Suu Kyi's Engaged Buddhism (audio)

NPR.org (Morning Edition), June 20, 2012
Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is getting an honorary doctorate from Oxford Wednesday. Last week, she formally accepted the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. As she tours Europe, Suu Kyi is being honored for her nonviolent political protest against a military junta that kept her under house arrest [and continues to operate as dictators of Burma] for most of the last 20 years. But her philosophy of civil disobedience might have to change to fit her new role as a politician back home.
  
  

• A Life Beyond Money
• Closer look at Daw Suu Kyi and ethnic turmoil
• Sonali Kolhatkar welcomed a thoughtful guest to explore what's really going on in Burma -- from new "freedoms" within an impoverished police state to its government-fomented turmoil between Buddhists and extremely marginalized non-Buddhist ethnic minorities like the Rohingyas. The audio is archived for 90 days (Uprising! Wednesday, June 20, 2012 8:00 am). 
• Aung San Suu Kyi finally gets honorary doctorate 
• Oxford to honor Suu Kyi after years of house arrest 
• Burma's Suu Kyi visits London, Oxford on UK tour 
• Burmese journalists win battles, but war not over 
• Suu Kyi walks on with "star-struck" Bono 
• PHOTOS: Bono's many brushes with greatness (AP)  
• Suu Kyi' bittersweet return to her alma mater Oxford

SOLUTIONS: Open minds Occupy Hearts

Canvasopedia.org; Wisdom Quarterly (SOLUTIONS), Occupy LA Interfaith Committee

Hearts can grow as wide as the boundless sky (Lel4nd/Flickr.com).

Open minds OCCUPY hearts...if they have effective strategies for day-to-day nonviolent struggle. This book is for positive movements. This is for those who want to work for justice that ends repression.

Strategic Everyday Tactics
Srdja Popovic, Andrej Milivojevic, and Slobodan Djinovic
This book is a field guide for waging a strategic nonviolent struggle.

It offers a rich and diverse array of practical information that nonviolent activists need to know.

The user-friendly format of the book complements the presentation of the content in themed chapters.

The sections are organized around answering questions that range from techniques of daily management to strategic planning.

It was written by those who successfully fought against repressive regimes using strategic nonviolent action.

So the book is designed as a ready-to-use tool for frontline practitioners who work in non-democratic and sometimes violent environments. It works even better in established democracies which are not living up to their ideals.



Based on firsthand experience from the struggles in Serbia and Georgia, the lessons learned in Ukraine, Belarus, Zimbabwe, and other countries are also woven in.

This fills the gap between the tremendous "theoretical" insights developed by scholars and the accumulated experience of front line practitioners.

On the one hand, this is achieved by creating a synergy between academic knowledge and the expertise of authors and outside participants in the project.

On the other hand, it combines with the lived experience of successful activists and leaders.

The contents and format build a bridge between strategy and theory. It avoids being "heavy" and theoretical. Instead, it takes a "cook book" approach. It is a manual for political and public-interest campaigns. Best of all it focuses on tactics. The focus is firmly on practical "how to" questions:

• How do you plan public actions with just a few supporters?
• How do you recruit, train, and retain pro-reform activists?
• How do you manage scarce assets, volunteers, materials?
• How do you plan and run campaigns with a feedback-loop?
• How do you prepare to overcome the influence of FEAR?
• How do you minimize surveillance and police repression?

"A Force More Powerful"
Those launching strategic nonviolent struggles in any environment will find enough information to succeed.

Steer clear of common mistakes. Focus on idealistic-realistic objectives. Efficiently structure movements.

It also shows how to effectively influence public attitudes. In this way ordinary citizens want to participate in the struggle.

The book is compatible with such writings as those of the Albert Einstein Institution and the new computer game "A Force More Powerful."

"How to Start a Revolution" (video)

Wisdom Quarterly; TheWorld.org

Downloaded from the Web, Sharp's 88-page book From Dictatorship to Democracy has inspired dissidents from Buddhist Burma to the US Occupy Movement (Gene Sharp Film).

HOW TO START A REVOLUTION, released in the Fall of 2011, follows the life and work of revolutionary academic Gene Sharp, who wrote From Dictatorship to Democracy -- a book used to topple dictatorships all over the world.

