By Joah McGee
On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s forward momentum towards becoming an open and free democracy was brought to a crashing halt. Under the false pretext of fraudulent elections, the military arrested political leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi, and took over the government. In a flash, the country was returned to the dark and repressive days of military juntas past.
The Burmese people have responded to the initial assault and subsequent provocations in a largely nonviolent way, with courage and perseverance, and even wry humor. Various forms of civil resistance efforts emerged in direct opposition to the coup, including labor strikes, and red ribbon and pot-banging campaigns. The CDM (Civil Defense Movement) was formed to coordinate protest activities nationwide.
The military responded by trying to close off all internet access and by banning foreign money from entering the country through the banking system. The Tatmadaw (military rulers) are accelerating their campaign of terror, forcing many Burmese to flee or go into hiding. The military is going out of its way to arrest artists and poets because of the inspiration their creativity brings to the movement. They are even making it hard for medical workers to treat those injured in street protests.
Myanmar—also known as the Golden Land—is of course of primary importance to the world of mindfulness meditation, being the country where modern forms of vipassana emerged and spread around the world. Initially, many western vipassana meditators seemed to assume that, however dire the situation was for the Burmese people, Buddhist life there would not wither, and meditation practices would go on as before. However, this has not been the case; the Tatmadaw have gone out of their way to coopt those in the Sangha they could, and threaten—even kill—those they could not.
Early on, released convicts were dressed in monks’ robes, given drugs, and sent into neighborhoods to cause trouble, hoping to erode the people’s faith in monastics. The fact that some prominent Sayadaws have seemed to side with the military, or at least not oppose them, has led to significant fissures within the Buddhist community.
There are few means available to send very badly needed donations to support families, communities, monasteries and the overall protest movement. One of them is Better Burma, created to address the dire needs of the Burmese population since the coup. The Better Burma site is affiliated with Insight Myanmar, a site that showcases the Dhamma treasures of Burma through podcasts, articles, and blog posts. Anyone who is moved by the ongoing plight of the Burmese people and would like to help can send donations through Better Burma, either targeted or for general use. One hundred percent of every donation finds its way into the country, and into the hands of those who so desperately need it.
Joah McGee, a longtime practitioner and researcher of Burmese Buddhism, has produced a meditator’s guidebook to the country, led pilgrimages to sacred sites, made a documentary about Theravada Buddhist monk Webu Sayadaw, and currently hosts the Insight Myanmar Podcast. Since the military coup, he has been collecting and distributing donations through his Better Burma nonprofit.
