- When I first started studying Buddhism over twenty-five
years ago, I deeply connected with a number of Buddhist monks from Burma.
They were of the "Therevadan" tradition, which is the "way
of the elders," the most ancient Buddhist lineage. They were "forest
monks" who lived in the forest and followed as completely as possible
the way of the Buddha. They only ate one meal each day by noon and they
only ate what was offered to them. The only possessions they owned were
a robe and a begging bowl. They could literally sit in meditation all day,
moment by moment just watching their mind. They didn't sleep lying down
but sat up all night in meditation position. They were some of the most
amazing and kind human beings I have ever encountered.
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- These Buddhist monks were "awake" in a way
I had never experienced before. They seemed totally unselfconscious, very
happy, and incredibly joyful. It seemed like all they wanted to do was
to help people. Simply being in their presence was literally mind-blowing.
It was as if they were all connected through the heart with each other,
as if they existed in a higher, more expansive, and freer dimension of
our being. I had never before experienced being around other human beings
who had a palpable spiritual vibration that was effortlessly radiating
through their hearts. These Burmese Buddhist monks were tapped into and
embodying nothing other than love. It was one of the most profound blessings
of my life to have spent some time with these monks. It felt like they
were teaching me in everything they did: the way they walked, the way they
ate, the way they did anything.
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- What is currently happening in Burma is a crystallization
of a collective psychosis that is ravaging our planet. This psychic epidemic,
what I call "malignant egophrenia" (please see my article Diagnosis:
Psychic Epidemic, click here) pervades the entire field of consciousness,
which is to say it is not localized in one place or limited in time, in
that it exists everywhere in potential at any moment. What is happening
in Burma is a localized, acute outbreak of a nonlocal, virulent, pathogen
that has infected the global body politic. The situation in Burma is an
out-picturing on the world stage of a deeper, archetypal process that exists
enfolded within the collective unconscious of our species. What is being
played out in Burma is a living "symbol" of a deeper, mythic
process which is currently en-acting itself in a variety of scenarios around
the world. Being a timeless, archetypal process that has materialized into
our time-bound reality, it can be recognized to be an amplified version
of what can happen or what actually is currently happening in the U. S.,
as our country becomes more and more a military, police state, which oppresses
the freedom of its citizenry.
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- What is happening in Burma is the latest manifestation
of the underlying psychic epidemic into which our species has fallen prey,
simultaneously revealing the collective psychosis in bold relief for all
who have eyes to see. Something is being revealed to us through what is
materializing in Burma: the underlying world process, which is also incarnating
itself in the Middle East, in the U. S. and all over the world, is crystallizing
itself into a fully clarified symbol. The situation in Burma is only the
latest iteration of an archetypal process that has played itself out throughout
human history.
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- On the one hand are the Buddhist monks, who are truly
revered by the people of Burma, and who genuinely represent the will of
the people. The monks are devout followers of the Buddha, "the awakened
one," who taught that "Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only
by love, this is the eternal rule." The monks are holding up signs
saying things like "Stop Violence" and "We are compassionate.
Why are you killing us?" What clearer expression do we need to reflect
the insanity that pervades our planet? As if actors in a cosmic play, the
Buddhist monks are re-presenting the role of loving-kindness, of compassion.
They are even carrying a victory banner which reads, "Love and kindness
must win over everything." While nonviolently protesting the abuse
of power, they are chanting the "Metta Thoke," the "loving-kindness
sutra," which sends out and shares loving-kindness and its merit to
all living beings, including the militarized government who are oppressing
them. They are literally embodying the very teachings of both Buddha and
Christ.
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- On the other hand is the militaristic government, which
represents the will of the elite few. They rule by force, by "might
makes right." Whereas the monks embody love, the generals and their
minions re-present the ultimate abuse and perversion of power. Seen symbolically,
the militarized government re-presents the very opposite of both love and
of life itself, which is to say they represent, in full-bodied form, the
archetypal quality of "evil." An archetypal, timeless drama is
being played out in Burma between the monks and the military, freedom and
oppression, and good and evil. But like Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy
leader and Nobel laureate says, "There will be change because all
the military have are guns." People, groups, or nations who abuse
their power over others invariably self-destruct; it is merely a question
of time.
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- When what is happening in Burma is viewed symbolically
and seen as a dreaming process - as an externalized reflection of something
going on deep inside the collective unconscious of humanity - it is recognized
that the opposites of archetypal good and evil, embodied in the figures
of the monks and the military junta, are completely polarized and split,
encountering each other in living, breathing, form through the Burmese
theater. The very opposites, which animate the extreme tension in the world
psyche, are being played out on the world stage for all to see.
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- Recognizing what the situation in Burma is "symbolically"
revealing to us is to have an expansion of consciousness. When recognized
as a symbol of the deeper process that is incarnating throughout the collective
body politic, including within ourselves, the horror that is playing out
in Burma can activate our lucidity and help wake us up. We can only recognize
what is symbolically being revealed to us if we realize that the people
in Burma, both the monks and the military thugs, are not separate from
ourselves. To see symbolically is to recognize that, just like a dream,
all characters in the situation in Burma are interconnected aspects of
ourselves. The energetic expression of our realization is loving-kindness
and compassion for all these various and multiple parts of ourselves.
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- Having loving-kindness and compassion, however, does
not mean doing nothing. It does not mean that we let abuse happen when
we are in a position to stop it. We should not forget to take what is happening
in Burma "literally" too, which means we should listen to what
the people in Burma, these parts of ourselves are saying: "Help!"
In their cry is a part of ourselves calling for help. Let us hear their
cries, which are none other than our own, and answer.
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- To show your solidarity with the Burmese people, and
support the movement for peace and democracy in Burma, please sign the
following emergency petition.
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- http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php
- To access this article on-line, where you can also email
it to a friend, click here:
- http://www.awakeninthedream.com/artis/wearecompassionate.html
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- Paul Levy is an artist and a spiritually-informed political
activist. A pioneer in the field of spiritual awakening, he is a healer
in private practice, assisting others who are also awakening to the dream-like
nature of reality. He is the author of The Madness of George Bush: A Reflection
of Our Collective Psychosis, which is available on his website www.awakeninthedream.com
(to read the first chapter, click http://www.awakeninthedream.com/georgew.html).
Please feel free to pass this article along to a friend if you feel so
inspired. You can contact Paul at paul@awakeninthedream.com; he looks forward
to your reflections. © Copyright 2007
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