL ASEAN to show support of their efforts and to urge them to do more: CLICK HERE.

James: Here something else that we can do, short of linking arms with our Burmese brothers and sisters and marching with them. I join Wade's desire to do more then sign signatures and blog about the revolution but still, at least we can do something. I feel so powerless yet motivated to do my utmost for the proud, noble and amazingly courageous Burmese people. CLICK HERE to sign a petition from the U.S. Campaign for Burma and join the nearly 90,000 signatures.

And don't forget to recite or read the metta sutra today and/or pray for the Burmese people.

~Peace to all beings~

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/28/2007

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.
~Yasutani Roshi

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Situation in Burma Worsens on Day 10.

PHOTO: Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai for AFP lying wounded from a gunshot on a street in Yangon, Burma while a soldier stands over him. Kenji later died at a local hospital. This picture should be spread far and wide.

Source: Mizzima news (www.mizzima.com), September 27, 2007

Latest reports indicate that the military junta have stepped up the crackdown. Hundreds of monks have been arrested, many forcibly taken from their monasteries. Sounds of beating and cries of pain are heard from within the walls of the monasteries. Near the Sule Pagoda, Rangoon tear gas were fired to disperse protestors gathered around that place.

Thousands of protestors have emptied the streets of Yangon after 200 soldiers and police ordered them to go home or risk being shot. Pockets of people remained on balconies and bridges, as soldiers and police worked systematically through the city centre to ensure that no protesters remained. At least 100 people were arrested and thrown into military trucks after the ultimatum. Security forces had earlier fired warning shots, but the crowd only broke up after soldiers issued their warning.

James: I hope the movement stays strong despite the horrific actions by the dictatorship. If they crack down in Yangon then I say move the protests to another town and on and on. The military can not be everywhere. Some reports have stated that people can be heard yelling, "Give us freedom, give us freedom!!"

In other news, it appears that a Japanese journalist was murdered in the latest round of violence.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tokyo held Myanmar "strictly" accountable for Nagai's death. The 50-year-old journalist had been covering the protests in Yangon since Tuesday, APF representative Toru Yamaji said in Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Japan will lodge a protest with Myanmar, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. "We strongly protest the Myanmar government and demand an investigation" into the death, Machimura was quoted as saying by the official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, as saying. "We demand (Myanmar) take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the Japanese citizens in that country."

Japan will send Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka to Myanmar to protest Nagai's death, said Tomohiko Taniguchi, a deputy press secretary traveling with Komura in Washington.

He told AP that the "situation is intolerable," and Japan "cannot accept the brutality" of what happened to Nagai.

I urge my Japanese readers to write/phone your political and religious leaders to speak out on this tragedy.

It also appears that despite its public stance of non-intervention in Burma's politics, China (the "Myanmar" junta's closest ally) is quietly working behind the scenes to calm tensions:

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China has gently urged Myanmar's military rulers to ease the strife that has seen tens of thousands take to the streets in protest, diplomats said Tuesday, even as Beijing said publicly it would stick to a hands-off approach toward its neighbor. China's political and economic interests in Myanmar are spurring it to act, diplomats and experts said. With an Olympics in Beijing next year already bringing China heightened scrutiny, Chinese leaders are likely loath to be associated with another repressive, unpopular regime. Criticism from foreign governments and international activist groups already have caused Beijing to pare back lending to Zimbabwe and put pressure on Sudan to accept a U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur.

Democracy campaigners in Myanmar took note of the success of the Darfur activists, who warned the games would be tarnished as the "Genocide Olympics" if Beijing did not act, said David Mathieson, Burma consultant for Human Rights Watch.

"China has made some significant concessions recently on its links to Sudan, but it hasn't gone that far on its links with Burma," said Mathieson. "If things heat up on the border, that's not going to look good for China in the lead-up to the Olympics at all."

James: That being said, China could do a lot more but it's a start. On a related topic, I found the following impassioned plea by American actor Jim Carey regarding Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi inspiring:

James: Reader of this blog, Ladona (thanks for pointing this out) mentioned in the comments of my last post about a petition we can sign titled, Stand with the People of Burma. It will be sent to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations.

Other Hollywood stars are also speaking out. They urge the U.N. Secretary General to personal intervene.

In closing, In this dark hour I have decided to recite (or read) the metta sutra at least once a day to unite with the people of Burma. It is the sutra that the monks have been chanting during their peaceful protests. I have a version of the sutra on my profile, on the right hand side of the screen but I'm going to post it here as well:

"He or she who wants to attain peace should practice being upright, humble, and capable of using loving speech. He or she will know how to live simply and happily, with senses calmed, without being covetous and carried away by the emotions of the majority. Let him or her not do anything that will be disapproved of by the wise ones.

