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Pincers on Aung San Suu Kyi

[ by Charles Cameron — is her non-intervening stance now squeezed between Islamist warriors and peaceable Buddhists? ]
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Aung San Suu Kyi has been mute on the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, Myanmar, see eg A new wave of atrocities is being committed against Muslims in Burma’s Rakhine state, but I imagine the pressure on her is growing — not just from the military or the bulk of the Buddhist population and many monks — but on the one hand from iolent Islamist jihadists and on the other from peaceable Buddhists elsewhere — exemplified here by Thich Nhat Hanh‘s close disciple Chan Khong..

Peaceable Buddhists — what other kind should there, could there be?

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Sources:

  • Jamestown, Myanmar’s Muslim Insurgency Gaining Prominence With Jihadist Groups
  • Lion’s Roar, Sister Chan Khong implores Aung San Suu Kyi to accept help

    • This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 15th, 2017 at 6:07 pm and is filed under aung san suu kyi, Buddhism, Buddhist, Charles Cameron, Doublequotes, islamist, koan, myanmar, thich nhat hanh, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

    7 Responses to “Pincers on Aung San Suu Kyi”

    1. Jim Gant Says:
      March 15th, 2017 at 11:33 pm

      Thich Nhat Hanh…a modern day prophet. A truly amazing man with truly an enlightened view of the world.
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      “When you know how to fly, you don’t need a street map.”
      TNH
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      Thanks for the post…!
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      Jim

    2. zen Says:
      March 16th, 2017 at 2:26 am

      The Buddhist Monks of Japan, the Sohei, were anything but peaceful and adding Zen into the mix added gasoline to the fire. The monasteries fielded their own armies of monks (many of whom were samurai “resting” from the cares of the world for a time) for around 700 years until the Tokugawa Shoguns enforced peace

    3. Charles Cameron Says:
      March 16th, 2017 at 6:11 am

      Indeed, Zen. Brian Daizen Victoria’s Zen at War had quite an impact making that point re World War II, resulting in this and other apologies:

      .. the leaders of one of the largest denominations in Japan have remorsefully compared their former religious fanaticism during Japan’s brutal expansionism in the 1930’s and 40’s to today’s murderously militant Islamists.
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      The unexpected apology for wartime complicity by the leaders of Myoshin-ji, the headquarters temple of one of Japan’s main Zen sects, was issued 16 days after 9/11, which gave it a particular resonance.
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      Meditating On War And Guilt, Zen Says It’s Sorry

    4. Grurray Says:
      March 16th, 2017 at 2:14 pm

      Violence with “the stick” often played a prominent role in the initiation and training at Japanese Zen monasteries
      http://tinyurl.com/jhtm7tk

    5. zen Says:
      March 16th, 2017 at 3:36 pm

      Rinzai Zen?

    6. Charles Cameron Says:
      March 16th, 2017 at 4:06 pm

      From Wiki:

      The word “keisaku” may be translated as “warning stick”, or “awakening stick”, and is wielded by the jikijitsu. “Encouragement stick” is a common translation for “ky?saku”. In Soto Zen, the ky?saku is always administered at the request of the meditator, by way of bowing one’s head and putting the palms together in gassho, and then exposing each shoulder to be struck in turn. In Rinzai Zen, the stick is requested in the same manner, but may also be used at the discretion of the Ino, the one in charge of the meditation hall. Even in such cases, it is not considered a punishment, but a compassionate means to reinvigorate and awaken the meditator who may be tired from many sessions of zazen, or under stress, the “monkey mind” (overwhelmed with thoughts).

      Van de Wetering studied zen at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, a Rinzai monastery that makes (or made, when I visited for a couple of hours in the early 70s) something of a specialty of training Westerners.

    7. Grurray Says:
      March 16th, 2017 at 6:18 pm

      I first learned about the stick from reading DT Suzuki and Alan Watts. I understand now it’s considered a voluntary prompt, but they had some vivid descriptions from history of its enthusiastic overuse.

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