Insight Myanmar

Dave LeDuc loves all things Myanmar. But maybe more than anything, Dave loves stepping into a fighting pit without gloves or shoes, and giving well-placed head butts that knock an opponent cold! Dave is Myanmar’s first— and only— foreign champion of Lethwei, a traditional martial arts boxing practice that dates back centuries.Dave became interested in mixed martial arts and trained in a variety of forms. He eventually went to Thailand, and began looking for fighting opportunities. He landed a controversial bout through the Department of Corrections, which invited Dave into a Thai maximum security prison to spar with a convicted felon. The stakes were high: if the criminal beat Dave, he would be released from prison. But Dave won, and is currently in talks about a movie being made about that encounter. That bout was also the springboard for him to enter Myanmar and learn Lethwei.  From the moment he arrived in Myanmar in 2016, he knew he had found a home. His first opponent was the then-undefeated Lethwei champion, Too Too, and after beating him became a cultural phenomenon in Myanmar. He even got the very painful Lethwei tattoos, a rite of passage in the sport.Now living in Turkey, Dave was, like so many, horrified when the coup broke in February. He knew that refusing to stay silent would close off any potential business he hopes to build in Myanmar, along with ensuring that he won’t personally be able to visit for the foreseeable future. And yet he has chosen to speak out, highlighting the struggles of the democracy movement in light of the naked aggression faced by the Burmese military. He closes with, “Keep fighting, stay strong! You're not alone. There's a lot of love from around the world.”

This is the fifth show in the “Love Letters to Myanmar” series, focusing on the role of artists in the democracy movement. It is part of an ongoing conversation about the role of art in the democracy movement, with several past and future shows continuing this exploration.At the present moment, the Burmese people are in the middle of a life-or-death struggle against an organized military that is attacking, shooting, bombing, raping, abducting, torturing, and killing their friends and family every day for the past year, and with no end in sight. Artists are now in the forefront of that movement, which insists upon basic human rights, dignity, and freedom. Far from just being a luxury to pursue when times are safe, artistic inspiration is essential in this struggle!The first guest is music producer, Aye Win. He recently assembled a dozen hip hop artists from across the country for an album, Rap Against Junta’s “Dickcouncil,” to call out the military while helping the people keep their spirits up during these difficult times. Next up is May, a poet and writer. She has also been drawing dozens of portraits of people around the world, with proceeds going entirely to her organization’s fundraising mission to help people within the Civil Disobedience Movement. The final guest is Alex. He is an Australian living in Montreal who, with a friend, designed a mural depicting the country and showing his support for the democracy movement, with a central tribute to Angel, a young woman who was tragically killed early on in Mandalay. It is our hope that this episode educates listeners about more of the great art being produced in resistance to the Tatmadaw and their cruelty.

Burmese artists are rightly gaining global recognition for their courage and bravery, standing up for freedom of expression against a murderous regime. While this is somewhat of a new phenomenon for the younger generation of Burmese artists, Darko has been at the intersection of protest and music for some time, as the lead singer of the Indie band "Side Effect."Darko grew up under the prior military regime, when one could be arrested for simply expressing oneself, and so has been well-trained in the art of hiding meaning and keeping a low profile. He feels disappointed that younger musicians don’t appreciate how hard he and his generation of artists had to struggle against the limits of censorship. Yet in spite of that, Darko continues to support their creative expression not only by his 20 years of ground-breaking artistic work, but also through creating platforms and opportunities for younger artists to get their voices out. Aside from music, Darko’s other passion in life has been spirituality and meditation, but he’s not a traditional Burmese Buddhist, especially after he looked into growing anti-Rohingya activity. He visited the camps, and was stunned at what he saw. He was overcome by guilt, and heartbroken to see how the Rohingya were being treated. This experience led to his song “Meiktila”, named after the city where terrible anti-Muslim violence had recently occurred. Because Burmese Buddhists started referencing the Buddha in order to justify violence against Muslims, he began to question everything about how organized religion was manipulating— and perhaps even perverting— the Buddha’s teachings.Ironically, moving away from traditional Buddhism is what allowed Darko’s nascent meditation practice to really take off. He became fascinated with “brainwave entrainment,” which explores how brain waves can be synced with auditory or visual stimuli.He doesn’t have a proper meditation teacher, but finds inspiration in Alan Watts, as well as the Satguru philosophy. Essentially, his practice can be boiled down to simply observing the mind without judgment. However, the military’s brutal behavior has challenged his non-judgmental observation of unfolding reality, to put it lightly. 

David Eubank didn't know that a single moment on a jungle path in 1997 would prove to be so eventful for not only his own life, but an entire nation as well. Living in Thailand at the time, David was growing distressed hearing about a Burmese military operation that was displacing over half a million people. So loading up four backpacks with medicine, he decided to travel the border to see if he could find anyone who needed help. One thing led to another, and that trip ultimately give birth to the Free Burma Rangers (FBR).In this episode’s wide-ranging interview, David goes into his background of 25 years living and supporting those many ethnic communities, sharing what he’s learned from the different groups, the various hardships they’ve faced, and even the strange and exotic foods he’s sampled. As a Christian, David’s faith in a higher power has been a major factor in his work. To this day, his faith animates all of his humanitarian work. “That's the heart of why I do it,” he says. Even in these most difficult of times, he draws on the reservoir of his faith; in spite of his first-hand knowledge of 25 years of Tatmadaw cruelty, he still tries to love his enemy. Still, this does not mean allowing entire populations to be victimized without recourse, and David acknowledges that self-defense, whether on an individual or communal level, is a basic human right everywhere in the world.Compounding the Myanmar military’s brutal tactics used has been the almost total lack of response or engagement by any international actor, a fact which has surprised and greatly distressed David, especially given the extent of the unfolding humanitarian disaster and Myanmar’s geopolitical importance. He believes there is so much good that other nations and foreign entities could still do now, if only they chose to. 

Just a short window of five minutes might have saved the life of Dr. Troy… but he doesn’t feel good about it.In a country where just practicing medicine can now be cause for arrest, Troy is a part of a network of underground doctors who tend to patients in secret, often using rudimentary equipment in undisclosed locations. Earlier this year, he was on his way to relieve another doctor, but was delayed in traffic. During those few moments, soldiers stormed in and arrested his colleague. That doctor is still in prison, a fact which weighs heavily on Dr. Troy to this day.In order to increase capacity, doctors have begun to train Burmese civilians in secret to perform some basic medical interventions if a doctor is not able to come quickly. This arose out of the tragedy that occurred during the siege of Hlaing Thaya. Even though doctors had prepared for the violence, military roadblocks prevented the injured from getting out—or doctors from getting in—and so many the wounded succumbed to otherwise treatable injuries. Compounding matters today is the Third Wave of the COVID pandemic. Because the military is preventing the importation of oxygen concentrators, and the black market cost of oxygen canisters have skyrocketed, the situation is dire.To deal with the enormous stress and mental trauma, Troy has tried to fall back on his Mogok meditation practice, but he has been unable to string together even a few moments of mindfulness. But his practice has helped him to understand his mind more, even during these challenging moments. As a Buddhist practitioner, he tries to send metta to his aggressors, acknowledging how they must still be suffering through this. No matter what they are doing on the outside, he feels that internally they must be haunted by their evil actions.For Troy, his own path is clear as he continues on in his work. “We are not going to give up now, or ever, until we we achieve or we achieve the true democracy of our country.”

One night in March, Hla Hla and her husband, Yan Min Aung, were on the rooftop of their condo as part of a neighborhood watch group, where ordinary citizens banded together to protect themselves—not from common criminals, but from those supposedly charged with protecting them. That evening, the police arrived to take down some barricades, and she took out her cell phone to film them. They saw the light of her camera, and started shooting. That experience and others caused Hla Hla and her family to flee the country. Choosing to leave Myanmar represented not only the end of a life and community in their home country, but also the realization that the innovative company they had started there, a fun, augmented-reality learning app known as 360ED, would be severely impacted as well. Hla Hla had combined her professional backgrounds in tech and education to create a service that could bring learning opportunities to those marginalized groups often left on the sidelines. And as they knew that many of those who would need the service most wouldn’t necessarily have reliable or inexpensive internet, much of the app can function even when offline.After nine years of product development, they launched in Silicon Valley in 2016, but moved operations to Myanmar as part of the “re-pat” movement, in which exiled Burmese settled back in the country during the stable and optimistic 2010s transition period. And, it was remarkable that they chose to establish their company there, essentially bringing one of the world’s most innovative and cutting-edge technological learning tools to a country that had only recently gotten on-line at all. In other words, when the coup broke, 360ED was well on its way to becoming Myanmar’s first true tech start-up success story!Of course, all this came to a crashing halt in February. Their team members began to go into hiding, and with the educational system in complete disarray, it became apparent that collaborating with school administrators would not be possible. While many outside observers have been following the daily terror and pervasive human rights violations that are now sadly commonplace in Myanmar, stories like these often slip through the cracks, and thus, the extent of the damage and disruption being unleashed by the Tatmadaw is not fully known. In the case of Hla Hla and Yan Min, this meant not only trauma in their personal life, but at least the temporary end of their technological and educational dream in Myanmar as well. 