"(And this is what he or she contemplates): May everyone be happy and safe, and may their hearts be filled with joy.

"May all living beings live in Security and in Peace beings who are frail or strong, tall or short, big or small, visible or not visible, near or far away, already born or yet to be born. May all of them dwell in perfect tranquility.

"Let no one do harm to anyone. Let no one put the life of anyone in danger. Let no one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone any harm.

"Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life, we should cultivate Boundless Love to offer to all living beings in the entire cosmos. We should let our boundless love pervade the whole universe, above, below and across. Our love will know no obstacles, our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity. Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart. This is the noblest way of living.

Free from wrong views, greed and sensual desires, living in beauty and realizing Perfect Understanding, those who practice Boundless Love will certainly transcend Birth and Death."

---- Metta Sutta (Suttanipata 1) from the Plum Village Chanting Book

~Peace to all beings~

Acts of Courage: Burma and "The War"

Its still hurts. Old men, now eighty and more, still weep at the memory of buddies being blown to bits at their side. The Ken Burns documentary, "The War" is proving to be an indispensible reminder of those days, more than sixty years ago, when Americans and others performed acts of unbelievable courage, stepping out of landing craft in Europe and the Far East into hails of gunfire and exploding mortar and artillery shells; when men climbed into aircraft on bombing runs with the knowledge that their chances of returning safe were slim at best. Sitting comfortably in my living room, I find such acts to be of inconceivable bravery. I try to put myself in the place of these men and ask myself how it could have felt--and whether I would have had that courage in their situation.

In the light of which, I must say also that I’m in absolute awe of the courage of those Buddhist monks and nuns--and their supporters--who are out on the streets in Burma, protesting the repressive military regime in that isolated nation.



Who said religion and politics don’t mix? There’s a difference, as I see it, between the laudable separation of church and state when it comes to public policy, and the right—the duty, really—of men and women of conscience to make their opinion known, in extreme situations through public acts of protest or civil disobedience.

(A knotty question for myself: does the above include causes with which I personally disagree—demonstrations, for example, outside abortion clinics, where women are accosted and hassled to prevent their access to safe medical procedures? In that instance, of course, the action infringes on the freedom of another human being to follow the dictates of her own conscience, but is it made right by the sincere belief of the activists that their cause is right, their action undertaken for the salvation of their target’s soul? How about the interventions of the so-called “Minutemen” against those who seek to enter the country illegally? There’s a certain moral ambiguity here, which I’m not sure how to resolve. I guess I have to come back to that Buddhist standard that serves me well in most cases: does the action I propose cause harm to myself or others? If the choice is between action and inaction, which stands to cause the greater harm? Of all possible outcomes of my action, which has the greatest potential for harm, and which the least? These judgments are not necessarily subjective, but they may be…)

But this one's about courage. Unless I’m very much fooled by the media, these Buddhist monastics in Burma are women and men who are ready to put their lives on the line for the sake of the poor and the disenfranchised, and whose faith demands that they speak out in the face of injustice. I hear an escalation of warnings that the military brass are activating their forces to intimidate the protestors into submission, and that an unknown number of monks and others have already been killed. The fear, of course, is of a massive retaliation of the kind that killed two thousand people—or three, depending on who you listen to—just a few years ago. That the demonstrators persist despite this well-known history is further testimony to their spirit.

It's a testimony to the human spirit, indeed, that there are always those who have the capacity for this kind of courage. It's also a sad commentary on human nature that such acts of courage are needed.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/27/2007

All conditioned things are impermanent be a lamp unto yourself.
~Buddha

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Burma's Saffron Revolution Faces Violence from the Government.

YANGON, Myanmar -- At least four people were killed and 100 injured Wednesday as Myanmar's security forces clamped down on anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks, according to officials and witnesses. About 200 people were also arrested, as many as half of them Buddhist monks, as soldiers and police cracked down on tens of thousands of protesters who swept across Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon, according to witnesses and diplomats.

Myanmar officials said at least three monks were killed, including one who was shot as he tried to wrestle a gun away from a soldier. Two other monks were beaten to death, they told reporters.

Police used batons and teargas, sometimes firing warning shots over the crowd to disperse the protesters.

