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Burma and Buddhism:
time for freedom?
A Buddhist
meditation
This text is used by
Buddhists to help them
see how to live
compassionately.
“May I be a protector
of the helpless
A guide to those
travelling the path
A boat to those
wishing to cross over
Or a bridge. Or a raft.
May I be
a lamp for those in
darkness
A home for the
homeless
A servant to the
world.”
Aung San
Suu Kyi
• Her father was a ruler in Burma in
the 1940s
• She married Michael and they had
two sons, Alexander and Kim, in
Oxford in, the 1970s
• In 1987 she returned to Rangoon to
care for her mother, who suffered a
stroke
• The NLD asked her to stand
against the military junta in an
election in 1989, the first since
1962. She took over 80% of the
vote.
• The junta imprisoned her at once.
She saw Michael and the boys 3
times from 1989 to 1995.
• She was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1991
One of Aung San’s advisers reminds her
of something she said to her people in
1989: “Change will come. The Generals
will not win. All they have is the guns.
They will lose.” She asks: if you leave
now, and do not return, do you think
the generals will be stronger or weaker
because you’re not here?
U2’s advice: from the song ‘Walk On.’
“Love is not the easy thing
If the darkness is to keep us apart,
If the daylight feels it’s a long way off,
If your glass heart should crack,
Be strong, walk on.
What you’ve got, they can’t steal it.
Walk on. Stay safe.”
“May I be a protector of the helpless
A guide to those travelling the path
A boat to those wishing to cross over
Or a bridge. Or a raft.
May I be a lamp for those in darkness
A home for the homeless
A servant to the world.”
The Best Advice
Very good advice
good advice
Very good advice
good advice
Not such good advice
good advice
Not such good advice
The worst advice
The ‘diamond nine’ – a way of organising ideas,
setting priorities, relating ideas to each other in
a pattern of judgements or evaluations – higher
order skill, endlessly flexible, very useful in RE
when handling the complex.
A Buddhist
meditation
This text is used by
Buddhists to help them
see how to live
compassionately.
“May I be a protector
of the helpless
A guide to those
travelling the path
A boat to those
wishing to cross over
Or a bridge. Or a raft.
May I be
a lamp for those in
darkness
A home for the
homeless
A servant to the
world.”
Aung San Suu
Kyi’s Dilemma:
Should she stay,
or should she go?
A dreadful choice.
Kelly and Jack (both 12)
write their messages to
Aung San, in response to
her dilemma
These simple texts show empathic
and reflective engagements with
the dilemma and story, and a good
understanding of different aspects
of what made the decision hard.
Too Rough
by Sam, 12.
This poem was
Sam’s message to
Aung San Suu Kyi,
written after studying
the dilemma she
faced.
What’s the evidence of
achievement?
Can Chloe make use of concepts
and narrative from her learning
about Buddhism to handle and
interpret the text and express
insights of her own into questions
of purpose and value?
She shows developed insight into
the interpretation of the Eightfold
Path (“Right Livelihood” is the item
she describes, linked here to
unselfishness)
She links the teachings of the
Noble Eightfold Path to her
compassion and, insightfully, finds
a challenge in the example of
Aung San Suu Kyi for herself ~ an
example of insightful learning from
religion.
Level 6 is clearly seen in this work.
Still struggling for freedom and fairness