As the rain poured down, Aung San Suu Kyi walked out with two other women and cried as she waved to the monks, witnesses said.
They stopped outside her home for about 15 minutes and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "May we be completely free from all danger, may we be completely free from all grief, may we be completely free from poverty, may we have peace in heart and mind."
Some of their supporters broke into tears as they joined in with their own refrain, chanting: "Long life and health for Aung San Suu Kyi, may she have freedom soon." Agence France Press, 9-22-07
Human Rights Update 9-24-07:
By Richard Power
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has spent eleven of the last eighteen years in detention.
Aung San Suu Kyi sheds tears of joy
The rain of mercy falls on the marching monks.
And as Lao-Tzu wrote thousands of years ago, water erodes stone:
Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water.
Yet for attacking the solid and strong, nothing is better;
It has no equal.
The weak can overcome the strong;
The supple can overcome the stiff.
Under heaven everyone knows this,
Yet no one puts it into practice.
Therefore the sage says:
He who takes upon himself the humiliation of the people
is fit to rule them.
He who takes upon himself the country's disasters deserves
to be king of the universe.
The truth often seems paradoxical. (Tao Te Ching, #78)
The All Monks Burmese Alliance is calling on the people to stand outside their homes for 15 minutes of prayer at 8:00 pm, each evening for three days, starting Sunday, 9-24-07.
That would UCT/GMT 13:30:00 from 9/23/07 thru 9/25/07. (Rangoon/Yangon time is UCT/GMT plus 6:30 hours)
I urge you to join me in standing with them, wherever you are. (Click here for a World Clock to help you determine your local time.)
It doesn't matter if anyone knows what you are doing, or why you are doing it. The elements -- earth, wind, fire, water and ether -- will know what you are doing, and why. The energy of love and peace you generate (a.k.a. bodhicitta) will be drawn on to turn the Wheel of the Good Law for Aung San Suu Kyi and the long-suffering people of Burma.
Stepping out of her home in tears, Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi greeted Buddhist monks Saturday in a landmark moment for a swelling protest movement against the military junta.
Armed guards usually block the road leading to the rambling lakeside house, but in an unprecedented move, they allowed about 1,000 monks and an equal number of their supporters to walk past the place where she has been detained for 12 of the past 18 years.
As the rain poured down, Aung San Suu Kyi walked out with two other women and cried as she waved to the monks, witnesses said.
They stopped outside her home for about 15 minutes and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "May we be completely free from all danger, may we be completely free from all grief, may we be completely free from poverty, may we have peace in heart and mind."
Some of their supporters broke into tears as they joined in with their own refrain, chanting: "Long life and health for Aung San Suu Kyi, may she have freedom soon."
There was no interruption from about 20 uniformed security police, who had opened the roadblock. After the monks left the road was again closed.
The witnesses said Aung San Suu Kyi did not appear to speak to the monks, who have been leading an escalating show of strength that has left the junta facing its most prolonged challenge in nearly two decades. ...
Meanwhile, an underground Buddhist group calling itself the All Burma Monks Alliance issued a statement calling for nationwide prayer vigils.
The group said clergy would lead a "people's alliance" that would "struggle peacefully against the evil military dictatorship till its complete downfall."
The vigils would start from Sunday for three days, and the group urged the public to stand outside their homes for 15 minutes of prayers at 8:00 pm each evening. Agence France Press, 9-22-07
Some Related Posts
GS(3) Thunderbolt 9-14-07: In Pakistan, the Dharma Repels an Attack; In Burma, the Dharma Sparks an Uprising
Human Rights Update 6-12-07: Remember Aung San Suu Kyi, Honor Her Sacrifice, Reflect on Your Own Freedom & What You Choose to Do With It
Hard Rain Journal 1-8-07: Human Rights and Environmental Security Update from Burma, Cambodia and Mekong River
Words of Power #24: Lost Symbols, Part One – Aung San Suu Kyi, AQ Khan, & The World Tree
For a directory of Words of Power Human Rights Updates, click here.
Aung San Suu Kyi,Burma, Human Rights, Richard Power, Words of Power