“Myanmar people are very resilient,” Meredith Bunn says at the start of the conversation.“They have the older generation who lived through so much already. And very luckily, in a way, those people have explained to them, ‘Well, this is what we used to have to do. Let's do this again.’”As much as Meredith has witnessed countless examples of the Burmese people’s courage, she still encounters scenes evoking a horror that is hard to describe. From children so hungry they are literally eating dirt, to young girls mysteriously disappearing, to the military deliberating sending COVID-infected patients into high population areas to intentionally spread the pandemic, to depriving oxygen for infected patients literally suffocating with the illness. It doesn’t end.As someone so deeply connected to a country and a people enduring this suffering, she is clear on who she holds responsible. “I don't hate the Tatmadaw. I don't hate everyone in it. I hate Min Aung Hlaing…I hate the puppets that he has inside.” And while she understands that not every soldier is courageous enough to defect or refuse commands, many are engaging in acts of deliberate cruelty for which there is simply no excuse.While Meredith appreciates any foreigner who has decided to stand with the Burmese people, she has also found herself uncomfortable when those living in safety have arrogantly opined on what Burmese activists should or should not be doing to respond to the carnage there, made even worse if they have not researched the situation and show little interest in listening empathetically to better understand the context. She is equally concerned by what she characterizes as “voyeurism,” beyond just opinionated judgments.With all this, Meredith certainly has her hands full, but her mind and her heart are clear, and the Burmese people are fortunate to have such a person on their side.

The minute that the military took over on February 1st, Hassan was under no illusions as to what was in store. “I never believed we could win without non-violence, because I know [the military],” he said. Hassan’s answer was interrupted by a cough. He recently contracted COVID, and was only beginning to recover at the time of this interview.But while much of the population had no way to escape the oppression and terror that awaited them, Hassan did. He had grown up wealthy, and at the time of the coup was operating a string of successful businesses. “If you have money, you can build a good relationship between you and military.” This was certainly true for his family, who developed close ties with senior military leaders. It might come as a surprise that Hassan’s family, being Muslim, could be on good terms with the Burmese military, by now globally famous for its Islamophobia and Rohingya atrocities. However, Hassan, says, “The military, they have no religion! Trust me, they have only money and power.” Hassan has been helping people throughout the country, venturing into the deepest slums as well as the remote countryside. He has used his own personal funds to support thousands of CDM workers as well as PDF fighters, and begun to fundraise from foreign friends abroad to expand his work. For safety, he works alone, which often makes even the travel to those remote areas challenging enough, besides the dangers inherent in his work.Hassan believes the only way the Burmese people can ultimately win is by an influx of foreign support, including arms and military training. But he acknowledges the likelihood of this is low. And without it, the Burmese people have only their determination and endurance, and as long as they can maintain it, a sense of unity. In a country that has long been divided by ethnicity, region, and religion, Hassan now feels “there is no separation.”

Marlar has spent years researching gender studies, women’s rights, and violence against women in Burmese society. She notes that besides Myanmar being a patriarchal culture, there is the Burmese Buddhist belief of “pon,”which refers to the good karma inherently bestowed upon men. Due to pon, Marlar is prevented from meditating in certain places in Shwedagon Pagoda, which led her as a girl to wonder if even the lowest male thief has more merit than she or any other woman does in Burma.Marlar acknowledges that her critique of the ways in which Burmese women are marginalized flies in the face over a century of writings that in fact claim the opposite. Colonial British literature highlighted the greater freedoms they observed among Burmese women than in societies in other colonial lands. And more recently, several notable Burmese female writers, such as Ma Thanegi and Mi Mi Khaing, have made similar claims, pushing a theory of agency and independence for Burmese women. But Marlar claims they are writing from a place of privilege that is more indicative of their own circumstances, and at the expense of understanding the lived reality of the vast majority of other women across the country. Marlar notes that more recently, technology and the Internet have connected the Burmese people to the rest of the world, allowing the #MeToo movement to take off in Myanmar. In her view, any potential solution needs to be holistic, bringing together family, community, and culture to end this destructive cycle. She has worked with both community organizations and legislators prior to the coup on a watershed law punishing violence against women, but it was not passed, and she feels that part of the reason was that the Rohingya crisis monopolized the NLD’s attention. She also places blame squarely on Aung San Suu Kyi for not being a real feminist leader.On the sensitive topic of rape, Marlar explains that one of the main reasons it goes underreported is out of shame. However in Myanmar, there not only is shame for the woman, but also the male relatives, who feel emasculated for failing to properly protect them. This is why rape is a favored tactic of the Tatmadaw, as it undermines the pride and morale of the men they are fighting. As challenging as Marlar’s struggle for gender rights have been, nothing compares to the current state since the coup was launched, which she calls a total “nightmare in which basic human rights have disappeared. 

In Myanmar, we know that the coup has been an on-going nightmare since February, and more recently there has been a sharp, Delta-driven Covid spike that the military leadership not only can’t control, but seems driven to exacerbate. People there have started referring to the double crises as “Coupvid”, a term which accurately reflects the obstacles the Burmese people face in just being able to survive day-to-day in these challenging times. In this episode, our three guests discuss what daily life has been like during Coupvid, the possible long-term impacts of this trauma on the population, and what we can do from our own places of safety to show solidarity and support.Alyson and Sandra are medical students living in the US. They are Chinese-Burmese members of the Myanmar diaspora, experiencing Coupvid from two directions: worried about family still in Myanmar and as workers in the medical community. Both young women have been advocating on behalf of striking healthcare workers in Myanmar since February, supporting fundraisers to get critical supplies, and expressing solidarity when the Tatmadaw started targeting and arresting healthcare workers.“Michaela”, using an alias for extra security, is currently living in Yangon. She and her roommate contracted COVID-19 in July, shortly after friends notified them that they had tested positive. Michaela shares her personal story of surviving COVID-19 and nursing her roommate back to health at the same time, as well as the fear and uncertainty that she and many others face when making decisions with limited information, and no access to healthcare.

The ending line of Jessica Mudditt’s book, Our Home In Myanmar, puts a startling cap on her account of her life in Yangon in the 2010s. She writes, “Myanmar’s sudden returned to a dictatorship means that I have inadvertently written a history book.” This is the subject of the current episode, which charts Jessica’s hard-won attempts to live in Myanmar during the last decade.Jessica was primarily motivated to come to Myanmar to witness and report on the 2015 election, arriving a full three years in advance in order to be better positioned to understand that historic event. The Burmese people’s jubilation over those election results of course ended with a crash in 2021.   Jessica has struggled to understand the extremes of humanity that are found in Myanmar. “I've never understood how you can have these two types of people in one geographic area,” she says. “You have these uncouth brutes who have no humanity. And then you have some of the most gentle people in the world....”Of all the ongoing tragedies now facing Myanmar, the one that particularly grabs at her heart is the wholesale destruction of the journalism field. She bore witness to the tentative growth of an entire field as state censorship eased. It was exciting to see young Burmese reporters and photographers exploring what was becoming possible… and yet now this has all been crushed, with so many journalists on the run, imprisoned, or killed.Still, Jessica reflects on the situation with optimism. “I believe that the people will get there in the end, because they are so determined… The alternative is to live a life of total darkness…I've heard people say, ‘Let's clear the decks of the NLD as well. Let's start again, build from the bottom, and a society that's inclusive, and we can avoid some of the mistakes of the past.’”

There are several images that will forever be seared into the mind of the Burmese hip hop artist known as 882021; pictures and videos that he will never be able to unsee, like soldiers charging at protesters, or thugs dressed in monks’ robes cracking car windows with crowbars. 882021 references these grim scenes not only in his music, but also in the artwork in his music videos. He is one of many artists using their creative gifts to resist the military coup in Myanmar.By choosing to be so bold in his lyrics, his life is at risk, and so he quite literally made a new name for himself—actually, a number. The six digits he now identifies himself as represent both the dates of the 1988 revolution and the current resistance movement, and the digits that make up the hexadecimal number for the web color of dried blood—a color he has unfortunately become all-too-familiar with in real life since the February coup.882021 learned Mahasi meditation during his days as a monk. But as valuable as he finds the Buddha’s teachings, he prioritizes freedom of expression in a traditional, conservative society where religious mores often guide artistic output. “I feel everything should be able to be criticized,” he says. “And that includes a religion as well. Personally, I'm a Buddhist myself, but I don't believe in taking extreme measures censoring art.” He is firmly in the tradition of political rap and hip hop that speaks truth to power.In his opinion, rap is the perfect medium for expressing resistance at this current moment. As he says, “Hip hop has always had a political history. And in my opinion, it is the best type of music to express these struggles that we're having with oppression.”