(Kayemlin) Sharp, a quiet 83-year-old from Boston, is arguably
the fuse behind the revolutions that sparked the Arab world.

• AUDIO: Sharp amazed by Egypt's youth (NPR)
  
• Gene Sharp: How to Start a Revolution (Telegraph)
• The Nonviolent Revolution Rule Book (BBC)
• SLIDESHOW: Egypt ahead of the elections
• How "dictators" sell fast food in South Africa
• Organic farming in China
• China and solar power
• Afghanistan - Ten Years On
• The revolution at Cairo’s American University
• Pushing for police reform in Egypt
• Gene Sharp's theory of power
  
• Ms. Nada Alwadi: Non-violent conflict in Bahrain
• Mickey and Minnie Mouse may be Undocumented
• "Harry Potter and yoga are evil," says Catholic exorcist
• Howtostartarevolutionfilm.com
  

Jainism lives on in India

Axis of Jainism

Kailash Vajpeyi (Times of India, April 11, 2011)

With the "Great-Hero Festival" (Mahavir Jayanti) around the corner, here are some salient thoughts about the man who founded Jainism, Vardhaman Mahashraman Mahavira (personal name Vardhaman, description Mahashraman "Great Wandering-Ascetic," title Mahavira "Great Hero").

Prince Vardhaman could recall each detail of his previous births. He was a blessed child. He soon left his family and dedicated his life to meditation [as a wandering ascetic and contemporary of the Buddha]. His philosophical principles are such that they can bring happiness and peace to anyone who assimilates their essence and follows them. His long years of penance [severe asceticism] were so hard that it is a miracle he survived them. And because of this, he came to be known as Maha-shraman (the Great Wandering Ascetic) Mahavira.

Evolution of a philosophy: He conquered sleep and hunger and had no need of spoken words. Twelve years later his communication flowered into spoken words. He observed for the first time that nothing was static [but was impermanent]. We are all forever on the move; we are nothing but flow and flux. Each child, however loved or cherished, will inevitably and surely perish one day. More

Thailand's nonviolent demonstration

(AP/David Longstreath)

Captured weapons, live rounds, and vehicles are displayed on a stage at an anti-government rally on Sunday, April 11, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai soldiers in savage clashes with protesters killed people before both sides retreated, no closer to ending a month long occupation of parts of the capital by Thai demonstrators demanding new elections and the ouster of the current prime minister (Mr. Vejjajiva) who came to power illegitimately on the heels of a military coup.

• VIDEO: Western tourists react to riots
• VIDEO: Turmoil after bloody clashes

A Life of Nonviolence

A life of Ahimsa
Gauri Gupta (AsiaOne)
Among the Indian merchants who trickled into the trading port of Singapore back in colonial times were Jains. After WW II they were joined by their families. Since then the community has sunk roots in Singapore, with almost 350 families residing here now. Jains, members of a religious sect that originated in India at the time of the Buddha, follow the philosophy of ahimsa, nonviolence or nonharming, which also guides its very rich followers against materialism while promoting meditation, introspection, and self-realization. More>>

• Latest News on India (merinews.com)
• Women empowerment in PWD
• Karmic loyalty in the hospitality industry

Hinduism view of afterlife

A self or soul exists in any being encompassed by various charms and fantasies. The crux of this aspect is that unless or until a soul attains moksha, the soul is entrapped by the endless cycle of life and death. Moksha is the freedom from the cycle of rebirth, unless or until moksha is attained a soul will have to come back to earth again and again. Thus for any soul, freedom will be an illusion and a goal that needs to be achieved.

Jain principles relevant to problems of modern world
PTI (Mar. 7, 2010)
New Delhi - Congress president Sonia Gandhi today stressed the relevance of Jain principles to tackle the problem of violence and terrorism afflicting the modern world. Gandhi also underlined the importance of politics that believes in non-violence, environment-centric development, and taking all sections together.

Bringing out the essence of Jainism in Fonts
MUMBAI, India - Artist Jain Kamal has been expressing himself through the power of fonts and typography. Yes, the same fonts we use routinely in applications like MS Word....

