Buddhist Suu Kyi accepts Nobel Prize

Text: NPR.org, June 16, 2012; USCampaignforBurma.org; Wisdom Quarterly

Worldwide protests, such as this one in Japan, were needed to gain Daw Suu's liberty (AFP)

   

Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy opposition leader of Burma (Myanmar), spoke in Norway today, formally accepting the peace prize she was awarded in 1991 while under house arrest by the authoritarian forces that led a coup and have held Burma hostage ever since. Her supporters portrayed the moment as a belated victory for democracy and human rights.

   

Introducing Suu Kyi, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland hailed her as a champion of mankind, whose words give hope to the world. He added that his committee was right to award her the prize, and that thanks to people like her, democratic states will always prevail over autocratic ones.

  

"The democracies of the world should not despair today when they see authoritarian regimes outpacing their economic growth," Jagland said. "This is temporary [and] the regimes will be broken apart by inner contradictions if they do not reform themselves."

   

When Suu Kyi was awarded the prize in 1991, she was still under house arrest. So her [British] husband Michael Aris and two sons, Kim and Alexander, accepted the prize for her. More

  

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Speaking Freely in the New Burma (audio)

TheWorld.org (PRI, Public Radio International); Wisdom Quarterly

This summer, [The Lady] Aung San Suu Kyi will be stepping out onto an international stage.

  

She will finally be picking up her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize and speaking her mind in various European capitals.

   

It will be a far cry from the 15 years she spent under house arrest, unable to participate in elections or speak to her Burmese compatriots. 

  

Suu Kyi, now a member of the Burmese parliament, recently completed her first trip out of Myanmar [Burma as renamed by its military dictatorships after their coup] in 24 years.

  

In a speech in Thailand, she praised President Thein Sein’s efforts to bring democracy to the country. But she didn’t shy away from criticizing more entrenched [authoritarian] forces that are less open to change, in particular the military which she called a “force to be reckoned with.”

Buddhist monastics rose up protesting police state dictators during the Saffron Revolution.

   
Next, Suu Kyi heads to Paris, Oslo, London, and elsewhere for a series of high profile appearances.

   

Her words will be closely analyzed back home -- by those who love her and those who fear her. It’s clear that the government of Myanmar is giving Suu Kyi freedoms that it previously denied her... More

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President Barack Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize?

I felt like someone waking up from a decades long coma this morning as I sleepily starred at the t.v. anchor telling me that President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. My first thought was, "For what?" Don't get me wrong, I like Obama and while I don't agree with everything he's done in his short tenure; I still personally really dig the guy. I'm not sure if I'll vote for him yet again in 2012 but I'm leaning toward re-electing him barring a disaster on health care, which I'm really concerned over.

Anyway, despite my admiration for the man I don't think he's done enough for peace in the less than a year that he's been in office to warrant such a prestigious prize. Especially since he has recently snubbed the Dalai Lama; himself an award winner. He struck the right tone, however, this morning when talking about the award in saying he felt he didn't deserve it. And that he was very humbled. He was a bit abashed by this surprise awarding. As well as stating how he wants to share it with the world who have collectively done so much for peace. What else could he say? This award was thrust upon him. He would have appeared rude to decline it and had he accepted it without feeling humbled; he'd be accused of having a messianic complex.

The candidate that I would have chosen would be the 82 year old Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh who was nominated in 1967. He was nominated by his friend the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for his work to peacefully end the Vietnam war. At the time King, Jr. made the comment, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize than this gentle Buddhist monk from Vietnam...I know Thich Nhat Hanh." Nhat Hanh is using the peaceful message of Buddhism to effect harmony in the world.

In his native Vietnam a fledgling order of monks was established by him a few years ago, which is now being broke up by the religious police of the Communist dictatorship there. They have used violence to remove the peaceful monastics from the temple monastery yet because of Nhat Hanh's peaceful example these monastics were able to remain calm, peaceful and loving despite being treated so poorly. So, I thought I'd ask my readers, "Which Buddhist would you nominate for the Nobel Peace Prize?" You can chose a non-Buddhist but I was hoping to limit it to Buddhists since this is a Buddhist Blog (smiles). The other one I'd chose since The Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi have already received it would be one of the monks who led the peaceful protests in Burma recently. Feel free to vote for one I mentioned or one you thought of.

~Peace to all beings~

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Extra Special This Year.

I'm sure Dr. King would be very proud to see the first viable African American candidate for president in Senator Barack Obama. Who also became the first African American candidate to win the Iowa caucus.

It is a huge achievement for a country that has been so bitterly divided by race and we should not fail to note how important this is regardless of who wins the nomination for the Democratic Party.

We know, however, that there is still much to do when an entire city of mostly African American citizens is flooded and left helpless by an out of touch government. We know that there is still much to do when we see a noose hanging from a tree in a school yard in that same state. We know that there is still work to be done in knowing that our prison system is disproportionately filled with young African-American men. We know that we still have mountains to climb when the confederate flag still flies in South Carolina and Mississippi.

Dr. King was a humble man who was friends with the Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh and would nominate the meek Buddhist for the Nobel Peace Prize. Which showed how selfless King was as he was already a great man of peace himself at that time. But like Nhat Hanh King was bigger than his ego and that is what made his efforts into a movement that literally changed a country.

It is a wonderful reminder of oneness, that we can not accomplish great things in this world without joining together and living the reality of inter-being. It was no wonder that King and Nhat Hanh bonded in friendship as Buddhism fits beautifully into the civil rights leaders vision of a united community of brother and sisters.

May we keep Dr. King's dream alive and keep striving forward for greater equality amongst all people.

Let us not become complaisant and lull ourselves into sleep thinking that racism and segregation do not exist in 2008. Let us join hands and unite to continue to bring this country and world together as one and never cease to break down walls of injustice and discrimination.

I will close this post with the words of the great man of peace himself, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior:

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

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