Some of the best coverage of the revolution in Burma is done by Al Jazeera's youtube account:

Latest news is that the monks are not afraid and they will be back.

A few years ago I did a meditation at the Vipassana center in Rangoon. I keep remembering something that I was told there now....

2500 years ago Buddha made a prophecy that the true method of meditation that he used to attain nirvana would be kept alive within the golden land of Burma for 2500 years. After this time period it would spread from Burma around the world and enlighten mankind.

Seeing the monks and their fearless demand for human rights in the face of such extreme brutality is incredible. They are standing up for the rights of all people in the face of greed and exploitation.

Now we are hearing that Thailand is turning back refugees from it's border and shipping them back by the boat-load. Burma is supplying Thailand with a lot of electricity, while the Burmese people are on a system of rotation. We are also hearing that China is refusing to allow Burmese monks sanctuary as well.

Please continue to put pressure on China. Avoid buying Chinese made toys and shoes. Request retailers such as Walmart and Target to not buy from China. For more ideas on how to boycott Chinese goods please see: Boycott China this also provides you with a list of alternative toys that are not made in China.

Dear All,

Internet connections have been pretty much nonexistent since last Wednesday late in the day.

Things are very, very, VERY tense inside the country. In Yangon, many people are staying at home, keeping family close. Most people are at the very least getting in huge stocks of food, water and fuel. The hoarding is pretty amazing. People are locking their houses and gates earlier or all the time. The traffic (where there aren't road blocks) is very light. But still you can see people riding buses, selling fruit, building houses, etc., and trying to carry on with their daily routine. It isn't easy to do. Last week in Yangon, some people arrived at work in the downtown area on Wednesday morning and found themselves unable to return home for at least the following three nights, because the area of the city they were in was locked down while they were at work - no one was able to go in or out. The 9PM-5AM curfew in effect throughout Yangon and other major cities is already having an impact on lots of businesses.

Right now, the army appears to have the upper hand: they have demonstrated a willingness to shoot to kill, they've effectively shut down internet and most of the cell phone communications, and they have periodically disrupted landline phone service, as well. There continue to be some mild taunting and random acts of violence that demonstrate the levels of rage and fear that exist between groups, but mostly everyone is waiting to see if the monks made a Plan B to follow when Plan A was disrupted. It was clear the monks who began the "walking" had a plan, but how deep that plan went, what types of contingencies they were prepared for, etc., is very hard to say.

The monks raised the specter of the regime's long violence and oppression very effectively. Along with that, they revealed a deep void where strong Buddhist sentiments were always claimed to exist. The question is, now that has happened, what will keep the level of awareness high and the oppression and injustice acknowledged, AND what comes next???

Even in Myitkyina, a mostly non-Buddhist city way north in Kachin State, monks came out of the monasteries and walked, and paid a heavy price, including some monks being beaten to death. In Yangon, there were the biggest protests.

As you have heard, people have been shot or beaten to death, both monks and lay people, because of their involvement in or witnessing of the protests. But there have also been midnight raids on monasteries, where monks have been beaten and dragged off to be put in (rumor has it) a stadium on the outskirts of Yangon proper, where they have been left without adequate water, sanitation or food.

Monks who have escaped the roundups and have sought refuge in people's houses have been caught in the army's house-to-house searches. These same general themes hold true in any place where protests are taking place, not just Yangon. (In at least one case outside Yangon, young monks from a "government" monastery who disobeyed their abbott and joined the marches were turned over to the army by the abbott as punishment!!! However, that doesn't appear to be the norm.)

The people who give shelter, food or water to monks are also rounded up and carted away. Even many monasteries that haven't been participating in the marches are locked down and guarded by soldiers. No one goes in or out without permission, so there's no adequate food and water there, either.

It is important to note that the first monks in Yangon who were killed by the army died at the most revered pagoda in all of Burma, on a sacred, full moon day. The regime is clearly willing to do whatever it takes to keep their hold on power, AND they are very afraid of the political power of the monks.

What may not be so expected, at least from the outside, is the random acts of violence that are sparking up all over as the rage spills over. Thus the stories of army trucks being driven into a crowd of people at a market, or children getting out of school just when soldiers are chasing a group of people who have been taunting the soldiers, and suddenly school children are shot. This type of random violence is a pattern in Burma whenever things heat up. A few differences this time around are that the monks are so clearly the leaders of the protests (not so much the students); the regime has revealed its willingness to kill monks and violate pagodas, something we have never seen before; and we've also never seen them actually target foreigners with their violence, which they have done this time, although that isn't widespread.


Right now, life goes on - it's weird and very tense, but it goes on nonetheless.