From the moment you begin looking into the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus pandemic in Myanmar, the numbers are simply staggering. Some projections suggest half of the population might be infected within two weeks, and there is now the risk that the country will become a super-spreader Covid state that fuels outbreaks across the region, with a full one-third of the world’s population live in nations bordering Myanmar.This approaching, apocalyptic nightmare is the subject of today’s episode, which features Dr. Sasa. The former Special Envoy to United Nations, Dr. Sasa currently serves as the Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar.Dr. Sasa is pleading with the United Nations Security Council to issue what he calls a “COVID ceasefire.” He believes that the only hope is for the international community to finally step up. While the Burmese have been left largely to fend for themselves with almost no outside support for half a year, Dr. Sasa notes that two things no person can manufacture on their own are essential to combatting this virus: oxygen and vaccinations. “The international community is the only answer.”Meanwhile, the military is not stopping its assault on their own people even as the pandemic reaches epic proportions. Doctors have been in hiding since February, and soldiers have been singling them out for arrest, torture, and even assassination.Somehow, in spite of all this needless death and destruction, Dr. Sasa still sees some hope in the form of the vast majority of Burmese valiantly still resisting this military coup. He references the famous slogan used to describe the ultimate sacrifice given by Allied soldiers in World War II, “We gave our todays for your tomorrow.” He notes, “The people of Myanmar are sacrificing their life for the future of tomorrow. So that is the reason why we have hope… And our unity is our strength.”

This is the fourth episode in our ongoing series, “Love Letters to Myanmar.” Today’s show welcomes three foreigners who share how Myanmar has influenced and supported their spiritual path, and the depth of gratitude they have for the country and people.The first guest is Venerable Canda, a Buddhist nun from England. When she was 19 years old, she visited India, where she attended a ten-day vipassana meditation course in the tradition of S.N. Goenka. The experience was so profound that she “knew that the path would be my whole life.” Indeed, ten years later she ordained as a nun north of Yangon under The Phyu Taw Ya Sayadaw, renowned for his deep samādhi prowess and strong sila. Reflecting now on everything she received in her spiritual life from Burmese teachers and the wider monastic and lay community, Venerable Canda feels that now is very much the time to give back.The next guest is Bhikkhu Rahula, a Mexican monk whose first vipassana course was in Japan, also in the tradition of S. N. Goenka, and it was similarly a life-changing experience. Traveling on to Myanmar, he practiced in a variety of traditions, often while ordaining temporarily as a monk. Besides his meditative practice, he devoted himself to studying pariyatti under some of the most renowned academic monks, which brought an even further benefit to his practice. Bhante Rahula brings a Buddhist perspective to his understanding of the current crisis, commenting, “The first thing we must do is become responsible of our own greed, aversion and ignorance. That's the first thing we should do because it's still alive in our hearts.”Finally, we hear a talk recorded with Breno Liberato in January 2020. Breno also got his first taste of dhamma through a Goenka course, and was moved to travel to Myanmar to further his spiritual development. He speaks joyously about his plans to visit various monasteries and meditation centers. He felt particularly called to try the mettā course of Chan Myay Myaing, and then learn cittanupassana from Sayadaw U Tejaniya. One hears the deep appreciation of a visitor who has benefited from his association, however brief, with the Burmese people and country.

When Han Htoo Khant Paing was pursuing degrees at the University of Economics in Yangon and Oxford University in England, he never imagined that one day he would be fleeing for his life to the jungles of Karen State.While many of his friends were enjoying the benefits of the liberalization and reforms of the 2010s, Han was growing increasingly worried that the transition was not going far enough. When the coup happened, Han responded immediately by co-founding the Burma Spring Front for Federal Democracy, an activist group dedicated to reestablishing democracy in Myanmar. He played an important role in organizing some of the country’s largest protests in February and March.As expected, Han and his fellow activists soon became targeted by the military. Han was one of the lucky ones who managed to escape, relocating to a safe house on the very day that soldiers searched his street. He eventually fled to Karen state, where he lived for two months under the protection of the Karen National Union (KNU). Eventually however, the Tatmadaw began running air raids over the camp and nearby villages, prompting Han to flee once again and look for safety.In addition to this harrowing story, our discussion covers a wide range of topics, many concerning the events that took place in the 2010s. Han was deeply disappointed not only by the Rohingya crisis, but also by the indifferent and even defensive response to what was unfolding from his Bamar friends. He feels that so many were enjoying their new-found opportunities for greater material rewards, that they ceased to cherish the value of hard-won, basic freedoms, leading to a misuse of freedom of speech and religious intolerance.

Michael Haack’s lifelong advocacy for Myanmar had a fortuitous start. With a growing interest in the divestment movement, he took advantage of an opportunity to take alternative winter break during his university years on the Thai-Myanmar border. While there, local people told him that they wanted foreign companies to stop doing business with the governing junta. Back at school, he aligned himself with a Free Burma coalition, and with a few other students managed to develop a successful campaign to stop multi-national companies from operating in the country.Since then, the Burmese country and people would have a special place in his heart. Michael’s several-decade career supporting various causes and campaigns, and current position as Campaign Manager at The Campaign for a New Myanmar, are the fodder for this episode’s wide-ranging discussion.The conversation starts by examining the role of the garment factory workers in the present resistance movement, and then spoke about railway workers staying home as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), and the importance of rail lines running at less than full capacity. Michael also mentions a recent interview he conducted with Dr. Sasa, the present government leader-in-exile, and in profiling him, found his story so incredible that he thought it could be “sold to Hollywood.”Michael names two other factors that inform a more complete understanding of Myanmar’s current crisis. First is the complicating nature of the Rohingya crisis. And second, in contrast to previous protests of 1988 and 2007, people are no longer fighting for something they never had, but rather fighting for something they don’t want to lose.On this latter point, Michael uses it to push back at criticisms by more liberal colleagues in the West that the coup basically proves that “there never was a transition” to a free society in the 2010s. While it may be true that the liberalization did not go as far as some might have hoped, but “to say that there was no transition is to literally just rob huge swaths of Myanmar society…of their lived experience, their agency, and their understanding of what had happened over the last 10 years.”

Lynn wants to know if anyone can suggest something that hasn’t already been tried.In contrast to many other protesters whose political consciousness was raised only after the coup, Lynn’s own professional and personal background in seeking peaceful solutions to his country’s problems goes back much further than the current moment. Before the coup, he worked directly on the peace process for years, attempting to bring different stakeholders to the table.But following the military coup and the military’s aggressive crackdown, everything changed for him. As Lynn says, “A lot of us decided that the same manner of language must be used to make [the military] understand, because the only language that they were using was violence.” Reaching this sad conclusion, he decided to join a training camp hosted by one of the armed ethnic groups, where for the first time in his life he learned such skills as handling firearms and explosives.  Lynn estimates that hundreds of thousands of Burmese have secretly received such training.Armed with their new skills, many returned back to the cities and tried to join up with the People’s Defense Force (PDF) or Special Task Force (STF). However, they were unable to do so, partly due to a general sense of distrust within the opposition movement, and continuing disagreement about what role, if any, violence should play in the movement. This left those newly-trained citizens with basically just one option to use their new skills: forming their own regional groups to begin operations, which became known as the UG network.Abandoning his lifelong pacifist values was not easy, and Lynn still struggles with his new role and the use of violence even as a last resort, which he hopes will be a temporary tool to use in coordination with other activities, and to be abandoned once freedom is attained.

How can a dedicated meditator maintain the five precepts when encountering armed soldiers with orders to abduct, rape, torture, or even kill? How should devoted lay supporters of the Saṅgha respond when much of their own monkhood remains silent even as their country is burning around them? What is the best way that practitioners outside of Myanmar can support the protest movement at this time? These are just a few of the moral quandaries put to the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, in an interview which he later admitted was “one of the toughest I’ve ever had.”Many of the questions were sent in by Burmese Buddhist listeners, and concern real-life—and sometimes life-and-death—challenges, in the context of the military’s on-going terror campaign. They are questions from people desperately seeking spiritual answers that in many cases their own monkhood has unfortunately not been providing. Towards this end, Bhikkhu Bodhi emphasizes that his words “should be viewed as my personal opinions, and not authoritative dicta coming down from the high seat of authority, but my opinions, the way to resolve these very difficult ethical dilemmas.” He advocates adapting the spirit rather than the letter of the teachings to help us navigate our way through these serious challenges now facing Myanmar.The discussion is wide-ranging. Other topics range from the way Buddhist monks can engage with this crisis skillfully and in accordance with the Vinaya, to how Buddhist communities can best protect themselves against the terror state while understanding the immutable laws of karma, to the Rohingya crisis and issues surrounding the integration of Burmese Muslims into society. None of these have easy answers. This makes Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi’s willingness to wade into this morass all the more remarkable, at a time when many Buddhist leaders, especially those whose lineages trace back to Burma, carry on their teaching schedules while carefully avoiding these difficult questions. We thank Bhikkhu Bodhi for his moral courage in engaging on these challenging matters, and for the sensitivity and value of his words of wisdom.

