Episode #114: Supporting Myanmar through Engaged Buddhism
Growing up in the Bay Area, raised by parents who followed the Vietnamese meditation master Thich Nhat Hanh, Derek Pyle was no stranger to Buddhist theory and practice. He has particularly fond memories of practicing eating meditation as a child: “When we got to eat a cookie very mindfully, I would come and sit in!”
He visited Plum Village and Spirit Rock regularly, and attended meditation courses for teenagers through the Buddhist Peace Fellowship under teachers such as Tempel Smith and Diane Winston. “It was a mixture of silent practice and what you call relational mindfulness, as well as workshops on drugs, alcohol, and sexuality, all the kinds of things teens are like interested in and thinking about it,” he recalls. Later, he studied with Heather Sunberg of the Thai Forest Tradition, lived and studied under a Tibetan monk, and spent time practicing at a “bhikkhuni forest monastery.” These days Bhante Khippapanno is his primary teacher, a monk who studied in Myanmar under Mahasi Sayadaw and Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw. Although Derek has never been to Burma, he has heard countless stories from fellow practitioners about their time there and has followed techniques originating there, and so feels a special kind of connection.
While some Western practitioners separate their formal meditation practice from their experience of everyday life, Derek has always found value in integrating them. One area where he sees a particularly important convergence is economics. “I don't think capitalism's working out too good. I don't think like this sort of endless consumerism is working out too well or making people happy.” The largely free dispensation of the Dhamma, as well as its non-materialist teachings, appears to him as an alternative. He also appreciates the wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings in relation to such fields as psychology and alternative health care. Through the early training he had with relational mindfulness, he always saw the “test” of sitting practice as being how one chooses to act in the world away from the cushion.
Derek was especially moved by Sundberg’s teachings that “the Dharma is everywhere,” and that “it doesn't really matter if it's this form or that form.” He found inspiration in this fluidity, and the ability to go from formal sitting practice to sutta study to becoming involved some project in the world that could fall under the mantle of Engaged Buddhism.
One of the first such projects Derek undertook was in 2017, when he watched with growing concern as the Tatmadaw ramped up their aggression against the Rohingya. Benefitting himself so much from teachers he had studied under who represent Burmese lineages—such as Mahasi Sayadaw, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, and Sayadaw U Pandita—he began wondering what he could do to help ameliorate the suffering of others. “The interconnectedness of seeing Buddhist ideology, and a military that pays homage and uses dana and goes to pagodas and the monastery as a part of its image, and then conducts such intense violence… Well, I've never been to Myanmar, but through relationships and friends and community, it feels like, ‘Oh, these are our cousins over here! And I've been a recipient of so much from these lineages and these practices, so I sort of have this responsibility to respond in some way.’” He ended up reaching out to Alan Senauke, and the they worked on a petition and fundraising campaign in support of the Rohingya.
Beyond just the value of personal responses, Derek is looking for ways that local Saṅghas can engage in the world in accordance with their values. This is especially important regarding the present situation in Myanmar. “[Given] the incredible violence being perpetuated by the military in Myanmar, I think it would be really interesting for Buddhist communities… to be thinking about, what are the things we could do in the States? What are the ways we could apply pressure? What are the tactics? What are the different approaches we could take to really think about how we might be able to intervene in a way that actually reduces violence? And reduces the human rights abuses and reduces the monasteries in Myanmar being disrupted by airstrikes.”
Derek’s strong advocacy for engagement on the part of Western Buddhist communities has led to an interesting stance on the current armed resistance being waged in Myanmar. Admitting that it’s been “difficult to locate my own thoughts and feelings in relation to the people's defensive war,” he also acknowledges that it’s not really his place to pass judgment. “Part of the difficulty is like, well, who asked me?” he reflects. Moreover, he finds it inappropriate when Americans sit comfortably in their positions of safety and privilege, and yet admonish democracy activists not to take actions which might bring about a civil war in the country. “It's not like they're excited about a civil war! But people feel the necessity of their survival, and I can only imagine the realities folks are having to live in right now.”
Derek offers a further critique, calling out Buddhist allies for not doing more, such as providing greater support for the Civil Disobedience Movement or the Burma Act, or pushing harder for sanctions. In fact, he more generally indicts liberal democracy in this regard, something he fleshed out in his article, “Why Buddhists Should Support the Resistance in Myanmar,” published in The Lion’s Roar. He says, “There are many organizations, for instance, that are nominally in favor of progressive change, but are actually preventing that change from happening.” He particularly calls out the dangerous mirage of “claiming neutrality,” noting that a neutral stance often means—in reality—tacitly condoning the side that perpetuates injustice. Citing his own situation in the United States, he notes, “I'm either just going along with all these benefits of systemic white supremacy, or I’m fighting against it.”
Derek explains that Western inaction regarding Myanmar “has led to this increasingly desperate situation…where the military continues to be able to wreak so much havoc and destruction and terror.” He sees all this as illustrating the principle of Dependent Arising in real time, noting that the unanswered pleas of the Burmese for international support has led directly to their need to defend themselves by any means available. Again, it’s all interconnected.
Reflecting further on resistance movements, he references Aric McBay’s work, Full Spectrum Resistance. He posits that in studying other social movements, such as Civil Rights in the US or apartheid in South Africa, “resistance movements are more effective if there is an amount of armed resistance, but that can't be the main tactic used.” This exploration has led to even deeper soul-searching on his own part, in hopes of finding answers to difficult questions like these: “Can we do socially engaged or politically engaged or fight for people’s liberation [and remain non-violent]? Can we do that? Or is it sort of a myth to say that you can do that and never be associated with anything that that involves violence?”
But Derek knows he will never have to consider violence, himself, in Burma’s current struggle, so he orients towards becoming better informed about the roots of the ongoing conflict, while continuing to brainstorm ways that local Buddhist communities can stand in solidarity with the Burmese people and their struggle. For example, “a Saṅgha could make a statement saying, ‘We recognize this National Unity Government,’ and then they could share that with their local politicians.” He also discusses the wide range of awareness raising campaigns, fundraisers, and demonstrations that people can participate in and organize.
Derek continues to support the Burmese people. “I just have so much respect and admiration for the courage and creativity and dedication that folks in Myanmar have that are that are resisting the violence there and fighting for human rights and ethnic sovereignty. I find it heartbreaking and terrifying that this is a reality people have to live in, and also incredibly inspiring that people are so courageous, and creative and rambunctious in the midst of all of that. It's really powerful.”