But throughout the day, the protesters regrouped.
James: We knew that it would come to this and we morn the death of those who sacrificed their lives for the liberty of the masses. We grieve with this tense, down-trodden, oppressed country. I am so proud of these fearless monks, nuns and citizens. It takes amazing strength to march for your rights in the face of violent backlashes. Yet I urge the demonstrators to continue their steady wearing down of the walls of oppression if they feel the call. Stay safe as best you can as you face down the paper dragon. Don't let them intimidate you, they can not stop the masses no matter how many bullets and clubs they wield.

May the injured heal quickly and may the imprisoned monks and civilians be freed immediately.

May the government realize it's mistakes and turn to talk rather then violence. To engage in violence is cowardly, very unskillful. To sit down, talk and more importantly listen is the hard part but the only way to unite people to have pride for their beautiful, noble country, solidify reconciliation and hope for a better future. Do not respond to violence with more violence. Let us all heed the voice of the great Guru and master of non-violence, peaceful opposition, Mahatma GandhiMahatma Gandhi:

I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life. I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

James: May those in the military who are Buddhist cease and desist their abuse of the sangha and fellow citizens. May they realize the error of their ways and leave the military to allow Democracy to wash over the country and clean off the grime of oppression and brighten the faces of all Burmese. A new day is dawning.

May we continue to write our leaders to keep the pressure on the Burma junta leadership to stop this madness. They must know that the world is watching and will hold them responsible for tese crimes against humanity. Let us also urge our leaders to lobby China (the junta's closest ally) and India to help intervene and broker a peace accord. Here are a few email addresses that you might want to use:

American President George W. Bush: comments@whitehouse.gov

The United Nations: inquiries@un.org

Speaking of the U.N., I hear from CNN International that the U.N. Security Council will soon convene to address the Burmese Golden Revolution. Let us urge the U.N. to work with the junta to send a peace keeping for to "the golden land."

In closing, I'd like to end my post today with one more inspirational quotes from Gandhi:

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.

CLICK HERE to reach the page where I found the Gandhi quotes.

AND, CLICK HERE to see many pictures regarding the on-going protests.

By the way, I have started to use the old name Burma to protest the Myanmar government.

~Peace to all beings~

PHOTO 1: Burmese military blocking a street in Yangon, Burma during a 9th day of protests by monks and civilians. Photographer unknown.

PHOTO 2: Burmese monks march in protest of the junta government. Photographer known but I will not post the name here for fear of reprisals. I'm not sure if the photographer is in Burma but I won't take that chance and risk this person's safety.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/26/2007

The body is the tree of enlightenmentthe mind like a clear mirror standtime and gain wipe it diligentlydon't let it gather dust.

~Shenxiu

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What's happening in Africa?

The question is enough to make our heads spin. What other continent (indeed, what other word?) evokes such mental chaos? Poverty, Imperialism, slavery, ethnic strife, genocide, AIDS, famine, blood diamonds...no wonder we are wont to turn our attention elsewhere.

But is this any way to behave? Considering the tragedy and the promise of a continent currently experiencing the worst side-effects of our increasingly inter-connected world, aren't we obliged to pay more attention?

As is the case with every important issue, it is up to individual innovators and visionaries to make the subject digestible to those who are new to it. That is why we appreciate The Nata Village Blog.

The Nata Village blog may be one of the narrowest on the internet, in that it purports only to describe the struggle against HIV/AIDS in one tiny village in Botswana, in southern Africa. It by no means seeks to answer the question posed above ("What's happening in Africa?") but it offers us an important entry point into that discussion.

Updated frequently with plenty of photographs and personal anecdotes, the Nata Village Blog paints a vivid portrait of Nata. Through the posts, we learn about the villagers themselves as well as the people (African and otherwise) who have arrived at ground zero of the HIV/AIDS epidemic to offer their sweat and expertise.

The overall effect on the reader is to reduce the discomforting geopolitical trends concerning African development into a much more digestible equation: Caring outsiders + expertise + empowered locals + money raised through the internet = a better quality of life for impoverished, afflicted villagers.

While global institutions like the IMF and World Bank struggle to assist developing nations (while protecting the profit-motives of developed nations, of course), it is refreshing to be privy to a grassroots effort that, over time, has begun to make a real difference in the lives of these villagers. For those of us who feel the need to know "What's happening in Africa?" the Nata Village Blog reminds us that - in the absence of effective global leadership - we have to start somewhere.

The Myanmar Monk Revolution Continues Despite Government Threats

Rangoon, Burma -- Burma’s junta threatened unspecified action against protesting Buddhist monks yesterday as up to 100,000 people marched in the biggest protest seen in a week of ever-expanding demonstrations in the city of Rangoon.

