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multinational corporations to fund their violence, and
it is up to us to divest from these businesses. We cannot
live a life of non-harming if we are helping to fund
oppressive militaries and genocide.

Buddhism is always portrayed as a religion of peace
and non-violence. How can we explain the Rohingya
crisis or the military coup since Myanmar is a
devout Buddhist country?

Spirit in Education Project, Cambodia
The Buddha warned that we would struggle to maintain
his teachings. Even the Sangha is subject to corruption
— this is what the Buddha called the decline of the
Sasana. In Myanmar, extremist monks in the 969
Movement claim that Buddhism must be protected
from Islam. They claim that the Rohingya, who are
Muslim, threaten the purity of Buddhism — but really,
it’s the 969 Movement and their hateful rhetoric that
threatens Buddhism. This why we started the Buddhist
Humanitarian Project, as a vehicle for addressing these
issues from within the Buddhist community – and as a
Spirit in Education Project, Thailand
way to provide aid to the Rohingya refugees.

memories. Forgiving is about accepting, and letting go.
When considering issues of conflict and community, an
interesting book is The Buddha’s Teachings on Social and
When I asked Heather about forgiving, she told me to
Communal Harmony, which was edited by the Venerable
read The Book of Forgiving by Archbishop Desmond
Bhikkhu Bodhi. It’s a comprehensive collection
Tutu and Reverend Mpho Tutu. This isn’t a Buddhist
of Theravada suttas. The book emerged through
book, the authors are Catholic, but the book is profound.
conversations with students studying at Nagaloka in
It comes out of the post-Apartheid South Africa, when
Nagpur, India. These is a community who was deemed
the South African people were tasked with healing their
Untouchable within the Indian caste system, and
country after the years of atrocities committed by the
through seeking an alternative to this oppression, they
National Party government. The book is quite personal,
converted to Buddhism.
and I highly recommend it. Mpho Tutu talks about her
own process of healing after a murder occurred in her
When we look at the suttas, we see that the Buddha
own home.
didn’t ignore conflicts. He had profound compassion
and ethics, but he didn’t sit around telling everyone to
It’s important to consider the timeliness of forgiveness.
play nice. Sometimes the Buddha would censure people,
When we are still very angry, we can’t force ourselves
or even tell them to leave the community.
to forgive. If harm is actively happening, we might
need to focus first on ending the harm. Forgiveness is,
Is forgetting the same as forgiveness?
in my experience, a process — all we can do is locate
ourselves somewhere within that process. Forgiveness
I wondered about that for a long time, but I don’t think
has its own timeline.
so. I don’t think we need to forget in order to forgive. If
we try to forget something, if we are intentional about
How can we have compassion for those who commit
it, we are probably just pushing away the feelings or the
cruelty to others?

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