Monks under the Eye of the Junta

On the two-year anniversary of the monk-led September mass demonstrations, the military junta keeps a close eye on the estimated 400,000 Buddhist monks in Burma with continued surveillance and propaganda in the media. 

Security forces are present at the annual examinations for monks from Sept. 14 to 30 at Sangha [Monk] University in Rangoon.

About 60 soldiers are stationed in the university compound, according to monks taking examinations.

Meanwhile, in recent months publications in Rangoon and other cities have printed stories warning people of the dangers of a division between Theravada Buddhists and Mahayana Buddhists. Most Burmese are Theravada Buddhist.

The papers accused well-known Buddhist writers such as Parugu, Aye Maung, Chit Nge, Ashin Thoma Buddhi and Kyaw Hein, a veteran actor turned monk, as fostering confusion among Buddhists. 

A main target of the stories is a former political prisoner, Ashin Nyana, a monk who exposes an alternative view of Buddhism that differs from traditional Theravada Buddhism. Since the 1980s, Ashin Nyana has advocated what he calls Paccuppanna [the present] Karma Buddhism. Unlike most monks in Burma who wear saffron robes, he wears sky blue robes.

He was charged with discrediting Buddhism in 1983 and served three years in prison. He was arrested again in 1991and received a 10-year prison sentence. He was released in 1998 in an amnesty.

“People are saying now that these papers were published by the Military Affairs Security [military intelligence] or the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association to create dissension among monks,” said a journalist in Rangoon.

In fact, Buddhism actually promotes critical thinking. The Kalama Sutta said: “Do not accept anything by mere tradition...Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures...Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your pre-conceived notions...But when you know for yourselves—these things are moral, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when performed and undertaken, conduce to well-being and happiness—then do you live acting accordingly.”

Correspondent Ba Saw Tin contributed reporting from Bangkok.