The Endangered Soul of the Burmese Sangha

Photo by Dylan Goldby, WelkinLight Photography

These are the words I did not want to write, because I know they'll cut deep. They might even sever some cherished bonds and friendships. It gives me no pleasure to speak ill of the saffron-robbed sons of Buddha. Yet, write I must, lest my silence makes me complicit in the acts of transgression I see. Years later, if someone asks me why I did not repudiate the wrongs of my era, I shall be able to say, I did. And this is what I said:

They call it The Race-Protection Act (Myo Saunt Upade in Burmese). It's meant to prevent Burmese Buddhist girls from marrying people of a different faith, specifically Muslims. It's modeled after the laws in Malaysia and Singapore restricting interfaith marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims. In order to seal such a union, the non-Muslim would have to convert. The Burmese Buddhist version would require "any Buddhist woman seeking to marry a Muslim man to first gain permission from her parents and local government officials. It also requires any Muslim man who marries a Buddhist woman to convert to Buddhism ... Those who do not follow these rules could face up to 10 years in prison and have their property confiscated," reported The Irrawaddy ("Monks’ Convention in Burma Calls for Restricting Buddhist-Muslim Marriage," June 13, 2013). It was drafted by a contingent of Burmese Buddhist monks at a Sangha convention in the town of Hmawbi, about 40 miles up Hlaing River from Rangoon. They planned to submit it to the Parliament for legislation.

This draft law is, in my view, the works of misguided minds. It's an example of the streaks of xenophobia and paranoia that lurk beneath some Sanghas' robes. It's a symptom of the cancer that's gnawing away the Burmese Buddhist Order's tolerant spirit. There are monks who find this law as objectionable as I do, I'm sure. But the fact that such a measure was proposed, discussed, and penned before an assembly of more than 200 monks, including some senior abbots, showed an erosion of wisdom and commonsense in certain circles of this ancient institution.

Wirathu on TIME cover, July 2013

A week after the proposed bill became public, leading women's groups roundly criticized it. Official objections came from the Karen Women’s Action Group, the 88 Generation Students Women Network, the Triangle Women Support Group, and the Rainfall Gender Study Group. Though I belong to a different gender, I can understand the sisterhood's outrage. How dare a bunch of self-righteous monks presume to think they can infringe on a woman's right to choose, to dictate who she could and could not marry? The original authors of this so-called Race-Protection Act appeared to have lost their nerves. In the final statements issued after the assembly in Hmawbi, the bill was not mentioned ("Monks’ Conference Calls for Peace, Drops Interfaith Marriage Restrictions Plan," June 17, 2013).

Wirathu, the controversial monk who advocates boycotting Muslim businesses in Burma, is one of the ardent supporters of the marriage-restriction measure. The Act, he suggests, is meant "to protect Buddhist women's freedom," The Irrawaddy reported. This was one of the ideas concocted at a gathering that was supposed to be seeking ways to resolve the raging sectarian conflicts, mostly involving Buddhist and Muslims in Burma.

The two most recent bouts of riots reportedly stemmed from a Muslim jewel shop owner's mistreatment of a Buddhist customer, the murder of a Buddhist monk (in Mithila), and another Muslim man's assault on a Burmese woman (in Lashio), but the fiery retribution the Buddhist majority has unleashed upon the innocent Muslims and their places of worship is quite shocking. It shows a lack of restraint, fueled by irresponsible rhetoric. The communal violence has tarnished and possibly done irreparable damage to the Burmese people's  international reputation for hospitality and kindness. The presence of saffron-robbed figures in the mob is a black eye to the Sangha.

In Burma and its neighboring countries, the monks occupy an honored position. As emblems of the region's religious tradition, they're almost beyond reproach. By that, I don't mean they're blameless. Quite the opposite. Their special status insulates them from criticism they sometimes rightly deserve. In some monasteries patronized by wealthy merchants, monks revel in luxury, strutting around in Ray-Ban sunglasses, chauffeured in Mercedes -- not exactly consistent with the ascetic lifestyle preached by the Buddha. Though monastic rules forbid monks from sensory indulgences, I often saw younger monks securing front-row seats at concerts, dance performances, and movie houses. All these deviations from the prescribed path to Salvation, of course, undermine the Sangha's spiritual authority. The public often overlook them because they believe the essence of the Sangha -- its soul -- is still sacred and pure.

The Burmese Sangha garnered international praise and respect when they stood up to the Military Regime's batons, boots, and bayonets in 2007. They took to the street to air the common folks' grievances. In those turbulent months, they were the model of courage and restraint. They faced the Burmese Army's riffles with no more than a prayer and a begging bowl. And they paid dearly for siding with the underdog.

If that was the Burmese Sangha's high point, the introduction of the Race-Protection Act dreamt up by Wirathu and his faction may be its low point. In its desperate overreach, in its claim of unmerited authority, the document stands as a testament to the hateful prejudice that festers in the Buddha's blind spot. And it's the duty of everyone who cherishes the soul of the Sangha to shine a bright light on it and shame it out of existence.

I wrote these anguished passages in the restless hours of the night, not because I'm a Buddhist but because I believe in Compassion.

For More:

YouTube clip of Wirathu defending the Marriage Restriction Law, in a video report from DVB (in Burmese with English subtitles).
"Monks’ Convention in Burma Calls for Restricting Buddhist-Muslim Marriage," The Irrawaddy, June 13, 2013 (in English).
Slideshow of Burmese Buddhist Monk Convention, June 13, 2013, BBC Burmese.
"Monks Convene in Hmawbi for Discussions," June 13, 2013 (in Burmese).
"The Face of Buddhist Terror," a story on Wirathu, TIME, July 2013