In more normal times, Thiri Nandar would look for a way to balance her love of music with a spiritual practice. But the challenges of this current crisis make it impossible to either enjoy her music, or pursue her meditation practice. Instead, she is an active member of La Communauté Birmane (CBF), where she works tirelessly to fundraise to support the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), as well as providing food and medicine to impoverished communities.In France, her home away from home, she unsuccessfully tries to raise people’s awareness of the terrible situation in Myanmar, but most do not see the relevance of events taking place so far away to their own lives. And even then, it is hard enough discerning what the actual “news” really is. Independent journalism in Myanmar has been outlawed, with many reporters arrested or in hiding, so she is left to sift through military-sponsored fake news on one side, and the false hopes regularly shared by protesters on the other.Thiri Nandar also has grave concerns with how the military is coopting Buddhism to keep themselves in power at all costs. This has had an especially disastrous impact on the younger generation, many of whom are now rejecting the Buddha’s teachings entirely, unable to separate them from the junta’s perversions. She is grateful that she was not raised to be a “traditional” Buddhist who faithfully participated in ceremonies and practices but with little understanding, instead benefitting from a personal monastic tutor who encouraged her to question every part of the teachings, while teaching her an ānāpāna meditation practice.

Today we are joined by Mark, a Chin from the Zomi tribe. For Mark and his fellow Chin Christians, the military coup represents not only a loss of basic political freedoms, but also a loss of religious freedom. Before the recent democratic reforms, freedom of worship was by no means guaranteed; the Burmese military would routinely visit Chin communities to destroy crosses and churches. For the Chins, a return to military rule represents a return to days when their faith could not be practiced openly.Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the first known act of armed resistance since the February 1st coup was launched by Chins in Kalay. Mark describes the Chins’ independent spirit: they fought with the Allies against the Japanese in World War II, and against the British before that during the Colonial period. As a result, they enjoyed an usual degree of autonomy during that period.Even today, every Chin household has home-made flintlock “Tumee” rifle. That weapon was used to ward off the British and is also a mainstay for hunting. That same hunter spirit has motivated many Chin to resist the Burmese military, although Mark has his concerns: the tumee is only able to fire off a single bullet once every few minutes, rendering it ineffective against a Burmese force with military-grade automatic weapons.The Tatmadaw has exerted particularly brutal pressure on the Chin people, most notably in Mindat, where their city-wide assault resulted in 90% of the residents fleeing into the jungle. Mark shares a call he received from a contact there who said, “I don't know who these soldiers are! They are like crazy, or high with something. They are not like humans, they are very cruel.”

Thaw Htet is juggling a lot these days: a donation platform, running two free medical clinics, and supplying defense teams. On top of this, he’s also created two anti-military Facebook pages that have gone viral in the Burmese online community.What is all the more remarkable is that Thaw Htet was once barely able to even take care of himself, as he survived two suicide attempts and a later fear that he had contracted HIV. The latter led him to begin a serious meditation practice, which provided real insight. He notes: “I was holding too much onto myself, like onto my body, and on the privileges and happiness that I gained from doing something. Because all those are temporary.”Thaw Htet draws equal inspiration from both the Buddha as he does Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Combining this no-nonsense American business advice with the Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness and ethics have certainly given him a broad palate to draw on when deciding on his plan of action since the coup. And yet, Thaw Htet does not see himself as belonging to an organized religion. “I prefer to identify or define myself as a person, who will take any kind of good ways of teaching from any kind of religions.”Interestingly, Thaw Htet did not always hold such a progressive attitude, and vulnerably recalls the superiority with which he once held Buddhism, along with his Bamar identity—a view that he notes was encouraged and reinforced by the military regime. For him, now is very much the time to strike out towards a new future. “For the first time in Myanmar history, all of us are united. Like Kayin, Kachin, like all the ethnic groups! We are talking to each other right now,” he comments.Like many other Burmese, Thaw Htet is particularly troubled by military spies infiltrating local communities. He notes that the presence of a spy in Thilon village brought about a full-blown siege of the small community, causing the 3,000 inhabitants to flee into the forest. This news was especially distressing to meditators, as this is the home of Thilon monastery, the site where the 19th century meditation master, Thilon Sayadaw, became one of the forerunners of the mindfulness movement, creating the lineage that was eventually handed down to Mahasi Sayadaw.

Doh Say’s life work has been leading to this moment. He became involved with the Free Burma Rangers through his longtime friendship with David Eubank, the founder of the group. The Rangers are a humanitarian service group dedicated to supporting the country’ ethnic minorities in their long-running struggle against the depredations and brutality of the military. Doh Say has spent over 20 years training leaders of the country’s various ethnic groups in this work. Today, however, his training camps are filling up not with representatives from the neighboring tribes, as is usual, but with Bamar youths arriving from the cities, who have decided to willingly face danger and discomfort in order to learn the skills necessary to support the undoing of the military terror organization.Doh Say has grown spiritually through his relationship with the Free Burma Rangers, noting that previously, “I didn’t really know God and Jesus.”  Developing a deeper faith in God eventually challenged him to move beyond his comfort zone. He admits that certain missions terrified him from the outset, given the danger and hardship he would endure, but his faith and prayer carried him through.  Forgiving an enemy that has inflicted decades of terror on local communities is no easy thing. And yet, despite all this, the Free Burma Rangers still encourage defections and welcome soldiers who abandon their post.Towards the end of the interview, David Eubank joins us, and offers up a range of stories. He first shares what Doh Say’s modesty precludes him from mentioning, noting the “many times” his own children’s lives were saved by his friend. He then talks about accepting a soldier who defected into their community, and was welcomed and forgiven despite admitting to the most heinous of crimes: murdering a pregnant woman. David closes by recalling an incident where he accidentally ran into General Aung Min, and how he invited his adversary, a Buddhist, to join him in a Christian prayer.As for Doh Say, he wants to “send a message” to all communities to embrace forgiveness. This is not an easy task, and he knows it: “It’s difficult [to forgive], especially those whose relatives or sisters, brothers, or mother got killed. But this is one of the ways to have a long-lasting solution for our country.”

This is the third episode in our ongoing series “Love Letters to Myanmar.” Our recent run of longform interviews has tried to realistically portray the terror and suffering that so many Burmese people have been facing during this four-month long siege, since the military initiated their coup on February 1. As critical as it is to tell these stories, we feel it is important that this platform not reflect a one-dimensional view, just airing stories of pain and carnage. So this current series is meant to remind us of just how much the Golden Land has offered those who were fortunate enough to have visited or lived there, and to help us remember the country during its better days, to appreciate and celebrate Burmese culture and community.Today’s first guest is Johanna, a young German college student who went to Myanmar as part of her college internship, and so fell in love with the country that she ended up going back, staying on during the pandemic and even after the coup, while virtually attending university back in Germany. Next up is Sue Mark, who arrived in Myanmar in 2008 in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, and decided to stay on to support the country’s nascent democratic reforms. And lastly, we check in with Keshav Mohta, an Indian currently living in Peru who traveled to Myanmar in 2010, and speaks fondly of the strong sense of spirituality he felt while interacting with different communities there.In addition to the guests, there are other special sound features on this episode, including: samples from the protest anthem “Doh Ayay,” (meaning “Our Cause”); the reading of a poem penned by Khet Thi, a Monywa-based poet was recently arrested and tortured to death in prison; several tracks of defection messages produced by Operation Hannoi Hannah, which makes audio files that Burmese protesters download and broadcast to soldiers through hidden speakers; and finally, scattered throughout this current episode, ambient sounds from some of the protests in Myanmar, courageously recorded at ground level by Thar Nge.If you are moved by the stories you hear today, or the on-going plight of the Burmese people, please consider making a donation on our Better Burma website!

When Jonathan fell to the ground, the only thing he could think to do was to somehow shield his head from the blows and kicks coming from all directions, his reflexes automatically kicking in as he tried to protect himself from a murderous regime, whose soldiers are not above beating people to death in the streets in broad daylight. Jonathan’s “crime” was peacefully protesting against the military coup. He was eventually taken to notorious Insein Prison—a name infamous for the decades of torture and death that have occurred within its walls. He was placed in a large, windowless cell with a capacity for about 100 people. And yet, he was one of the more fortunate ones, by far. After he had been arrested, soldiers began to employ more extreme forms of violence against protestors, and in prison he saw some fellow prisoners emerge from interrogation sessions bloodied and beaten to a pulp. Fortunately, this type of punishment was never meted out to him personally, and his eventual 3-year sentence ended up being commuted to less than a month.Reflecting on his experience, one of Jonathan’s insights center on the power of unity. He notes that the Tatmadaw has always ruled by creating division and distrust among the different ethnic and religious groups, but like in prison where he developed deep friendships with people of different backgrounds, he realized that if the Burmese population became more unified, it would help defeat the “divide and conquer” tactics of the military.Jonathan also reflected on his own Buddhist background. Today he is trying to get back to the roots of the practice, recalling the value of his time as a monk, and returning to the basic teachings of mindfulness which he finds refreshes him while stabilizing his mind.

