Being Prepared to Die

"If we want to go non-violently, in order to think like that, we have to be prepared to die. If we don’t want to kill, then we have to be prepared to be killed. And, a lot of people will have to do like that. And a lot of people have to show like that. And a lot of people will die for it."

While there has unfortunately been a good measure of armchair advisors trying to tell Burmese activists what they should or should not be doing, these words by Jonathan are borne of actual experience. Jonathan was a pacifist film-maker who found himself assaulted by police and taken to Insein Prison in March. In this interview, he describes his time in jail, his thoughts on what direction the protest movement should take going forward, and the role that the Sangha and meditation practice can play in the overall crisis. Like so many of the Burmese these days, Jonathan is trying to figure out the best way to seek his country's freedom, and what means he is willing to employ to achieve it against a brutal and ruthless enemy.