Voices of Courage

by Larry Steele

The Boulder Shambhala Center (BSC) is radiating a spirit of warriorship that reaches all the way to Myanmar (formerly Burma) and the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

In a program called “Voices of Courage — Facing extremism in Myanmar…and wherever it arises,” Boulder Shambhala is exploring the use of Islamophobic “hate speech” by some Buddhists. Guest panelists will search for ways to promote courageous dialogue in times of division and hatred.

Venerable Ashin Issariya

The quasi-democratic government of Myanmar, led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, has been unable to stop violent repression of ethnic minority communities by the Myanmar army. Last year, one million Rohingya people, who are Muslim, were driven out of Buddhist Myanmar into dangerous refugee camps in Bangladesh.

“The humanitarian crisis on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border is nothing short of epic, even among the sharp divisions occurring in every corner of the world,” said BSC Executive Director Melanie Klein, who is the inspiration and energy behind Voices of Courage.

The conference keynote speaker, the Venerable Ashin Issariya, popularly known in Myanmar as “King Zero,” has been protesting against dictatorial military government since the 2007 Saffron Revolution.  Last year, his press conference criticizing hate speech by a faction of Buddhist monks was disrupted by pro-government agitators.

I met Ashin Issariya at his monastery near the Thailand border. With a broad smile and a gentle voice, he showed me thousands of books from the “Best Friend” libraries he opened to broaden the education of young monks.

Now, King Zero is coming to America. Following the Voices of Courage conference, he will travel to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Wayne, and Washington D.C. to meet with expatriate Burmese communities and monks across the country in a campaign to promote unity and peace.

In a recent email interview, King Zero told me, “Burma, my country, is at a crossroads. Some say there are visible changes, but they are only superficial. Real change has not come yet. The people of Burma want not just a change of persons or government but a change in political values.”

As he rallies support from Buddhists in America, King Zero’s own, very Burmese perspective will illuminate the poison of extremism wherever we live.

For more information on the Buddhist Humanitarian Project visit buddhisthumanitarianproject.org.

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