Alan Clements on Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, Sayadaw U Pandita, and Mahasi Sayadaw

At a time when foreigners were only given seven-day visas to Burma, then one of the most closed countries in the world, Alan Clements arrived in 1977 and managed to stay nearly five years, training directly under Mahasi Sayadaw and then Sayadaw U Pandita, despite enduring repeated forced disrobings, deportations and eventual blacklistings. Despite this, Alan has returned to the Golden Land whenever and however possible, including a 1995 trip in which he was permitted to interview Aung San Suu Kyi, then temporarily released from house arrest. In this discussion, he reflects on his personal experience comprising over four decades of Dhamma practice and activism in the country that he so loves.