The protests have gone on for 8 days now despite the government threats of violence. Democracy advocate, Aung San Su Kyi has now been moved from her house arrest to a notorious prison in the country. It seems, unlike the protests of 1988, this movement is mostly led by unarmed, non-voilent monks and if the junta opens fire on them the world will come down very hard on them. It could very easily backfire on the government.

The Myanmarese have suffered for a brutal 45 years under the military dictatorship and it appears that they have finally had enough. They are following the courageous, fearless monks who know all about the inevitability of change. The monks are not afraid to put their lives on the line for the good of all Myanmarese. They are not attached to their bodies and that gives one great courage to suffer brutality for a higher cause, liberation. These monks meditate and practice the Dharma to help others and themselves achieve liberation from suffering, and political suffering is a big one.

They can break your arms and legs, they can break up houses but they can never break up the spirit of liberation. They can not break our spirit unless we let them. I wish that I could walk hand in hand with my brothers and sisters in Myanmar. I urge them to stay peaceful and not to engage in violence as that would only give the government an excuse to shoot into the crowds to stop the movement.

The monks know that they have a gentle strength in their devoutly Buddhist country and that they serve as a fearless, united core of peaceful civil disobedience for the average citizens to rally behind. It is like water molecules banding together to form a massive, unstoppable tidal wave that over-whelms anything that gets in it's way. The government might be able to arrest a few of them but not hundreds of thousands of them. They can control the media and some of the protesters but even the most powerful, brutal dictatorship can not stop the inevitability of impermanence. And the impermanence of the military junta in Myanmar has become very clear during this past week. Never underestimate the power of the people when they are united and resolute.

The message is getting out to the world of these brave and inspirational protests, despite the tightly controlled media. We here at the Buddhist blog want to lend our support to all Myanmarese in resisting the massive suffering that has been imposed upon them for generations. We thank-you for your bravery in getting this information out to the rest of the world. Be strong, your hour of liberation is at hand. I urge all people of all religious affiliations and ethnic groups within Myanmar to join the cause. We stand with you and you are in my thoughts ever day. I meditate in unity with you. I hope to one day visit Myanmar and rejoice in your freedom. Let us not forget that we are all interconnected in this world and the suffering in Myanmar is our suffering.

I was heartened to hear on CNN International this morning, that President George W. Bush called for more sanctions on the junta government today at the United Nations. Including sanctions upon the financial backers of the military state. He is also calling for an expanded travel ban on those behind human rights violations. In addition, the American president is calling for increased support for humanitarian groups and pressure on the U.N. to help the Myanmarese reclaim their freedom.

I am going to send off an email to many leaders in the American government to support the growing opposition in Myanmar and I urge you to do the same where ever you are living in this country (America) or elsewhere in the world.

We will over-come suffering in all it's forms.

The Dalai Lama speaks out and offers his support for the Burmese protests:

I extent my support and solidarity with the recent peaceful movement for
democracy in Burma.

I fully support their call for freedom and democracy and take this opportunity to appeal to freedom-loving people all over the world to support such non-violent movements.

Moreover, I wish to convey my sincere appreciation and admiration to the large number of fellow Buddhists monks for advocating democracy and freedom in Burma.

As a Buddhist monk, I am appealing to the members of the military regime who believe in Buddhism to act in accordance with the sacred dharma in the spirit of compassion and non-violence.

I pray for the success of this peaceful movement and the early release of fellow Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

UPDATE: The junta government has proclaimed a curfew in two cities effective immediately. People of Burma, do not lose hope. The world is with you.

~Peace to all beings~

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/25/2007

Student says I am very discouraged what should I do?
Master says encourage others!

~Zen proverb

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Columbia University: A Needless Blunder

At first I found myself cheering Columbia University President Lee Bollinger's "introduction" to the infamous speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday. I have no great love for this nasty little man, and I think Bollinger had it right when he lectured the Iranian President for exhibiting"all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” and accused him, for good measure, of being "either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

Before Bollinger's introduction ended, though, I was already feeling uncomfortable. The one quality I respect--no, respect is not quite the word: "acknowledge" would be better--in Ahmadinejad would be his sharply cunning mind, and I began to suspect how Bollinger's remarks could easily be turned to his advantage; how the scold could be used to provoke Ahmadinejad's real audience--the Arab world--to further hostility and rage. It is, after all, widely known that hospitality is considered an essential courtesy in that world, and Bollinger's words were among the least hospitable I have ever heard. They were nothing less than a public dressing-down, a humiliation calculated to infuriate those in Ahmadinejad's world who already feel humiliated, and who resent what they see to be the bully tactics and the lecturing posture of America in the world.

