Taking Right Action

www.sharonsalzberg.com

Taking Action

 

“One of the primary conditions for suffering is denial. Shutting our mind to pain, whether in ourselves or others, only ensures that it will continue. We must have the strength to face it without turning away. By opening to the pain we see around us with wisdom and compassion, we start to experience the intimate connection of our relationship with all beings.”

 

Please call for the release of
Aung San Suu Kyi!

Support Suu Kyi and the people of Burma during their time of struggle, and encourage your friends to do the same. www.uscampaignforburma.org

 

Exemplars of Social Change:

Aung San Suu Kyi

I urge you to join me in support of the release of Aung San Suu Kyi who is currently under house-arrest in Burma. 

Aung San Suu Kyi, president-elect and leader of the pro-democracy movement in Burma, was placed under house arrest in 1989. While still confined, she received the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Suu Kyi's sons were 16 and 12 when she was arrested, and she was not able to see them again for years. It was over two years before she saw her husband again.

Describing her imprisonment, Suu Kyi writes, "I refused to accept anything from the military. Sometimes I didn't even have enough money to eat. I became so weak from malnourishment that my hair fell out, and I couldn't get out of bed." 

Despite the depth of her suffering, Suu Kyi later said, "When I compared notes with my colleagues in the democracy movement in Burma who have suffered long terms of imprisonment, we found that an enhanced appreciation of metta (lovingkindness) was a common experience.  We had known and felt both the effects of metta and the unwholesomeness of natures lacking in metta."

Once, when Suu Kyi was walking down a village road with several followers, soldiers jumped out of a jeep, aimed their guns and prepared to fire. Suu Kyi waved away her supporters and walked toward the soldiers alone. At the last minute a superior officer arrived and rescinded the orders. Suu Kyi later said, “Courage comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions.” 

Her steadfast commitment to her spiritual practice in such frightening situations and personal loss is tremendously inspiring. Suu Kyi has said, “The spiritual dimension becomes particularly important in a struggle in which deeply held convictions and strength of mind are the chief weapons against armed repression.”

 

 

 

Engaged Spirituality

Sharon Salzberg has made a personal commitment to support social activism for positive change. She undertakes outreach to social change groups and teaches meditation practices for activists. At the Garrison Institute, her work includes meditation training for domestic violence social workers to alleviate vicarious trauma. “Collaborating with dedicated people who care for those in great suffering allows me to penetrate further into the reality of life rather than staying on the surface.”   

Her goal is to integrate social activism and an understanding of interconnectedness. “Social justice work can create a sense of being the adversary. When this degenerates into a dualistic sense of self and other, bitterness and anger often arise. Activists experience burnout and despair. I aspire to offer practices for transcending this dualistic world view.”

Her efforts widen the definition of social activism. “We express dharma in a form suitable to our understanding and needs. Being a fully committed artist is no less significant to making a better world than someone counseling trauma victims or walking picket lines. Caring about others can manifest in many different ways.”

 

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