Nothing had ever prepared Bhikkhu Mokkhita for this--his monastery set afire, his name appearing on a blacklist and becoming the focus on a manhunt. Somehow, he made it through the numerous police checkpoints on the road to Yangon, and found a way to pass undetected through the enhanced airport security blocking entry into a waiting MAI flight. Back home now in Germany, Bhikkhu Mokkhita is left sorting out the trauma of his harrowing escape, and dealing with the fear of so many friends left there and now at risk.Bhikkhu Mokkhita has deep roots with the Golden Land. After taking many vipassana courses in the S.N. Goenka tradition, he decided to travel to Burma to look for monastic teachers; eventually he left his marriage and medical career to ordain at Pa Auk monastery. Some years later, to repay the generosity of Burmese teachers and supporters, he collected donations from friends back home to build water wells, toilets, and school buildings at monasteries. This led to the establishment of his Muditā Foundation, which found its apex in Nyaungshwe under the growing reforms of the democratically elected government: a holistic living and education center which taught Buddhist meditation, yoga, computer and other skills, and provided free enrollment to anyone who wished to attend.But his dream was literally set on fire. Bhikkhu Mokkhita suspects the blaze was started by someone connected to the military, as this gave them free reign to then accuse and arrest anyone they wanted for the arson. To make matters worse, Bhikkhu Mokkhita suspects the Sayadaw of the monastery as being complicit in the attack, perhaps covetous of all that those donations had come to acquire. The fact that a monk may well have been involved in the partial destruction and eventual takeover of the monastic school was devastating for Bhikkhu Mokkhita to process.He feels that the monastic response to the military coup needs to be held under greater scrutiny. From his own perspective as an ordained Buddhist monk, he believes there should be “a sense of responsibility of sharing these democratic values of freedom.” However in his opinion, this ethical stand is not being taken as strongly as he would like to see on behalf of the Saṅgha.

Ni Ni has been planning for a revolution for as long as she can remember… just not this one. She had expected her fight to be about gender equality. But she says, “Now, I am fighting back about basic human rights and justice! I feel angry just thinking about this. It is unfair, I actually cannot believe that I have to fight this in 2021.” Although Ni Ni (not her real name) had grown up hearing her parents’ stories about the “bad old days,” for her that was all ancient history, not something that could ever rear its ugly head again to affect the lives of she and her friends.It really hit home for her on February 28th. Three engineering friends joined her in the morning for a day of protests when the military opened fire. One friend grabbed her hand and pulled her away, although Ni Ni couldn’t run fast enough due to a heart condition. Eventually, along with other protesters, they found shelter in a stranger’s home. while soldiers taunted them from outside for several more hours of torment. Eighteen students were shot dead that day, and over 100 abducted and taken to prison.The terror of facing such violence shook Ni Ni to her core. She began staying at home, learning as much as she could about revolution, gradually becoming fixated on the concept of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), which could shut down the economy and prevent the military from effectively running a state. Ni Ni began pouring all her energy into this, collecting donations and channeling them to those civil servants refusing to work.Ni Ni recognizes that they are now in the fight for their lives, and being led by the younger generation. As the military is arresting hundreds of teenagers—even children—and torturing and sexually assaulting those they have thrown in prison, she knows the days are dark and likely to get darker still.

Kyaw Kyaw has been a revolutionary about as long as he can remember. His political awakening came through an unlikely influence: punk culture. “Punk is being yourself. It’s a rebellion against injustice,” he tells us. He was especially enamored with the punks’ freedom of expression, which does not seek out society’s approval.In response to the violence of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, he formed his punk band, Rebel Riot, where he is the lead singer, to express his rage at the Burmese military. Kyaw Kyaw’s fearlessness eventually found another target in the nationalist Buddhist monks of the anti-Muslim Ma Ba Tha sect, who he called out on his famous track titled, “Fuck Religious Rules.” He makes clear that he has great respect for the Buddha and those teachers and practitioners who try to follow his teachings, but cannot abide those using Buddhist rhetoric to justify brutality. His outspokenness on this and other issues, including the Rohingya crisis, have resulted in several death threats.Kyaw Kyaw takes his own meditation practice seriously. As one would expect from a rebel, he has devised his own form of mindfulness, rejecting the idea of attending retreats because he has rarely seen positive effects in friends who have joined such courses. Kyaw Kyaw’s commitment to service led to his establishing a regional chapter of Food Not Bombs, and collects donations to fund his outreach.When the military unleashed the coup in Myanmar on February 1st, Kyaw Kyaw joined others in venturing out to protest. He later joined forces with other Burmese punk artists to make “Cacerolazo: The Night Will Not Be Silenced,” and following that, produced “One Day.” Amazingly, both these videos were recorded post-coup on the streets, with Kyaw Kyaw, his band, and the recording crew venturing outside in the early morning hours to quickly get the necessary footage before the military could spot them.

You are listening to the second episode in our ongoing series, titled “Love Letters to Myanmar.”This series features guests who share their warmest memories and anecdotes, discuss what life lessons they have learned from their time in Myanmar, and talk about the role that the country and culture has played in their lives. We hope these shows can aid us in keeping our hearts firmly rooted in the Golden Land, while also providing a sense of renewed energy and purpose as we face the on-going, very challenging developments in the Golden Land.This second episode in the series is a mirror image of the inaugural program, which showcased the stories of three non-Burmese who were deeply impacted by their time in the country. In this one, we hear from three Burmese who left their homes at a young age in order to settle in foreign countries with their families.Our guests include Yi Mon, whose family went to Japan; Paing, whose family went to Norway; and Lily, whose family went to the United States. They describe the challenges of adjusting to new countries and cultures while holding onto the values of their homeland, and how the Buddha’s teachings have guided their lives even after settling into new lands where few around them follow Buddhist principles or have a daily meditation practice. They close by sharing their thoughts and feelings in following along with the protest movement from afar.

For his contribution to the resistance, Ven Detta is seeking inspiration from Vladmir Lenin, spending the last several months studying the history of how soldiers are coaxed to defect during insurrections. He notes that during the 1917 Russian Revolution, “The military just stopped following orders.”Being intimately familiar with Burmese military culture, Ven is far from naïve concerning the challenges of this work. He understands the Tatmadaw’s insular culture, and how brutality and cruelty are celebrated as virtues. He also acknowledges that military families live in military compounds, effectively making them hostages should any soldiers desert.The work is dangerous, as anyone caught with anti-military literature or is found to even be in the possession of a printer faces extreme consequences. The military can shoot first, and doesn’t even need to ask questions later. And yet for Ven, this threat of excessive response on the military’s part only points out just how vulnerable they believe they are.Ven feels that a key part of this campaign is to get defections happening in large numbers. The more soldiers defect or desert, the less the military can respond to individuals. This is of course easier said than done.  Ven also believes that having some organization soldiers could defect to would be a critical component to a successful strategy, and towards this end he is eagerly awaiting the formation of the planned Federal Army.Finally, Ven minces no words in explaining the role the monkhood should play. “Many people…will no doubt listen to what a monk will have to say. And there are several dozen monks who have immense sway over public opinion. And I think they need to stand up [and] speak from a religious perspective.”Will the popular movement’s humanistic ethics that value each individual life and guarantees inherent freedoms overcome the Tatmadaw’s emphasis on discipline, along with distrust of critical, independent thinking? Ven believes in the righteousness of his side, but also knows this is a story still being written.To support Ven’s defection mission, please consider making a donation for his cause.

Thiri is no stranger to the trauma brought on by the military coup. She spent five years with Human Rights Watch listening to people with cruel and brutal stories of their families killed or harmed by the military. Yet now she’s in the middle of it herself. She knows that there is no real safety anywhere anymore, as even residents staying indoors are getting beaten, arrested, and even killed for no reason. She grimly accepts this reality as best she can. She can’t even pause to enjoy a sunset anymore, because should she pull out a phone to get a picture of it, security forces could arrest her on the spot and confiscate her phone, thus exposing her many contacts.Despite the nightmarish situation, Thiri has chosen to remain in Myanmar, even though she holds active visas for both Thailand and the US. She once seriously considered getting to safety, but in the end, she decided she couldn’t face the guilt of escaping when so many others couldn’t, and felt a strong sense of unity that she must carry on until the end. And Thiri plays no small role in the resistance. She is being called upon daily now to provide safe houses, transfer money, acquire materials, and a million other tasks that few others know how to do as well.Thiri is doing all she can to communicate a true understanding of what is happening in her country to the world, and notes the continued presence of outside media give the Burmese people hope. But she confesses that she has not been completely pleased with some of the foreign journalism work so far.Ultimately, Thiri is confident that they will win, if not for the simple fact that, in her words, “We deserve better.” She adds, “They cannot kill us all. So if any one of us survives, whether inside the country or outside, this is our victory.”After listening, please consider making a donation to support Thiri’s work at this time.

 “Thurain” (not his real name) had planned to spend the start of 2021 building on his already impressive worldly achievements. Though a “country boy” from birth, he had made his mark in Yangon, establishing not one, but three successful businesses. But on February 1st, this all came to a crashing halt.He began attending the nonviolent protests, but eventually decided to lend his skills to the resistance in a different way, in planning. He worked with a small group of people in the interest of safety, so that knowledge of the wider movement wouldn’t rest in any one individual. Unfortunately, one group member was captured, and after being tortured, shared details about the others. The group quickly dispersed, and Thurain remains hiding to this day.Thurain remains active in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), cold-calling civil servants still going to the office and encouraging them to take leave, a high-stakes decision-making process that could literally mean life and death for either party. He also tries to encourage police and soldiers to join the CDM, and works to prevent the military from installing ward officers at the local level, which he feels is the most critical part of the entire struggle.He admits that he is often terrified, but that he works to calm himself whenever possible. He practices vipassana meditation, which he does even when in the middle of important discussions. If he has the time, he also composes poetry and paints, as those supplies are some of the few luxuries he allows himself while on the run.

