[Buddha-l] Aung San Suu Kyi and the latest Burmese prosecutions

[Jayarava]

--- On Sat, 16/5/09, jkirk <jkirk at spro.net> wrote:

> and the dalits are still lowest on the social totem pole.
> Not very clear what converting to Buddhism under Ambedkar
> did for them, either.

Maybe you should talk to some of them and find out. I spent a week with 400 Dalit Buddhists in Bodhgaya earlier this year and they all seemed very grateful to Ambedkar for his role in their lives. They now have a conception of being free of caste prejudice. Even if they are not entirely free of it, they can at least conceive of it, and have begun to work towards it. For centuries they could not even conceive of things being different - they bought into the caste dharma story and acquiesced. 

There is still strong conservatism in many Dalit communities - one of my dear friends was rejected and persecuted by his family and community for converting for instance. Even now Dalits sometimes find it hard not to relate to each other on the basis of jati! They often still marry within their caste for instance. However even this is changing - especially in the cities.

One problem is that there are so few Dharma teachers, so few people well versed enough in theory and practice to reach all of the Dalits. One of my friends has a project based in Nagpur and Sarnath to train up 10,000 Dharma workers to help address the lack. It's so far reaching, and so ambitious, but I've seen what he can do, what they can do, and I think the dharma-revolution is in safe hands!

Many Ambedkarites have yet to have any significant instruction in the Dharma, but, even so many years after the death of Ambedkar and the struggles they face, they still have this radical idea of being free of prejudice, and they haven't given up. Perhaps the road will be long, but they have begun the journey - one that was inconceivable before Ambedkar.

It's both daunting and inspiring to see how they live and yet what their response to the Dharma is; to see how far they have come, and yet how far they have to go. They have gained everything in gaining an idea of freedom, and yet have not gained much in a material or political sense. I suppose we must contrast 50 years of idealism with centuries of dumb oppression. 

I could arrange some introductions if you want to go and see the Dalit Dhammakranti first hand.

Jayarava