Monks Still Marching in Burma

These striking images of Buddhist monks and others marching and protesting the military junta (or dictatorship) in Burma (Myanmar) were in the New York Times today (photos by Associated Press and Agence France-Presse — Getty Images). One of my favorite Buddhist teachers is a Burmese monk named Sayadaw U Tejaniya. His monastery is Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya in Yangon, Myanmar (Rangoon, Burma). He is an amazing teacher who was just here in the SF Bay Area visiting a few months ago. I attended his teachings for one day and really found them to be invaluable.

The military rulers in Burma have been abusing their people for far too long, so these protests are highly justified. I hope the world is finally waking up to what is going on there. Here's a little bit of the NYT article:

September 24, 2007

Monks’ Protest Is Challenging Burmese Junta

By Seth Mydans

BANGKOK, Monday, Sept. 24 — The largest street protests in two decades against Myanmar’s military rulers gained momentum Sunday as thousands of onlookers cheered huge columns of Buddhist monks and shouted support for the detained pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Winding for a sixth day through rainy streets, the protest swelled to 10,000 monks in the main city of Yangon, formerly Rangoon, according to witnesses and other accounts relayed from the closed country, including some clandestinely shot videos.

It came one day after a group of several hundred monks paid respects to Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi at the gate of her home, the first time she has been seen in public in more than four years.

The link between the clergy and the leader of the country’s pro-democracy movement, the beginnings of large-scale public participation in the marches and a call by some monks for a wider protest raised the stakes for the government.

So far, it has mostly allowed the monks free reign in the streets, apparently fearing a public backlash if it cracks down on them in this Buddhist nation.

Monks were reported to be parading through a number of cities on Sunday, notably the country’s second largest city, Mandalay, where an estimated 10,000 people, including 4,000 monks, had marched Saturday...

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