Attack on a Meditation Center

Episode #117: “The army believed democratic fighters were hiding in my center, so they moved very aggressively. They entered my meditation center! They shouted, ‘Hey, I will kill you. I will kill you!’ Their soldiers knocked in the door of the female kūtis. Oh God, everyone is very scared. Very afraid. They are shooting; they are firing in the air. But when they came to the female Dhamma Hall, they saw the female yogis are practicing in the Dhamma Hall. So, they are very surprised and shocked, and they see that this is a meditation center, and see we are practicing. So, they calm down their anger.”

The first portion of this interview contains a blow-by-blow narrative about the direct and personal experience of war, as experienced from the confines of a silent meditation retreat at Kyun Pin monastery, a meditation center in the tradition of Sayadaw U Pandita. Myanmar’s military bombarded two neighboring villages with mortars and rockets for two days, and at one point barged into the meditation center itself. Calmly and in great detail, Sayadaw U Jatila relates the screaming, the burning of houses for days on end, and the purposeful destruction of animals and basic necessities for daily life. He describes soldiers who have lost their minds due to alcohol and drugs, and ordered by higher military officials to engage in brutal acts against their own people.

He then goes to discuss a wide range of matters. U Jatila feels strongly that people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds in Myanmar should enjoy basic human rights of freedom and safety. He calls out the military for using scare tactics to promote a nationalist Buddhist agenda that encourages anti-Islam sentiments. He also recounts his past meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi, and discusses what he learned about her meditation practice. Finally, he touches upon the very sensitive topic of armed resistance, discussing how Burmese democracy activists can resist the military.