Our team has decided to present a new series that focuses on our love and appreciation for the Golden Land. We hope that upcoming episodes in this series can help to provide some kind of counterbalance to the emotionally draining content about the fraught situation we hear about daily. Titled “Love Letters to Myanmar,” it will feature a wide range of speakers who reflect back on what the country and people have meant to them. We hope this series can help remind us as to why we care so much about this country, and keep our hearts firmly rooted in the Golden Land in spite of the present situation.Today’s inaugural show has three guests. Lee, an American vipassana meditator in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, talks about visits to pilgrimage sites in her tradition as well as sitting and serving on courses at centers there. Brey Sloan served as the Defense Attaché at the U.S. Embassy In Myanmar. She describes how the country transformed during the years of her service, and her personal encounters with figures ranging from Aung San Suu Kyi to General Min Aung Hlaing. Evie, an Austrian yogi, has been practicing meditation in the country since 1994 under such teachers as Sayadaw U Pandita, Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw, and Sayadaw U Tejaniya. She discusses how these spiritual teachings, along with the generosity she experienced in Burmese society, have transformed and enriched her life.At the end of today’s program, there will also be a roundtable discussion with several members of the youth organization, Global Movement for Myanmar Democracy. Our podcast has been collaborating with this group to organize an exciting virtual activity on April 24th, in which artists from around the world will be donating their pieces, with all proceeds going to those in need in Myanmar. More information about the event can be found here.

Coco’s career path in medicine wasn’t supposed to end up this way. But on February 1st, for Coco and so many others, “all of the dreams just got wasted away.”He was initially hesitant to join the street protest, out of fear. Finally, he was coaxed outside, but when the first shots rang out, Coco found himself literally frozen in terror. However, he was inspired by some teenagers showing courage in the face of such mortal risk. After it was over, he spent time with them processing the experience, acknowledging the fear as being natural. But they noted that in their mission to win back democracy, they have to overcome it.Coco uses his medical skills to support the protests. Initially, while doctors were ready to administer service to protester and soldier alike in line with their medical vows, the military decided to specifically target medical volunteers, as they have been at the forefront of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). As a consequence, medical teams now have to work surreptitiously and furtively. Although Coco and his fellow doctors had seen their share of gruesome injuries before the protests, nothing could prepare them for what they now encounter: missing limbs, headshots that had literally blown the face entirely off, triage battle conditions, and administering aid while taking live fire.  Coco is unsure how long the movement’s adherence to nonviolence can be sustained, as the Tatmadaw continues to show greater depths of cruelty, while the international community has shown no further willingness to engage.Please consider making a donation to support the nonviolent protest movement in Myanmar.

What is the deeper, symbolic meaning of an overturned alms bowl? What reasoning goes into the decision as to whether a protest sign is written in English or Burmese, or as pictograms, or emojis? And how and why has General Min Aung Hlaing’s height become a focus of the protest messaging?These are just some of the concepts that “Brad” and “May” (not their real names) have begun to explore on their new Facebook page, “Burmese Protest Memes and Signs Translated and Explained: Translating and explaining Burmese memes and protest signs for an English audience.”Unlike in other countries, where internet connectivity has been available for a much longer time, in Myanmar, “online culture” is relatively new. As May succinctly explains, “We're the generation that has grown up with internet and social media. And memes are a way to communicate with each other, to share not just jokes, but also feelings… So yeah, memes are perhaps a symbol of what our generation is.”Brad and May felt that much of the outside world was missing the subtle messaging that protesters were trying to communicate by their signs, and hoped that their new page would help in this regard.  It has developed to explaining the deeper, underlying meaning of the many Burmese memes that are now proliferating, both online and in real life today. In doing so, they reveal the many themes that protesters are connecting to their movement, including British colonialism, Burmese Buddhism, ethnic identity, numerology and astrology, and specific events both in the protests as well as recent political incidents connected to the coup.If you would like to engage beyond merely listening about this crisis, please considering contributing a donation to the nonviolent protest movement in Myanmar. Any donation made on our website goes immediately to those in need.

Maw Htin Aung, a Kachin Christian by birth, appeared to be a leader right for his time, the kind of progressive champion needed in Myanmar who could help move the country towards a promising future. Instead of this dream, however, a nightmare has unfolded instead.He studied public administration in the U.S., and when he returned to Myanmar in 2015, he delved into public policy reform, focusing on natural resources. He felt this was a key aspect of his country’s future. As most of Myanmar’s precious minerals and natural resources are found in ethnic territories, the military has historically endeavored to control those areas, which resulted in forced displacement and organized assaults on various ethnic communities. But he had real hopes that a more equitable system could potentially help end what is the longest running civil war in the world.In 2020, he thought he might be more influential as a legislative member and ran under the ticket of the Shan National League for Democracy. Although he felt the campaign went well, he ended up losing the election, but personally witnessed numerous accounts of voter fraud. He was in the process of taking legal steps to challenge the results when the February coup upended everything.Every day now is a nightmare. Still, Maw Htin Aung sees some optimism. He is moved by the unity and selflessness found throughout the movement, as well as by the courage demonstrated under the most dangerous and violent of circumstances. But he acknowledges the tremendous mental and emotional struggles, not to mention the PTSD, that weigh on the Burmese people now.To support the protest movement, please consider making a donation to the Better Burma non-profit. You may give by searching “Better Burma” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as by using credit card on their website.

While those outside of Myanmar following news of the protests have often heard updates about the importance of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), some may still not be clear about its inception and role in the wider protest movement. This episode’s guest, a trainer in public sector reform, educates us accordingly.Initially optimistic about the direction of the democratically elected government, her hopes came to a crashing halt on February 1st when the military illegally seized power. Right away, hundreds of civil servants stopped going to work, which ultimately led to the wider protest movement known as “CDM.” Our guest soon found herself thrust into an advisory role, with many of her former trainees asking for advice on what to do.She sought the help of several international lawyers, and passed that information on so those workers could make a more informed decision. At the same time, she also began getting a fund together from friends and supporters that could be used to support any civil servants who decided to join the movement.The movement’s success has put our guest in danger because of her involvement. After her home was broken into and searched, she went into hiding. To deal with the enormous her level of stress has been overwhelming, and her refuge in part has been a daily meditation practice according to the teachings of Ledi Sayadaw and Mogok Sayadaw. Although she didn’t have a meditation practice before the pandemic, she now finds that this provides much-needed stability to the mind.For those who are inspired to hear about the work our guest is leading, please make a donation on our site, and indicate you would like these funds to go towards her CDM effort.

Ashin Sarana is speaking out, and he’s prepared for the consequences. “I'm basically ready for everything,” the Czech monk tells us. “I'm ready that they will come and they will destroy property, I'm ready that they will arrest me, I'm ready that they will expel me. My donors are ready… By your very existence, you happen to be involved, whether you like it or not.”It was certainly not a light decision for a monk whose primary concern is teaching the Dhamma to followers and pursuing his own intensive meditation practice. In fact, he so rarely keeps up with worldly events that he references several years ago seeing pictures of Donald Trump and not knowing he was the U.S. president, and did not himself even know that a coup had occurred until a week into the event. But he realized he needed to better understand the daily news to make more informed decisions to protect those closest to him. For someone who was sometimes years behind current events, U Sarana now found himself reading the news for 7-8 hours a day, and the dark reality he was confronting left him feeling “suffocated.”U Sarana is also horrified to learn that some foreign practitioners buy into the argument that Buddhism can thrive no matter which rulers happen to be in power. He does not hold back his disgust on hearing that such a view is actually not that uncommon within the international meditator community. To him, that opinion “is a very clear display of lack of knowledge about history in Myanmar.”This is why he also has taken it upon himself to stay so informed at this moment, so that he doesn’t offer Dhamma advice that is so disconnected to the actual circumstances that he is no longer helping his followers.If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

Kyawt Thiri Nyunt’s journey from Myanmar to the United States at age 19 was not just a physical one, but a cultural and psychological one as well. She had traveled to enroll in a small liberal arts college in California, having won a full merit scholarship. But then came the pressure of integrating into a new environment, on top of the anxiety to achieve, and so she did something she had never done before: she began therapy to explore the stress that was building up inside her.The therapy also uncovered deep-rooted trauma that she had been holding her entire life growing up under a military dictatorship. Unprocessed memories flooded out, including the associated emotions of anger and fear. Properly understanding—even honoring—the pervasiveness of this trauma is especially important at this moment, because without doing so, the Burmese protest movement simply cannot be properly appreciated. Once one truly understands how dark the days had been under past military rule, one realizes that no matter how aggressively the military chooses to respond in the days that come, the protesters have no choice but to keep on, as they will never accept a return to the past system. Kyawt explains how the mettā meditation that defines the practice of many Burmese Buddhists has so far contributed to the protests’ nonviolent nature, but that they are getting close to the breaking point.This is a time of real social change and upheaval in Myanmar, and it is impossible to know where this will ultimately go. Beyond worldly culture, these changes could also ultimately impact the shape of Burmese Buddhism as well, as with the people’s embrace of their newfound sense of agency, the Burmese people themselves are determining which members of the Saṅgha truly speak for them, and which do not have their interests in heart.If you are finding value in these shows, please consider sharing to friends and contacts so more can learn about what is currently happening in Myanmar.