Is India's women's bill a good thing?
Pankag Jaiswal (Hindustan Times)

He [Mulayam] said that his party [the BJP] was not against [affirmative action for] women in politics and dared the Congress and BJP to have 20 percent reservation on election tickets within the party instead. The bill envisages 33 percent reservation for women in the Parliament and State Assemblies. "The 33 percent reservation bill must be dropped and instead it should be made mandatory for the parties to reserve 20 percent of election tickets for women...."

• Doctor climbing Mt. Everest for charity: A junior doctor from Lancaster, England is preparing to climb the world's highest mountain for charity. Ex-army officer Beth Hall-Thompson, 33, a doctor at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, will be part of a team attempting to climb Everest's notoriously difficult North Ridge in 2012.
• Guru and actress vanish after scandalous sex tape
• Sex Swami Nityananda at the Kumbha Mela

The Great Martin Luther King Jr.

(Ianm12) This is an edited version of a larger speech with a few minutes from a sermon by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the same topic. He is speaking out against the [American imperialist] war in Vietnam. The speech and sermon total nearly an hour, and this is only a five minute clip. The only parts that were removed were those that specifically reference Vietnam (parts with details that would pertain only to that era). That being said, it is still eerie to realize how his words ring true and could be uttered today.

• The full, unedited versions of "A Time to Break Silence" and/or "Beyond Vietnam" are easy to find in their entirety.
• Full text of "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence"

Beyond Desire (Jain sutras by Nithyananda)

(LifeBlissFoundation) In this talk on the Jain sutras, Swami Nithyananda discusses how we bind ourselves with insecurity and desires. Non-possessiveness (aparigraha) is the antidote. When asked to deeply analyze the situation, we see that we cannot enjoy things when we're bound to hold onto them. Non-possessiveness is always discussed after non-violence because only one established in non-violence is able to liberate oneself from possessions. Dropping desires is foolishness, according to Nithyananda, because increasing one's inner space to accommodate them is the real trick.

Meanwhile, the consensus reality says "grab all you can"

• Obama and GOP differ over recipe for jobs, economy
• Dubai debt fears hit world markets hard
• China announce plans to boost energy efficiency
• Dollar falls to 14-year low vs yen on US outlook
• Oil falls to near $77 amid uncertainty over demand
• Group: Chinese overinvestment could strain trade
• Taiwan economy shrinks at slower pace in 3Q
• Comatose for 23 years, Belgian feels reborn
• Big Bang atom smasher starts speeding proton beams
• Khmer Rouge prison chief could get 40 years
• China executes 2 for role in tainted milk scandal
• Docs say formerly conjoined twins recovering well
• Icebergs head from Antarctica for New Zealand

Temple of Mice

Sharon Guynup and Nicolas Ruggia (Nat'l Geographic Channel)

RATS RULE AT INDIAN TEMPLE -- The floors are a living tangle of undulating fur. Small, brown blurs scurry across marble floors. Thousands of rats dine with people and scamper over their feet.

Temple featured in Tori Amos's iconoclastic song "God"

It may sound like a nightmare from the New York City subway to some, but in India's small northwestern city of Deshnoke, this is a place of worship: Rajastan's famous Karni Mata Temple.

This ornate, isolated Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata. Intricate marble panels line the entrance and the floors, and silver and gold decorations are found throughout.

But by far the most intriguing aspect of the interior is the 20,000-odd rats that call this temple home. These holy animals are called kabbas, and many people travel great distances to pay their respects.

The legend goes that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. At some point during her life, the child of one of her clansmen died. She attempted to bring the child back to life, only to be told by Yama, the god of death, that he had already been reincarnated.

Karni Mata cut a deal with Yama: From that point forward, all of her tribespeople would be reborn as rats until they could be born back into the clan.

In Hinduism, death marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one on the path to a soul's eventual oneness with the universe. This cycle of transmigration is known as Samsara and is precisely why Karni Mata's rats are treated like royalty.

Gautam Ghosh, professor of anthropology and Asian studies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, noted how rare this rat-worshipping temple is. "In India, as in the West, rats aren't treated with particular veneration."

In Hinduism, many deities take animals forms. "The main theological point is that there's no dividing line between what forms gods or goddesses can use," said Rachel Fell McDermott, professor of Asian and Middle Eastern cultures at Barnard College in New York City. "There's nothing to say they can't take form as a fish, a bird, or even a rat." More>>

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