Sure enough, the ever-cunning Ahmadinejad took pains to point out, astutely enough, that there was something of a contradiction inherent in preaching the ideals of liberty and freedom of speech while castigating another's before he has had the chance to utter a word. Had Bollinger restrained the impulse to use his introduction to somehow justify what was clearly a wildly controversial decision by his university by loading the dice in advance, Ahmadinejad would have done the hatchet job nicely on himself. The mendacity and absurdity of much of what he said was summed up in that wonderful moment when he claimed, with a smile of icy determination on his face, that there were "no homosexuals" in his country--a remark that got the derisive laugh it deserved and marked the Iranian President for the lying martinet that Bollinger had prematurely described.

People do tend to reveal themselves, even while they lie. It would have been wiser, in my view, to allow Ahmadinejad the privilege of condemning himself in his own words.

But, please... As a healthy antidote to all this nonsense, I came upon this wonderful post in Robin's Karma. Please check it out. For me, it is Buddhism in a nutshell. Thanks, Robin, for drawing my attention to this teaching.

UPDATE: Here's what an LGBT blog had to say about Ahmadinejad's remarks.

"The War": It's Personal

"The War" started last night--the new Ken Burns documentary about World War II. I had to watch. I have so much of my childhood vested in that time, it never fails to draw me in when there's some new angle of approach, some new insight offered into that cataclysm brought about by human lust for power and territory and countered by that other great human urge--for freedom from tyranny.

It's painful stuff--the more so for its tragic and indisputable inevitability--and a timely reminder that war sometimes seems to have a dreadful necessity in human history. It's debatable, at the very least, whether today's conflict in Iraq meets the necessity test, and the fact that the debate was never truly held is, in my view, shameful. So, too, is the fact that the burden of war is so unevenly distributed amongst Americans. What "The War" makes clear is that the grave costs of war were shared by everyone. In choosing to observe it through the perspective of four relatively small American cities, Burns makes it personal, and reminds us that no one's life remained untouched. Even if your son wasn't fighting in Southeast Asia, you were at least busy buying war bonds or lending your skills and labor to the war effort.

Impossible to watch the Pearl Harbor episode, of course, without recalling the attack on the World Trade Center. To my knowledge, they remain the only two attacks on American soil in modern history, and both of them found America unprepared, and left the country in horrified disbelief. Having spent my early years in Europe, in relative safety from the violence but within sight and sound of London during the Blitz, I inherit centuries' worth of world-weary European realism when it comes to human behavior, and wonder how much Americans really understand and value the protection afforded us by two vast oceans, one on either side, that made such attacks impossible until men learned to fly--and to create weapons that make a mockery of geographical distances. Even now, those oceans present formidable barriers to potential assailants.

Still, once engaged in World War II, it was America and Americans that stood between world domination by those fascist allies and the freedom that we continue to enjoy in many parts of the globe. The sacrifice was inestimable, and it was personal, and the world owes a debt of gratitude for the immensity of the American effort at that time. It's worth remembering how the country responded back then to a real threat to human civilization, in the context of a world that is much changed since the 1940s. I'll continue to watch "The War," because I too need to be reminded of those dreadful times, if only to keep me alert to the dangers of today.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/24/2007

Zen is not some kind of excitement butconcentration on our usual everyday routine.

~Shunryu Suzuki

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Breaking the Fast

What a lovely evening! Ellie and I did, indeed, observe the Yom Kippur fast from (approximately!) sundown on Friday through sundown on Saturday, and spent the daylight hours quietly at home, giving thought to the past year and the direction of our lives. The fact that Debra and Richard, our good hosts, had done the same brought us together in a special way, and when we arrived at their home we spent the first hour listening to a recorded dharma talk on forgiveness--which opened up the space for us all to go into some intimate depth about our lives and families. It's rare, honestly, to be able to talk with such ease and comfort about things which can seem too personal, in normal social circumstances, to broach, and we enjoyed that opportinuty.

Breaking the fast, after that, was another delightful shared experience. After a day of abstinence, the taste buds seemed that much sharper than usual, and we feasted on a wonderful, fresh salad and a simple rice noodle dish with vegetables and a touch of turkey, followed by a fruit salad that Ellie had prepared and a dollop of Debra's Greek yogurt made rich and creamy by hours of straining through cheesecloth. Accompanied by generous mugs of ginger tea, the whole meal was a pleasure to the palate, and the conversation, having opened up so nicely before dinner, led us into all kinds of common interests and mutual experiences.