At a time when corporations, countries, and individuals are speaking out, taking a moral stand, and considering action to support the Burmese people as state-sponsored terror grips their nation, what is the ethical responsibility of the vipassana organization of S.N. Goenka, who always reminded students of their “debt of gratitude” to the geographical region where their lineage hails from?To answer this question and many more, we turn to Daniel Mayer, the Coordinating Area Teacher (CAT) “to serve the Rest of Africa.” Daniel advises meditators to not stray towards one extreme or another. For those caught up in the heavy emotions of the current moment, he advises them to be patient with themselves and remember the wider context, saying, “I think in some cases, it can take a whole lifetime. But don't think that you are an exception. And don't think that what is happening now in a certain part of the world, is any different to what's happening, and happened in other parts of the world.”But he also warns against spiritual bypass. “I do feel that mettā should not be an excuse...[T]o say, it doesn't affect me just because I am not there, or I'm not part of it, or I don't agree… that is not really understanding what is our role as meditators.”Daniel describes how inspired he feels by how the Dhammic ideals of sīla, mettā, dāna, an appreciation of karma, and nonviolence are characteristic of the current protest movement. A note about our mission here at Insight Myanmar Podcast. While it usually takes us several weeks at minimum to produce an episode, we feel that the current moment demands a faster turn-around, and we managed to release this episode after just 36 hours. However, this can be challenging for a primarily volunteer organization, especially one with limited funds. We hope to continue bringing interviews on this topic with Buddhist practitioners, teachers, and scholars, but we need your support to do so. If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

A world-renowned expert on Burmese cuisine and author of the best-selling book Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen, Mi Mi Aye never imagined that one day she might become an activist. But as she has become increasingly invested in Myanmar’s current crisis, that is the role she has begun to take on.Having deep connections to the full range of Burma’s cuisine— running the gamut from humble street stalls to five-star dining— Mi Mi Aye was concerned when the pandemic broke a year ago, noting that the restaurant industry especially has been suffering. And although she feared that a sudden military takeover would only place a greater strain on this already reeling industry, Burmese cooks have not been idle. Many of them, along with food delivery workers, have been at the forefront of cooking and delivering food in mass quantities to the large numbers protesters taking to the streets each day, as well as to “Civil Disobedience Movement” employees who are refusing to return to their jobs as civil servants.Mi Mi Aye also reflects on the fear many Burmese—especially the older generation—have harbored because of Burma’s history of coups and political repression. She says, “Something I don’t really talk about is to be Burmese, especially if you’re of a certain age, is to be afraid, from bitter experience. It’s a low-level, visceral feeling most of the time, but sometimes, like now, it can be overwhelming. Because all the worst things you can imagine that could happen to you or your loved ones can happen and has happened, to you or to people you know, because of the Burmese military. Right now, I don’t even want to eat, let alone cook anything. There’s a reason Aung San Suu Kyi’s most famous book is called Freedom From Fear.”She notes how many younger Burmese followers have thanked her for these words, noting that their parents had always told them something similar, but growing up with greater personal freedoms, they never had quite understood their parents’ fears.A note about our mission here at Insight Myanmar Podcast. While it usually takes us several weeks at minimum to produce an episode, we feel that the current moment demands a faster turn-around, and we managed to release this episode after just 36 hours. However, this can be challenging for a primarily volunteer organization, especially one with limited funds. We hope to continue bringing interviews on this topic with Buddhist practitioners, teachers, and scholars, but we need your support to do so. If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

Exhausted from the daily protests and sleeping at a different monastery roof with fellow protesters every night for safety, his face darkened from being out under the hot sun all day, his voice hoarse from giving daily speeches, and his words crackling with emotion as he struggles to describe his horror at the loss of freedom and the innocents who have died… Chit Tun takes listeners to the front lines of the protest movement. Struggling at times to find the right words, his mind so harried that he sometimes loses his train of thought, and at various points not even able to pronounce sounds properly, this is a very personal portrait of the human toll the on-going military coup is taking.Chit Tun describes a day in the life of the protest movement. He notes that there is no one single leader, or even any group of leaders, and that his generation— Generation Z— realizes that each individual needs to take responsibility and be a leader in their own right. He also highlights the importance of non-violence, describing its roots in his Buddhist training at the monastery. This has certainly been put to the test during these protests, and at points in our talk emotion overtakes him, such as he describes his shock and fury first recounting how in Nay Pyi Daw, 19-year old protester Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing was shot through her helmet while protecting herself from a military water hose, and then later in Mandalay, 16-year old medical volunteer Wai Yan Tun was also shot in the head by a military sniper, while helping an injured protester an ambulance. Chit Tun was so enraged by this loss of innocent life that he described wanting to “burn down police stations,” yet his commitment to Buddhist principles reaffirmed his commitment to non-violence, evoking Michelle Obama’s famous refrain, “When they go low, we go high.”A note about our mission here at Insight Myanmar Podcast. While it usually takes us several weeks at minimum to produce an episode, we feel that the current moment demands a faster turn-around, and we managed to release this episode after just 36 hours. However, this can be challenging for a primarily volunteer organization, especially one with limited funds. We hope to continue bringing interviews on this topic with Buddhist practitioners, teachers, and scholars, but we need your support to do so. If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

In looking back at the turbulent recent history of her country, Sayalay Chandadhika, a Burmese Buddhist nun based in Germany, sees a never-ending spiral of destructive patterns that continue to produce the same disastrous results. How to disrupt this disturbing trend? In her words, the response is clear: “We need another method, and I cannot see another method rather than mettā.”Speaking to us from Germany, Sayalay Chandadhika affirms that mettā, or the practice of loving kindness, is not merely some optimistic or naïve way to engage with a difficult situation like Myanmar’s present circumstances, it is actually the very spirit we are seeing right now on display during the country’s daily protests. As an example, she describes a particularly tense standoff between protesters and police, which was defused by civilians offering the officers cool water on a hot day. She notes that this wasn’t merely a clever tactic to trick the police towards gaining some tactical advantage, rather it was a simple and generous action borne out of a mind trained in mettā.Through examples like these, Sayalay Chandadhika describes something truly stunning: a people whose lifelong spiritual practice of cultivating wholesome tendencies now finds itself facing the aggression of a professionally trained military with just those positive qualities of mind, like mettā, as their “weapon” of choice for self-defense. In her description, we can see how the non-violent struggle of the Burmese people today —in large part grounded in their Buddhist practice and identity—has firm connections with the Civil Rights Movement in America and Gandhi’s crusade in India.A note about our mission here at Insight Myanmar Podcast. While it usually takes us several weeks at minimum to produce an episode, we feel that the current moment demands a faster turn-around, and we are working to get out episodes now within just days. However, this can be challenging for a primarily volunteer organization, especially one with limited funds. We hope to continue bringing interviews on this topic, but we need your support to do so. If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

“We are already in the danger. So we don’t care anymore. The dawn won’t be that much darker than the midnight. And we are already in the midnight, so the darkness can’t be much worse. We are at the peak of the darkness.”These were the words of Inda Aung Soe as military tanks were rolling past at the start of our free-flowing and open interview, when asked if he felt safe talking to us from the chaotic streets of Yangon. Inda’s brave response echoes a resilience exemplified by the Burmese people during the shocking events of this month, and kicked off his description of the growing protest movement taking shape across the country. Having been a Buddhist monk himself for many years, Inda is able to reflect not just on the mood of lay protesters, but also at monasteries and among his monastic friends.Despite these harrowing experiences, Inda affirms a strong set of values that protesters have committed themselves to, in particular non-violence, refusing to cause harm to other beings even in the face of the military’s and their proxies’ aggressions. Inda notes that the military’s attempts to sow dissention among the Burmese people is failing in part because of this value.And according to Inda, commitment to non-violence is not the only thing the military has not understood about the current moment. He shares there is no single leader organizing the movement, so the military can’t stop it by hunting down specific activists, as they have done in the past. Instead, Inda describes an entire population that has stepped up as one to claim its basic freedoms and human rights. He and Zach share a laugh that the usually chaotic and disorganized Burmese society has somehow, overnight, formed itself into a plastic, integrated structure capable of quickly responding as a whole to the most sophisticated attacks—physical as well as psychological—from a professionally trained military.Inda closes by thanking the foreign community for its generosity and support during these difficult times, from both inside and outside the country. We also would like to encourage you to share it widely to help make Inda’s and the Burmese people’s struggles more widely known. The light in the Golden Land is still on, but faint and in danger of flaming out; it is happening in real time.A note about our mission here at Insight Myanmar Podcast. While it usually takes us several weeks at minimum to produce an episode, we feel that the current moment demands a faster turn-around. However, this can be challenging for a primarily volunteer organization, especially one with limited funds. We hope to continue bringing interviews on this urgent topic with Buddhist practitioners, teachers, and scholars, but we need your support to do so. If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

