Vipassana and Non-Engagement

I am pleased that Dr. Paul Fleischmann, Pariyatti, and the Vipassana organization of S.N. Goenka are collaborating to host a talk that is especially directed towards those traumatized by the recent shootings in Boulder, Colorado. As the accompanying message with the poster informs, "While all old students will gain much from the talk, it is intended especially for the benefit of old students in the greater Colorado area. It offers suggestions for easing into and establishing your meditation practice, through a mix of encouragement and humor."

This issue hits me personally. I used to live a five minute walk around the corner from this particular King Soopers. I did all my shopping here for years, and I know its every aisle. More than that, I filled up with gas, sampled the decent Nepali and Chinese restaurants, and browsed the aisles at Goodwill, all businesses that are placed in this same compound. And I have very close friends still in in Boulder, who feel unsafe after this happened, and who themselves were friends with loved ones lost. Boulder being the headquarters of the Rocky Mountain Vipassana Association, which is the closest thing I've had to a spiritual home outside of Burma, I know that many meditators there will really benefit from this.

And yet, I'm also conflicted, and I'm confused. From these three entities, there has been a total silence on Burma. It's been almost three months, and this is one of two countries in the world where pilgrimages are planned to, and the only one where the tradition's lineage comes from, where students are reminded to have a "debt of gratitude" for those who maintained the teachings. If there was ever a moment to repay that debt of gratitude, it would be now.

And yet there are no public or virtual talks being offered, nor are any essays or posts being written (as was the case after September 11). There is no donation drive. There are no links to inform its students what is happening. There is no statement of any kind indicating support for the nonviolent protesters. To date, the only action has been a single one-hour virtual sitting, released through unofficial channels. It feels like when something terrible happens in America, it's a time to reflect on how Dhamma can inform us in the real world. But when something even more terrible happens in Burma, it's suddenly "politics."

I don't write this post to complain myself. I write this on behalf of the Burmese students of this tradition who have told me how they are hurting, and how they have had to look for allies outside the practice. I write it for those now preserving lineage sites in Myanmar who are going into hiding and afraid for their lives. I write it for the vipassana meditator now in Myanmar who called me yesterday and said he feels abandoned when, after a lifetime of selfless service, his messages aren't being returned.