First news reports coming from a war zone often are scrambled, so it is difficult to know what is really happening in Sri Lanka right now. However, the news reports are terrible.
The government of Sri Lanka has blocked humanitarian aid to displaced people, mostly Tamils. Human rights groups say young Tamil children are being abducted from refugee camps. Some Tamil military leaders may have been shot and killed while trying to surrender.
At the Times (UK), Robert Bosleigh writes about the Venerable Athuraliye Rathana, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who has been "one of the most powerful advocates of the military campaign against the Tamil Tigers."
The Ven. Rathana is the parliamentary head of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU, or National Heritage Party). Controlled by Buddhist monks, in recent years the JHU has pushed for a military "solution" to the long civil war between Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka. Robert Bosleigh writes that the JHU was instrumental in persuading Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to abandon a Norwegian-brokered peace settlement.
Now the Ven. Rathana is criticizing western democracies that were, he thinks, less than properly supportive of the Sri Lankan government's military action against the Tamils. In the past several weeks, many governments have disapproved of civilian deaths and displacement in the war zone. The Ven. Rathana sees this as evidence these governments sided with the Tamils against the Sinhalese.
The outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, says that hundreds of thousands of civilians were caught between warring factions. The Tamil military trapped civilians and tried to use them as human shields, Blake said. At the same time, the Sri Lankan government used heavy weapons in areas where there were civilians. Both sides accused the other of deliberately killing civilians.
Now more than 300,000 civilians have lost their homes and are cut off from humanitarian aid. The seeds of more war surely are being planted in Sri Lanka.
Great, balanced post…
I found today this quote:
“Contemplation in the age of Auschwitz and Dachau, Solovky and Karaganda is something darker and more fearsome than contemplation in the age of the Church Fathers. For that very reason, the urge to seek a path of spiritual light can be a subtle temptation to sin. It certainly is sin if it means a frank rejection of the burden of our age, an escape into unreality and spiritual illusion, so as not to share the misery of other men.”
Thomas Merton, The Website of Unknowing
It is important not to divide the world into the spiritual and the mundane, and have two sets of approaches to each- love and compassion are the necessary preconditions of life.
The compulsions of politics and society may demand violent responses, but at heart, there should be the love of peace- at least in people who have embraced the path of truth.
Sorry if I have been too verbiose…
Regards,
Way to go, Barbara. Great post, haven’t read the other two yet. Sri Lanka seems to be a great example of the ill effects politics and religion mixing. The sight of rioting monks last year was sickening. You should set up a forum post for this.
Tom
I am shocked & I mean to say so many things but my lips sewed every time. When we look inside the situations in Kashmir , Punjab & in NE India , the situations are almost identical . You can not talk with these murderers with the humble & polite language . They will understand only & only one language . Even Dalai Lama , a lifelong champion of non-violence candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa ( non violence ) because the minds of terrorists are closed.ref: http://preachingsofbuddha.blogspot.com/2009/01/non-violence-cannot-tackle-terrorism.html
A very fair article… we and all religions go astray when label a country as Buddhist, Christian or anything else as some practice and some use and interesting label for themselves…
Though I was born in a Theravada Buddhist family I’m basically a heretic of sorts at heart.I can’t comprehend the principal of “karma” as it has been explained to me that one reaps the fruits of good karma of previous birth in this life and so on etc.If that is to be believed no one should resist any murderer or thug because he will reap fruits of his karma and the victim the fruits of his own karma by following strictly the path of nonviolence.By following that principle, I think, pacifist religions like Buddhism will be totally wiped out in course of time in the future.
Now the question is “Shoud we simply surender to the destructive forces and get extirpated or take a stand to continue our existence.” This is a very delicate point and I don’t think you will find a befitting answer in the scriptures.
We have to do a bit of rethinking while applying the principle of winning your enemy by love only.
“It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence,” dalai lama said. It took 30 years to rid LTTE because of the Buddhist beliefs. Sri Lanka suffered enough and are still terrorized by the fact that DPI’s who are rescued are brain washed for 26 years of a Mono-ethnic regime. They have to screen who are hard core and innocent. Over 255,000 people were rescued because of Buddhist beliefs sacrificing 8O0 military lives. Children are being abducted are baseless stories and these camps are monitored by UNICEF officials. Buddhist temples in UK and Canada were attacked by the Pro LTTE Disapora and so far no action has been taken.
What an incredibly challenging situation for us all, as practitioners. I really appreciate all the comments thus far, as well as your original post, Barbara.
In the Tibetan tradition there is the saying: Let your view be as vast and expansive as the sky. And let the mindfulness of your actions be as fine and precise as a grain of sand. So somehow to keep our hearts/minds clearly aligned with the Three Gates, the Four Seals, the view of Mahamudra/Dzogchen while at the same time allowing for whatever actions are appropriate, given the immediate circumstances.
And to remember that the actions of a Buddha or Bodhisattva can manifest a wide range of qualities: pacifying, enriching, magnetizing and subduing/destroying. And how each of these flavors of action can be accomplished with a heart/mind infused with love and joy – completely free from the toxins of anger, fear and hatred.
We are unnecessarily confusing things. A true “Buddhist” will not look outside to get answer to his foolish questions. He has to find out from “Mindfullness”. If you see army minded people in “monks robs” do accept as they are army people in monk’s robs and reflect as it is. Do not get confused. If someone takes up the robs, ideally he should not be talking for or aginst a war as all kinds of speculations are not going to give any spiritual growth. According to the mental state of the society, there can be division of labour and they can do their duty with “Compassion” by taking one step towards Buddha. Just by calling a “Buddhist” Society need not have to be better than a christian society or Hindu society. Soceity cannot get enlightend. Only individuals can. Only when the individual comes out of the notion of he/she belongs to any society. I read sometime back but do not remember which Pitaka it is. There is a conversation of Buddha with an Army general of that time. I request all of you to read that may be available through search engines.
Dear Barbara
Please look at these baby monks:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiranyamm/5939589339/
Infants are given to Monasteries to become monks by parents.
Trainee monks must be allowed in after the age of 18 when they are capable of making informed decisions such as becoming a monk.
Please raise this issue with other Buddhists.
P.Selvaratnam
P.Selvaratnam — this is a complex issue, not always what it seems. In some parts of Asia, very small children become “temporary” monks and live in monasteries for a few days before going back to their parents. It’s something like sleep-away summer camp, only the kids have to shave their heads and wear robes.
Elsewhere in Asia, it has long been the custom for most boys in their teens to live as monks for anywhere from a month to a year, and then they go back to being laypersons. It’s a kind of rite of passage.
And in some parts of Asia, such as Burma, impoverished parents have been giving their small sons to monasteries so the boys would be sure to have something to eat. It is preferable to watching them starve.
As far as I’m concerned, there is no “issue” here to raise, except in Burma, and the issue is not about “baby monks.”