“The Dhamma is so central to this culture, and [yet] not understood by the people who write about this place in the media from overseas. So all those sorts of things get reported from a vacuum of understanding about how incredibly important it is, for this whole culture.”So says Daw Viranani, an American Buddhist nun based in Chan Myay Myaing Monastery in northern Yangon. We were able to talk with her just before a nationwide Internet black-out hit the country. Since the military coup on February 1st, Myanmar has been one of the trending topics and major stories across news networks and social media platforms. And yet, as Daw Viranani points out, the core Buddhist practice animating much of the country’s spiritual life is barely mentioned in foreign reporting, let alone understood. In this interview, we address the current situation, but avoid the usual angles of analyzing politics, history, or biographies of the major players. Instead, Daw Viranani brings a Buddhist perspective to bear on the current events. She shares the teachings that resonate with her in this difficult moment, and talks of the power of practicing mettā-bhavana, or loving-kindness meditation, and radiating these good wishes to all beings—even those we have difficult feelings towards.A note about our mission here at Insight Myanmar Podcast. While it usually takes us several weeks at minimum to produce an episode, we feel that the current moment demands a faster turn-around, and we managed to release this episode after just 36 hours. However, this can be challenging for a primarily volunteer organization, especially one with limited funds. We hope to continue bringing interviews on this topic with Buddhist practitioners, teachers, and scholars, but we need your support to do so. If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

Antonio Costanzo and his team may never solve all the mysteries of the life of the great Italian monk U Lokanatha, but they are certainly trying!Even the little we know of U Lokanatha’s spiritual resume puts him in rarefied air. A forerunner of the Buddhist modernist movement, he took up a meditation practice before it was commonplace and was one of the first to talk extensively about the connection between scientific thought and the Buddha’s teachings. His life intersected with many of the great figures of his day, and just to name a few: General Aung San considered abandoning the nationalist struggle to ordain under him; the President of Sri Lanka considered him a close friend; Ambedkar relied on his advice before bringing several million Indians into Buddhism; U Lokanatha attempted to convert both the Pope and Mussolini to Buddhism; he was close to such Buddhist luminaries as the Pāḷi scholar de Lorenzo and Sun Lun Sayadaw and Webu Sayadaw; and his teachings and meditation practice may have influenced Sayagyi U Ba Khin and S.N. Goenka.And yet despite all this, somehow U Lokanatha managed to practically disappear from the historical record within a half century (during a time of mass media to boot), his name almost lost to contemporary generations of Buddhist and mindfulness practitioners and scholars alike. But Antonio and his team have something to say about this, and in this episode, he explains how he came on to take on this research project, and what contemporary meditators can learn about this inspiring figure.Please note that this episode was produced before the February 1st coup that took place in Myanmar. We hope to bring upcoming shows responding to this event by conducting interviews with Dhamma practitioners based in Myanmar. Please consider supporting our effort with a donation. We can be found on PayPal, CashApp, Venmo, Go Fund Me, and other platforms by searching "Insight Myanmar," and also accept credit cards on our website.

“And then there was a particular moment in the meditation where it was almost as if awareness separated out from the rest of the objects of consciousness.” So begins David Sudar on sharing about one of his most powerful meditation experiences, which occurred during one sitting at Shwe Oo Min Monastery in Yangon.David describes how in this transformational moment, he was able to maintain a clear awareness even as the process of thinking continued, and that this was the first moment he was able to observe his thoughts and feelings without becoming entangled in them. As he goes on to say, “I was just like, oh my goodness, this is what I get fooled by, these tingling sensations throughout the body, these piercing sensations, these impulses. And now, it was so obvious that all of that was optional, that wasn't a ‘given’ in my experience, that I would have to get entangled, or identified, or grasp on to things.”The talk unfolds with David describing this experience in further detail, as well as what conditions led it to arise and how his meditation practice and spiritual awakening unfolded after that moment of insight.We then go on to discuss a wide range of topics, including the personality and methodology of Sayadaw U Tejaniya, the evolution of mindfulness training across traditions, the role of thinking in formal practice, and the prevalence of the Mahasi technique in Myanmar.If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

Today’s episode explores a journey from the fashion runway to the meditation hall. An actress, model, and beauty queen, Luissa Burton discusses the circuitous route that ultimately brought her to meditation practice in Myanmar.Luissa’s career trajectory did not follow the conventional narrative of the fashion industry. From childhood, she was stricken with two serious skin conditions, eczema and psoriasis, and struggled with eating disorders throughout her modeling career. Luissa certainly has a unique perspective from which to reflect on her struggles and celebrity. Today she is helping reinvent what it means to be a social influencer in the 21st century, advocating for young people to focus more on self-love and inner acceptance instead of distorting their personality and body image in a quest to become popular or conform to society’s messaging. An inner focus on healthy living and non-harm to all beings ultimately led Luissa to meditation, which was further motivated after passing through a “dark night of the soul.” Following an inner voice compelling her to come to Myanmar, she enrolled in a ten-day course in the tradition of S. N. Goenka at Dhamma Joti, and then followed up the retreat with an eco-tour around the country.The talk covers a number of key topics, including the contrast between being a dedicated meditator and a famous international fashion model, the definition of “beauty” in contemporary Western society, and how meditation practice disrupts a dualistic understanding.If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

What place does engagement in social justice issues have, if any, within vipassana meditation centers in the tradition of S.N. Goenka? That is question Clyde Ford is asking, and is at the heart of a training session he led for teachers and students at Dhamma Kunja, a vipassana center in Washington state.In addition to being a corporate trainer on racial justice, Clyde is himself a dedicated vipassana meditator in the Goenka tradition. He is also a software engineer, a chiropractor, a psychotherapist, an environmentalist, a 12-time, award-winning author, and currently a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow. He has appeared on Oprah and NPR, among other shows, to share his expertise.In this episode, Clyde shares what led to his ground-breaking training at Dhamma Kunja, and what topics he covered in the session. We talk about spiritual bypass, past attempts at targeting courses for African American communities being blocked by the US leadership, proactive outreach opportunities to communities of color, ensuring that vipassana centers are more inclusive, the appointment of Black teachers, and finding a balance between spiritual practice and worldly affairs.This fascinating discussion provides an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at how one North American vipassana center in the tradition of S.N. Goenka is exploring ways to transition into greater sensitivity in the second decade of the 21st century.If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

This is the second episode in our series exploring Filipino meditators affected by the Dhamma of the Golden Land. Here, we tell the story of just one Filipino meditator: Raymond Riveria, or Mon for short.Mon was attracted to martial arts, but being raised Catholic, he was initially skeptical of Asian forms of religious practice. His first formal practice came in the form of Christian meditation, and he was then intrigued by the secular framing of the vipassana organization in the tradition of S.N. Goenka.Mon took a course, and was hooked, going on to sit so many subsequent courses that he speculates he might have been the most experienced Filipino meditator in this tradition at the time. His growing interest led him to visit other monasteries, however, which through a misunderstanding earned him a ban from attending any other courses in the Goenka tradition.Disappointed, Mon looked for a silver lining, and found it in the form of constructing his own personal pilgrimage to Myanmar. There, he visited six different monasteries and meditation centers: Mogok, Thabarwa, Sun Lun, Chan Myay Myaing, Shwe Oo Min, and the International Meditation Center. Sharing insight and personal experience, Mon traces his journey into these different spiritual traditions, highlighting the strengths of each teaching.At a time of pandemic when so many of us are locked down and unable to go outside, let alone travel, join us on a virtual pilgrimage through the different meditative traditions of the Golden Land!If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.

Myanmar is the dream destination for so many meditators and spiritual seekers, and this was certainly the case for Sebastien Le Normand. A published author and French yogi in the tradition of S.N. Goenka living in Canada, Sebastien long wished to visit sites related to this lineage of teachers, and he made his dream a reality by planning a personal pilgrimage in 2016. He was so moved by the experience that he returned twice more, once ordaining temporarily as a monk in the Sagaing Hills. In our discussion, he talks about his experiences and reflections of being a meditator in Buddhist Burma, and staying for extended periods at monasteries.After the talk, Melissa Coats joins Zach Hessler to reflect upon Sebastien’s interview. They discuss their own itinerant lifestyle as meditators and temporary monastics, and reflect upon the opportunities that Myanmar has provided to so many Western spiritual seekers following their own Hero’s Journeys.Whether you are an accomplished traveler yourself or just an armchair adventurer, strap yourself in for this spiritual adventure tale, as we lead you through a virtual tour of Buddhist Burma!If you would like to support our mission, we welcome your contribution. You may give by searching “Insight Myanmar” on PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, Go Fund Me, and Patreon, as well as via Credit Card at www.insightmyanmar.org/donation.