The Conciousness of a Nation, The Tooth of a Leader

September 25, 2007

Burma is a land of chaos. While former British colonies have all responded differently to a remarkably changing world, Burma has languished. India is now a sprawling democracy and Hong Kong is an economic wonderland, but Burma remains the most ruined of them all, seemingly unable to remember how to stand on its own two feet.

Cyclically, it seems, ripples build into a cataclysmic wave as the common will of the people lash out against oppressive forces that condemn them to live a life of toil and misery. Always, and unfailing, they have had Buddhism, and their monks, to turn to in times of the most desperate and frantic sorrow. That glorious religion has been the thin veneer between a life of abject horror and a life of tumultuous perseverance.

Now, once again, as in the past, the monks have had enough. They are probably the only force on this planet that could possibly hope to dislodge the current regime. Apart from an all out carpet bombing of the country, the reigns are so tight there that no foreign contingent could ever hope to bring freedom to the land. This is a regime that spent millions on a clandestine, overnight transfer of the capital into the mountains all on advice given, allegedly, by a psychic. This is a land governed by the most unjust, backward government in recent memory. The vast wealth garnered from abundant oil and timber resources, not to mention the blatant drug industry, has made the small ruling class filthy rich.

This is a government that honestly doesn’t care what the rest of the world thinks. Years ago, after intense pressure from the international community and the UN calling on Burma to stop their drug trade, the government staged a massive photo-op and invited all of the major dignitaries in the fight against drugs. They invited them to a large field, full of poppies and gleefully chopped down stalk after stalk, making a big show of clearing the field in front of the assembled masses.

Photos were taken that day and splashed on major newspapers all over the world with headlines proclaiming Burma’s commitment to ending the drug trade. After closer inspection of the photos, however, it was reveled that the plants that were destroyed had already been harvested, the ingredients already extracted. They were simply clearing away dead plants to make way for the new crop. When the real intentions were made public, the government merely shrugged and kept exploiting the country. Such blatant disregard is both comical and terrifying.

Then there’s the story of the legitimacy of the government itself. In Burma, the most important part of life is religion– namely, Buddhism. For all of the human rights violations committed by the regime, originally named the sinister sounding SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council), the violation of the religious rights may be more jarring. For a Buddhist, a devout follower of the Buddha’s teachings, few, if any relics are more sacred than parts of the body of the Buddha himself. Legend goes that upon Buddha’s departure from the physical world, he was cut into thousands of pieces and given to different orders and sects of followers.

One such relic, the tooth relic, the most holy of all relics, made its way to China and there it stayed for many years. It, as legend goes, is an actual tooth from the mouth of the Bodhisattva. There are entire temples in Burma built around a single hair follicle, so it’s clear that the Burmese take these things very seriously. Upon seizing control, the SLORC realized that they needed to quickly get the backing of the monks. The easiest and most efficient way to do this was to bring the tooth relic to Burma, bring a piece of the Buddha to the people. Surely, any government who could have the largess to entice Chinese Buddhists to part with their relic for even a minute would be validated in the monk’s eyes! And so it went. China wanted another communist regime nearby so they were only all too happy to help out a fellow human rights violator in need.

The monks rejoiced at the honor of having the tooth tour the country. Every media outlet was involved, all news, television broadcasts and newspaper coverage during the tour was about the tooth and nothing else. Record alms were given and the largest leaders of the parties were reported to have given millions of dollars to the cause. Obviously everyone knew that whole thing was a sham– a publicity stunt– but how could they refuse the tooth relic? It is too holy of an object. It would be like parading a tooth from Jesus around the Vatican or a tooth of Muhammad around Mecca. It gave the illegitimate country instant legitimacy.

That was how they appeased the last uprising. That was just after the elections, after Ang San Suu Kyi won on a democratic platform. She was then, of course, arrested and put under house arrest, but the stunt bought them almost twenty years of unchallenged control. Now, decades later, we come to another impasse. There are no more teeth to be paraded, no religion to be propped up by phony claims and false circumstances. Now it is a nation of truly, and devoutly, pissed off people and no relic in the world can change that.

I asked my tour guide how such crass corruption could be so common place in Burma and what the laity though of it. Normally, a remark against the government is accompanied by a lengthy prison sentence– or worse. So instead, the Burmese tip-toe around such things. His answer to my question was strangely beautiful, simple and heart-breaking. He told me, “In this country we are all Buddhist. Even if you are Christian, you are still at heart, a Buddhist. The people know this. The leaders know this. And being Buddhist, we all know that any bad things you do in this life will carry over to the next. So, while life is very hard here, we know we must do our best and that those who do us wrong will pay for it in the end. The leaders know this too.”

So there you have it. Burma is a nation so devout that a tooth can win them over. They are a nation so devout that they can endure two decades of violent oppression and subjugation just by never losing their faith. Their faith is something that can never be taken from them, and it is that faith that makes Burma such a magical place. The world collectively holds its breath as the monks march on and the Lady, as she is known in Burma (mention of her name in public lands one in jail, naturally) sits by her window, under house arrest, and watches as a country once again rouses from its slumber.