Aung San Suu Kyi

LQ: How did Aung San’s Buddhist beliefs affect her life?

Early Life

Aung San Suu Kyi was born on June 19th, 1945, daughter of Myanmar’s
independence hero, Aung San, who was assassinated when she was only two
years old.

Aung San Suu Kyi was educated in Myanmar, India, and the United Kingdom.
While studying at Oxford University, she met Michael Aris, a Tibet scholar who
she married in 1972. They had two sons, Alexander and Kim.

Return to Myanmar

Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Myanmar in 1988 to nurse her dying mother, and
soon became engaged in the country’s nationwide democracy uprising. The
military regime responded to the uprising with brute force, killing up to 5,000
demonstrators on 8th August 1988.

Following a military coup on 18th September 1988, on 24th September 1988 a new pro-democracy party, the
National League for Democracy, was formed. Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed General Secretary. Aung San Suu Kyi
gave numerous speeches calling for freedom and democracy, and political activities continued across the country.

1990 Elections
Facing increasing domestic and international pressure, the dictatorship was forced to call a general election, held in
1990.

As Aung San Suu Kyi began to campaign for the NLD, she and many others were detained by the regime. Aung San
Suu Kyi was banned from personally standing in the election. Despite conditions around the elections being far from
free and fair with Aung San Suu Kyi and other democracy activists being detained, biased media, and intimidation of
politicians, the voting on the day was relatively free and fair. The NLD won a staggering 82% of the seats in
Parliament. The dictatorship never recognised the results of the election, and refused to hand over power. Since
then and until the last 18 months, she has been under house arrest.

In a collection of her writings, Freedom from Fear, she asserts that Buddhism
and dictatorship contradict each other, because Buddhism places the highest
value on every individual's ability to attain Buddhahood, while authoritarian
regimes devalue individuals, turning them into a "faceless, mindless—and
helpless—mass to be manipulated at will." She also asserts that the Buddhist
emphasis on righteousness and virtue supports the idea of political protest
when a regime is unjust, as opposed to non-engagement, which some
Buddhist traditions have historically taught. She believes that as long as
protests are non-violent, and therefore do not violate the precept to do no
harm, they are an expression of Buddhist virtues and practice. Like the
Buddha, she talks about the hindrance of fear, but in political terms, as in this
quote from her most famous speech:

"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of
power corrupts those who are subject to it."

Task 1: Summarise Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation in 3 detailed sentences.

U2’s Bono wrote a song called Walk On as a tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi.

It is written in the form of a supporting, uplifting anthem, praising

her for her activism and fighting for freedom in Myanmar. She has
been intermittently under house arrest since 1989 for her efforts.
Due to the political tribute of this album, those in Myanmar
caught with possession of either the single for this song or the
album All That You Can't Leave Behind could face a prison
sentence lasting between three and twenty years.

Listen to the words as you read the lyrics.

And love is not the easy thing Stay safe tonight

The only baggage you can bring... And I know it aches
And love is not the easy thing... And your heart it breaks
The only baggage you can bring And you can only take so much
Is all that you can't leave behind Walk on, walk on

And if the darkness is to keep us apart Home... hard to know what it is if you’ve never had one

And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off Home... I can’t say where it is but I know I'm going home

And if your glass heart should crack That's where the hurt is

And for a second you turn back

Oh no, be strong I know it aches
How your heart it breaks

Walk on, walk on And you can only take so much

What you got they can’t steal it Walk on, walk on

No they can’t even feel it

Walk on, walk on... Leave it behind, You've got to leave it behind

Stay safe tonight All that you fashion

All that you make
You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been All that you build
A place that has to be believed to be seen All that you break
You could have flown away All that you measure
A singing bird in an open cage All that you feel
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
Walk on, walk on All that you sense
What you've got they can't deny it All that you speak
Can’t sell it, can’t buy it All you dress up
Walk on, walk on All that you scheme...

Task 2
Read the Resource Sheet 1 - Aung San Suu Kyi’s story. What should she do?
Imagine Aung San Suu Kyi asks you for advice. What would you say?
Read the 9 pieces of advice on the sheet carefully. Place them in a diamond 9, in order from
the most to the least useful advice.
Write down what your advice would be in the light of these using at least three reasons for
your advice.

Dear Aung San, I understand that you have a terrible decision to make. It
can’t be easy, but I think you need to…
I would understand if you decided to…, because…
But the reasons to… are greater. For example…