Coming from a Jewish background, like Ellie, our friends have begun to embrace the Buddhist teachings as we have done ourselves. One thing the two religions have in common is a healthy skepticism that encourages--no, really, requires--that we continually question the dogma. I wonder if this is why so many of the prominent Buddhist teachers--and so many of those, like ourselves, who have discovered in Buddhism a practice that responds so deeply to our needs--come to the religion from a grounding in Judaism. It may even be that many of those influential Britishers (I think of pioneers like Alan Watts) were attracted by the essential pragmatism of the Buddha's teachings--a pragmatism related, as I see it, to that same skepticism.

Perhaps I'm speaking here--I usually do!--out of my own prejudices and preconceptions. The (again, healthy, I believe) skepticism and pragmatism I inherit in my English genes, along with the dis-belief in God that I have come to in my life, are certainly important factors in my own embrace of the constant intellectual questioning and the growing personal freedom that Buddhism seems to ask of me.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/23/2007

What is troubling us is the tendency to believe that the mind is like a little man within.

~Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Myanmar Monks Moblize for Peace

There is a velvet revolution quietly picking up steam in the military dictatorship of Myanmar in Southeast Asia. Some 1,500 Buddhist monks marched 10 miles in the rain through knee deep water in some places to passively protest the actions of the military junta there. They're destination was the famous golden hilltop Shwedagon Pagoda. It has long been a symbol for social and political justice, as well as independence.
(Above: Shwedagon golden pagoda. Source: www.asiatours.net, make sure to credit that website if you use this image).

Their mindful walk gained nearly the same amount of followers along the route and so, just as Gandhi before them these monks are showing the power of peace in creating change. Much like rain the they marched in, water can wear down and eventually break apart the hardest rock, so too will they wear and break down the unjust totalitarian regime.

The military dare not repress and clamp down violently on the monks for they are greatly revered in Myanmar and such a crack down would case a massive revolt from the people. To put it simply, the repressive government is in a tight spot.

The good people of Myanmar are so grateful for the engaged Buddhism of the venerable monks:

"I feel so sorry to see the monks walking in heavy rain and taking such trouble on behalf of the people. I feel so grateful as well," a 50-year-old woman said, tears rolling down her face. Like most onlookers, she asked not to be named for fear of drawing the unwelcome attention of the authorities.

At one point, a young man in white T-shirt and shorts flung himself to the ground, touching his forehead to the feet of a monk in a traditional Buddhist gesture of reverence.

The protests express long pent-up opposition to the repressive regime and have become the most sustained challenge to the junta since a wave of student demonstrations that were forcibly suppressed in December 1996.

The junta's crackdown on the protesters has drawn increasing criticism from world leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Bush. They have called for the government to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for more than 11 of the past 18 years.

James: The day before saw another protest march that swelled with 5,000 people. So far, Fridays march was the 4th in as many days.

The Myanmar monks are an inspiration not only to their downtrodden people but to all people everywhere. They remind us what is possible through peaceful action. They remind us here in America to not be complaisant with our government and our freedoms. If we do not accept that we are interconnected with our government then we risk detaching from the process of maintaining a healthy society. Things can change in a heartbeat and a Democracy is, in a way, a living, breathing organism that needs constant supervision to make sure the leaders don't become too corrupt and backslide on the individual freedoms that help prevent suffering.

This all reminds me of one of my favorite gathas from Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace in Oneself, Peace in the World.

UPDATE: Saturday saw another protest march in Myanmar (Burma). The military junta government has up till now has mostly remained on the side lines of these protests/marches. However, there are reports that the government is looking to infiltrate the monks and stir up unrest so that the military will have "cause" to crackdown on the demonstrators:

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the official name of the military regime of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has been accused of formenting violence to break up the countrywide protests led by the country's Sangha.

It has been reported that an Emergency Committee, chaired a senior general has been established to "forment trouble" in protest marches led by monks in various parts of the country.

The plan includes ordering soldiers and policemen to take off their uniforms, shave their heads and dress like monks, infiltrate the peace marches and forment trouble to break them up. The move is to pre-empt condemnation by the international community, which would be the case if the army moves in to forcibly attack the monks.

~Peace to all beings~

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration 9/22/2007

If you cannot find the truth right where you are where else do you expect to find it?

~Dogen Zenji

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Great Description of Dzogchen

From Lama Surya Das:

Dzogchen means the innate great completeness. It points to our own innate wholeness, our own true Buddha nature, our untramelled spirit, perfect and pure from the beginningless beginning. It is what we call the Buddha within -- not an oriental Buddha, not an historical Buddha, not one of stone, not male or female, but the Buddha nature within each of us, true and wise, loving and compassionate. We want to come back to that, awaken it, cultivate it -- that is what the path is about. We don't get it from outside, from someone or somewhere else, or even from our own ideas of what we are. The Havajra tantra says we are all Buddhas by nature but must, through our own spiritual work, awaken to ourselves.

