A Military Dog

A rather straight-forward, and somewhat disturbing cartoon from the Burmese artist JMP.

Two lay people are walking by a Buddhist monastery with the anti-Islam symbols "969" carved into the wall. Two intimidating dogs wearing military hats are defecating, as the monk says, "The Sasana is clean and pure, come in!"

JMP is again using traditional Buddhist phrasing to show how some monks have cozied up to the military regime, and in the process, soiled Buddhism itself.

The phrase the Sayadaw is saying is commonly heard by Buddhist monks. "Sasana" is a term which has many different meanings, especially in a Burmese context, but in this sense it can be understood as "the dispensation of the Buddha's teachings." In other settings, therefore, an inviting phrase like this is reminding the listener of the beautiful, liberating teachings of the Buddha, and exhorting one to follow this stainless and noble path.

Of course, the irony that JMP employs is that this inviting and warm phrase is being used by a monastic who is a military supporter, flashing anti-Islam signs, and in which military dogs are literally taking a dump around him, thereby stinking up the entire monastic atmosphere-- and along with it, the so-called "pure and clean" Sasana that the monk is promising.

To me, this is an unpleasant image, and also perhaps unfair in excluding the existence of so many monks who do support the democracy movement, and who help vulnerable communities impacted by the coup. But it is also an insight into the current fault-lines being drawn under and around Burmese Buddhism during this revolution, as old and traditional structures are up for new interpretations.