The Light of the Golden Land

Let me try to be as clear as I can be: the light in the Golden Land is still on, but it is faint and in danger of flaming out. This is happening in real time, before our eyes, and updated hourly (at least when the internet stays on). This is a community trying to keep the vestige of freedom cracked open, one day more. (We can also say it is the music of the people who will not be slaves again, for those who get the reference I'm now driving into the ground)

Let me also be clear. For meditators around the world, the light staying on in the Golden Land has profound implications. This is very much true, in spite of the unconscionable spiritual bypassing that some foreign meditators have put forth, suggesting that Buddhism will be propagated by any Burmese leadership or that even if Myanmar implodes, the Dhamma has already been been sufficiently exported abroad. I will not go into this discussion now, it can be seen on other posts. And let me be clear that this does not mean that a new Myanmar will not have a Sangha, rather it refers to the type of Sangha which will be supported and propagated, and the types of monks and teachings who will be suppressed and worse. So this is not just a worldly struggle of people claiming their basic human rights, but also a spiritual issue touching upon the heart of the life of the Sasana.

We are therefore living in a time of a country and a people struggling for freedom and liberation, in the fullest sense of the words, meaning both politically as well as spiritually. And the expressions or limits of these freedoms will impact people far beyond Myanmar's borders.

So these are the stakes, and where can we fit into this, aside from being a witness and sharing across social media? However small, there are things that we can do in this struggle, acting non-violently as meditators, that will have influence. Some of these needs have already been shared, and continue to watch these posts for upcoming initiatives. Believe me, the mental training and cultivation that meditation has taught us after years on the cushion, is needed now more than ever, and is in fact being integrated into the very protest movement being undertaken by the Burmese now, as upcoming podcasts will illustrate.

Stay tuned.