The lessons from Myanmar There has recently been a reaction in the press towards the attitude which

is considered not only unprecedented but also impressive in relation to the massive resistance of the Buddhist Monks in Myanmar, in the Southeast Asia, against the military junta, established in the country since 1 !" which keeps under house arrest Aung San Suu #yi, 1 1 $obel %eace %ri&e and legitimate winner of the 1 ' presidential elections , whose results, have not been officially recogni&ed, yet( The passiveness typically of the Buddhists, the )unusual* of a movement headed by monks and the pressure of the western media for more democracy contribute to a series of surprises which do not take the most lessons of this process( Actually, it deals with a comple+ process of fights for human dignity, which embrace 1,- different ethnic groups, within a territory that was a British colony until 1 ./, and that is under rigid control concerning the internet access, means of communication and banking system 0credit cards and ATMs are rarely and e+change currency is done by official e+change, which means a financial loss of more than -'12( A country occupied by 3apan, under a socialist regimen and with /'1 of the population followers of Theravada Buddhism, it is a clear e+ample of the cultural diversity, of the interethnic relationship and above all, these things are e+otic for our 4urocentric western eyes( Among a large symbolic and cultural spectrum shared with other countries from the Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, the protests have some lessons that stand out from the fight of what we have conventionali&ed to call human rights, and whose declaration, parado+ically, was signed, originally, by the former Burma( 5irstly, because the western seculari&ation tends to hide the importance of the religion in the Asian conte+t, as a political and social factor, and the role of the spirituality in the struggle for a better world( %erhaps the secular language is not always the most ade6uate nor plausible nor intelligible to convey such struggles( Secondly, because the fight for human dignity, in this case, is not done despite the Buddhism but due to it( Suu #yi7s fight platform, in the 1 ' elections, was e+tremely ingenious in the sense of trying to take from Myanmar7s cultural tradition, the fundamental elements to overcome the fear of tyranny, seek for the ideas for a fair and good society, the relationship in the plurality, the conciliatory nature and corruption combat that in the Buddhism has four principles8 a2 chanda9gati, corruption induced by desire: b2 dosa9gati, biased conduct on account of dislike: c2 moga9gati,aberration due to ignorance: d2 bhaya9gati , daughter of the fear, that destroys the sense of right and wrong and it is ) in the root of the three forms of corruptions already mentioned*( ;ather than being an alien tradition, she aims to demonstrate that the fight for )social and personal integrity* was deep rooted in the culture of the country, not resulting in a fight for power, but in an authentic )translation* and )cultural legitimacy* of a fight for the )human rights* Thirdly, because sharing with the <induism the belief in the )dharma*, the Buddhism emphasi&es the character of cohesion , of duty to the world and of inter relationship between the parts and whole, it dialogues with =andhi7s fights of )satyagraha* 0 fight for truth2 and )ahimsa* 0 non9violence2in a broad sense of peace, as a proactive and shared movement, in a continent subjugated by >ra6 and Afghan invasions, of the nuclear risk represented by the neighbors , >ndia and %akistan, and under increasing influence of ?hina( 5ourthly, because, far from being an isolated movement, the monks from Myanmar are united in what has been agreed to call

)engaged Buddhism*, settled in the states of )metta* 0loving9kindness2, )karuna* 0compassion2, )mudita* 0sympathetic joy2 and )upekka* 0e6uanimity2, and of which Sulak Sivaraksa, critic of the military coup in Thailand and in favor of the revitali&ation of the )noble truths*, is one of the greatest representatives( 5ifthly, because it is assented that the understanding of the world is not reduced into a western conception of it and therefore, the fight for human rights is also a fight for cognitive justice 0Boaventura Santos2( According to @pendra Ba+i, >ndia7s scholar , ) we cannot take rights seriously without taking suffering seriously*, turning it visible and reducing it, in every part of the world and under the most different ways( Much of the human suffering is not recogni&ed as human rights violations( There is a ) pluriverse* of discourses and practices of liberation and the need for dialogue, solidarity and intercultural alliances between them( And at this point the )South* has more to teach the )$orth* than to learn from it( An the eve of =andhi7s si+tieth death anniversary and the Beclaration of <uman ;ights, these lessons are not of small magnitude(