A Generation Z protester discusses his Buddhist faith
Few other guests spoke with the kind of raw honesty as Thaw Htet on “Whatever It Takes.” So remarkable were his words that we released his thoughts on Bamar Buddhist privilege weeks before the episode even aired. Returning now again to his conversation, the excerpt we bring here touches upon his relationship with Buddhism. The teachings of the Buddha have guided Thaw Htet’s life, but somewhat counter-intuitively, it was his friendship with a Christian family that strengthened his faith, as he goes on to tell here. It is also interesting to point out that he describes the period of NLD leadership as the time when he faith really took root, which counters the narrative the Tatmadaw is spinning in claiming that Buddhism became disregarded during these years, one of many spurious factors they lay claim to when asserting their reasons for the coup.
“I realized we were actually a bit brainwashed to think that Buddhism was the most glorious religion in the world!”
“It's not Myanmar citizens who practice Buddhism to that extent, except the monks, rather it's foreigners who really appreciate and value the ways of the Buddha. The ability to keep the mind stable and find peace in whatever kind of situation you are in, so you have no other savior and don't need to worship anyone. Actually, we started to think the same way during the five democratic years of NLD.
Both my parents were Buddhists to begin with, and I grew up in a community of Buddhists. But still, I was blindly following the instructions and meditation processes that monks were teaching to young people at that time. I was going to a lot of meditation centers, because of the state school, or because of my parents, or because there were a lot of friends going, so I just chose to go as well. But the actual time that I came into contact with Buddhism is actually not even about Buddhism at first, but Christianity! Because one of my close friends was a Christian. Through him, I realized we were actually a bit brainwashed to think that Buddhism was the most glorious religion in the world!
I was actually one of those people who believed that Buddhism was the only way. But when I went with my friends to his church, I found I liked the idea of confessing your sins to the Father. Because it gives you freedom, and it is necessary to reflect on yourself when you confess your sins to someone, it is very helpful. I like that idea. And the smiles of all those Christians at the church… they knew I was a Buddhist, but somehow they wouldn't try to preach me! They wouldn't say, ‘Come to Christianity.’ But instead, the monks that I've met were indirectly telling people to join Buddhism, and Buddhism is so great, blah, blah, blah.
Later, I came into touch with many other kinds of religions, even though I'm not very knowledgeable about them. But somehow I came to realize that religion doesn't need followers to spread the religion. It’s not something that needs people to spread it, because religion is something that if believed in, people will follow it. If a religion is not followed for a certain period of time, it will disappear, and another kind of religion will come up. This is the way of a revolution of religions.
After reading, talking, and discussing with a lot of monks, I have come to a conclusion that some of these monks' sayings are actually a bit irrelevant with the real-time situation, especially for those people who can't be monks yet but are still trying to practice Buddhism. They are trying to be a human, not a monk yet.
So my relationship with Buddhism started that way, when I realized that other religions were actually as good as they were. It is very helpful, and even very enlightening for those people who follow them. It is just people who use religion in their hands, and go committing crimes in the name of religion like killing.”