Sometimes the spiritual or religious path seems like a jungle, a thicket of theories and practices and opinions. But there is at the center a sunlit clearing where all the teachings converge. The mystical teachings meet at this awakening to what is within us. It is also in everything around us, so our awakening isn't narcissistic. We see Buddha nature in the eyes and hearts of fellow humans and creatures in the natural world. It is there too. That is what we discover through these practices of meditation, self-inquiry, chanting, inner investigation, prayer, yoga, and so on.

I think our Dharma (spiritual) practice is an opportunity we should really treasure. It was a secret teaching in the East, almost unknown even to Tibetans. Many teachers have required ten or twenty years of preliminary study and monastic training before giving access to this teaching, but my teachers say this is the moment of Dzogchen. People have little time and the Dharma is fading in the East, but Dzogchen is something we can actually do here and now. With or without the Buddhist religious overlay, we can simply awaken with inquiry, awareness practice, and a loving heart. It is not obscure but simple. We can take great joy in that. This is the time of Dzogchen.

Emaho! (EE-MA-HO -- a Tibetan exclamation of cosmic delight)

Lama Surya Das

~Peace to all beings~

PHOTO: Dzogchen teacher Lama Surya Das picture from Snow Lion Publications

Yom Kippur--and the Holocaust

I wonder how many readers caught the piece in Wednesday’s New York Times Arts section about the newly discovered cache of photographs from Auschwitz? No, not the familiar, all too sickening pictures of inmates, starved or starving, not the images of the ovens with their charred corpses. not the hideous stacks of skeletal human remains. These are pictures of those who staffed this nightmare operation, taking their leisure at off-duty moments, relaxing with obvious satisfaction with the quality of their lives.



Tomorrow is Yom Kippur, the Jewish "Day of Atonement," when Jews throughout the world are urged to reflect on their actions of the past year and make amends for those that may have caused hurt or harm. This fits in nicely with the Buddhist teaching that reminds us that every action has its consequence, and that we should be aware particularly of our own, and of the results they bring.

I am not a Jew, but my wife Ellie is, and we have always made a practice of observing Yom Kippur in some significant way. Tomorrow, therefore, I will not be making any entry in these pages. Instead, I will be fasting, as is the tradition, and reflecting, and joining friends, at the end of the day, to break the fast.

Added now to the solemnity of this day with its centuries-old traditions is the memory of the Holocaust. Yom Kippur, as I have come to understand it, is a day to remember those six million Jews who were slaughtered by the Nazis while--let's not forget--the world looked on. World War II was not about those particular victims, whose predicament was known by all who cared to look for years before the war, and whose pleas for help went scandalously ignored in all too many ways. And while the world pretended shock--indeed, was shocked--when the gates to those concentration camps were finally opened and their few remaining victims liberated, that shock seems disingenuous when we recall the open atrocities and attacks on German Jews in the years preceding the war.

I was born in 1936, too young to be complicit in the events of the time, but I still feel that complicity in my bones. Ken Burns, in an interview last night about his new series, "The War", said that the compulsion to make this documentary arose when he discovered that the preponderance of American high school seriors graduated with the belief that in World War II the Americans were fighting with Germany against the Soviet Union. All the more reason, then, to remember, and to do whatever is necessary to keep the memory alive.

About those newly-discovered pictures, though: again, you'll find them here. (You'll need to navigate your way past an American Express ad. Sorry!) I urge you to check out the audio-visual narration and to read the full length of the article, if only because it raises, at one point, the issue that Mark raised with me earlier this week. Responding to my outrage that a Christian minister at a penitentiary would act to put an end to a thriving meditation group for fear that he would lose his own (literally!) captive audience, Mark pointed out that the man's intentions were probably good: that he (the pastor) sincerely believed that these men could be saved by Christ alone.

The worthiest of intentions, however, cannot justify bad results. Regarding these photographs, Judith Cohen, a historian at the Holocaust museum in Washington suggested that "in their self-image, [these murderers] were good men, good comrades, even civilized." Here they after all, in these pictures, all good fellows, all good lasses, relaxing on their deck chairs, singing their songs, enjoying their bowls of berries and their stupid dog tricks, and they look so... normal. So much--apart from those all-too familiar uniforms--like us!

