Peace, Nonviolence and Democracy in Burma: Voices from India

I have come here not only to share my thoughts with you but also to understand the unique circumstances of the struggle for democracy in Burma which is being fought both within and outside Burma today. I shall address here one of my deepest concerns relating to the crisis of substance. This is afflicting every walk of our life and more evident in our attitude to religion as we are attracted by the rituals than the substance. There are many people who are corrupt and societies which are at war with each other yet they all want to purify themselves. They may belong to any religion but it is the weakness of the institution that has permitted the spread of this consciousness. This is also true of the institution founded by Lord Buddha and this applies to Mahatma Gandhi as well. There are Buddhists who worship Lord Buddha but do not consider the need to follow his teachings. This is also true of the followers of Mahatma Gandhi. At times Gandhi is over praised. There are many people here who think that Gandhi is great but do not consider the need to follow him. Gandhi for me is like the Buddha. He made all of us to become a little better human being. If we can become Buddha even for two to three minutes I would consider that as a great blessing. We need to be aware, mindful and kind to other beings.

India is a big country with its culture and civilization spread all over Asia. But the Indians do not want to recognise this reality about their own culture and civilization. They like to learn from the West. I think it should be the other way. The West should learn from Asia. We also have to learn from the Indians. The Thais ignore Indians and readily admire the Japanese and the Americans. Development is a new religion that everyone wants to worship and follow without any respect for values of traditions. Everyone wants a greater share and materialism is the driving force behind this motive. There is little concern for the poor and marginalised people in the world. There is little respect for nature and cultural traditions of the people. The spiritual basis of the relationship between man, nature and development has been overlooked for the sake of economic growth and material progress. The Assembly of Poor in Thailand has been struggling to change this attitude of the government and the people at large. In America there is a wonderful group of people who really take Buddha much more seriously than we Buddhists do in Asia. They take Buddha seriously and sometimes for their own ends. We need to remind them constantly about the meaning of the life and teachings of Buddha.

We need to overcome our greed and selfishness. There are changes taking place in the world. The socially engaged Buddhism is spreading in the world today. I do think what His Holiness Dalai Lama had said is very important. He observed that ‘religion is only secondary and what is more important is spirituality.’ Spirituality has been killed by the West in the name of enlightenment. The West also used to be spiritual not so long ago. The spirituality suffers when the Church becomes powerful and the priest turns more powerful than the rest. What we need today is the spirituality. To be spiritual is to breathe properly. We begin to breathe right from the time when we are in our mother’s womb and continue breathing until we depart from this life. We do not yet take good care of our breathing except for those who practice Yoga and other forms of body and mind activities. If we concentrate on our breathing it will help us enhance our intellectual power, become more humble and we can even learn the mystery of next life.

Mahatma Gandhi has said that we are not important but what we do mindfully becomes very important. When we fight for democracy in Burma and we must also fight for Tibetan freedom and elsewhere in the world. I am quite certain that your despair in Burma could soon be converted into a hopeful condition. Your struggle and experiences would serve as an example as well as inspire the younger generations in future. The younger people will become more enthusiastic and inspired. I am always hopeful. I find younger people as more inspiring and educative. They teach us a lot. I come from the upper middle class background but I continue to learn so much from the poor. You grow when you are prepared to learn from others and with this growth we can overcome hurdles and the challenges facing our lives. The multinational corporations have the latest technology and the best qualified people to serve their interests. What they lack badly is the spiritual dimension to progress. Hence they are always short of moral legitimacy. Spirituality and moral legitimacy do not constitute as puritanism. It is good to lead a more simple and normal life. We should care for spiritual values and show our concern for the poor and suffering people in the world. I think all these steps would help us move in the correct path in life. I am a Buddhist and I try to learn from my own struggles. We have to be careful in understanding the purpose of our action. We sometime undertake a task to satisfy our ego or seek recognition. We should therefore become more aware of ourselves. Meditation and spiritual practices are so important in this regard.

We must learn to respect and show our concern for others. If we meet people from Burma outside their own country the best thing to do is to try to be their friend. You should know and understand that the people from Burma are living here and elsewhere in the world in exile. We should listen than preaching to them. They may not have solutions to their own problems. We do not have answers to all our questions either. What they need most is our understanding and friendship. The Burmese possess their own positive and negative national characteristics. If I may say so the Burmese are sometimes very arrogant. I admire them for many positive traits. We cannot change them and we only need to understand them better. The ethnic divide and conflict inside Burma has to be seen from the context of colonial British rule and the oppressive native rule. The basic trust and goodwill among the common people suffers due to secrecy and lack of democracy within a system. It is highly important to remain open, honest and democratic. These are very important qualities along with our continuous struggle to become more humble and a better human being. We shall overcome.

Keynote Address by Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa at the conference on "Peace, Nonviolence and Democracy in Burma: Voices from India", held on 30th and 31st March, 2001 at the India International Centre, New Delhi, India.

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