Well, no. If that's the case, I believe their self-image was seriously deluded, and the delusion abetted by their own lack of awareness.

So, I will be reflecting on this tragic irony tomorrow, and about the relation between actions and their outcomes, about the role of "good intentions," and the absolute necessity that I myself remember always to examine what I believe to be my own good intentions in the light of the results that flow from them. I hope that some of you may be joining me in this observance of Yom Kippur.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/21/2007

From the pine tree learn of the pine tree and from the bamboo learn of the bamboo.
~Basho

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Hotmail vs. Gmail and a Profound D.T. Suzuki Quote

Well, I've finally had it with hotmail. My wife has been trying to get me to switch to gmail for sometime now and I'm been meaning to fully switch over for some time. I already have a gmail account but have, up until now, rarely used it. There are just so many features that gmail has that hotmail falls miserably short in comparison and now I'm having trouble logging into my hotmail account so it's time to jump ship on it.

So, from now on if you want to contact me via email you can find me at jaymur-at-gmail.com

I'll still check my hotmail address for awhile but the gmail address will be my long term account.

Now, onto the good stuff:

What one thinks or reads is always qualified by the proposition "of" or "about," and does not give us the thing itself. Not mere talk about water, nor the mere sight of a spring, but an actual mouthful of it gives the thirsty complete satisfaction.

- D. T. Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism

~Peace to all beings~

PHOTO CREDIT: Nam June Paik, late Korean artist

The Jena 6: Blame the Tree

The incident in Jena, Louisiana has already resulted in one terrible injustice: capital punishment for the only innocent party in the entire mess--the tree.



What a sad sight! This pathetic victim of the folly and vengefulness of the human species was certainly a good deal older and more venerable than any of those people involved--whether the white high school students who obscenely abused it by hanging the provocative nooses, the black students who responded to provocation with violence, or the shameful adults on both sides who have made a mockery of justice. To deny that racism is at the root of all this seems to me only to compound the tragic absurdity of it all.

So, friends, let's blame it on the tree. Brilliant! Still, I have to say that's it's heartening to see that people can actually be moved to vociferous protest. In the face of Bush endless administration outrages in recent years, the silence has been, as they say, deafening. Back to the barricades, I say!

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 9/20/2007

If you understand, things are just as they are...if you do not understand, things are just as they are.

~Zen proverb

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Karma Revisited; and a Poem at Five-Thirty

Meditation done,
I sit here wondering
where today
will take me. Where
will it take you?

and...

O.J.'s Karma

So we're back there again. The "loathesome O.J." as Mureen Dowd calls him in her New York Times column today. Such a dreadful, story, filled with so many ironies and complexities. Did he do it? That old question. I wanted, at first, all those years ago, to believe he didn't. He was, after all, a remarkable athlete in his time. He seemed, from everything one saw and read about him, to be a young man of charm and intelligence. Besides, I was, all those years ago, a professor at USC and, by virtual necessity, a USC fan. There was also, I confess, a kind of reverse racist part of me that did not want to think ill of him for nothing better than reverse racist reasons. I think, in this, that I shared a lot in common with those vocal parts of the African American community that sided with him.

Despite all of which, the evidence seemed indisputable: he did it. And his subsequent life--at least so far as it has come to our collective attention through the media--has done nothing to ameliorate his image or soften the gut feeling of hs guilt. He has seemed, as Ellie mildly put it, like a "very troubled man."

And now this further melodrama to distract us all from the war in Iraq, the health care problems that this nation faces--no, refuses to face--the widespread social injustices made worse by the inequality of educational opportunity, an administration beleagured in consequence of its own incompetence, cronyism and corruption, an ignorance and/or apathy that undermines the voting process in what we are pleased to call our "democracy"... despite these and other problems, we have this new melodrama to distract us.

Amidst it all, the word "karma" pops up, on the lips of no less a dignitary than NBC's Matt Lauer, who asks Kim Goldman, Ron's sister, if this is O.J.'s karma, as some, it seems, are saying. She says she thinks it might be karma giving that old Goldman family nemesis "a tap on the shoulder." (I'm with Thailandgal, by the way, on the subject of the Goldmans' publishing of that book. See her 9/14 entry.)

Well, I had a bit of a shudder hearing a word that's important to me used in this particular context. On the other hand, what's so precious about a word? I abuse them all the time, and they generously stick with me anyway. And who knows, maybe this latest episode in O. J. Simpson's ill-starred life is indeed a way of past actions catching up with him. I can't claim access to the secret inner truths of any other person's life. It's hard enough to hold myself accountable for mine.

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