Emptiness in the Age of Oil

Think the United States has never invaded another place for oil?

Ogoni State, Nigeria

The Ogoni people of Nigeria have recently been forced off their land for the last forty years. Big oil companies such as Shell have been the chief sponsors of the Nigerian government’s human rights abuses. The cause, of course, is the oil rich fields on the Ogoni territory.

So can we stop this human atrocity? Some would say we can’t because we need to drive to get from one place to another. True, but is oil the only source of fuel we can use? If we truly tried, don’t you think we could find a way to transport from one place to another without oil? Well, according to the Buddhist notion of Sunyata (emptiness), as explained by quantum theory, all things in this world can be reduced to particles. They have no real existence from their own side and do not become real until the mind interacts with them and gives them meaning. They have no inherent existence of their own and are filled with limitless potentialities. A chariot is not merely a chariot but several pieces of wood and nails holding them together. Thus we could find a new thing with the same potential to allow us to commute and change our world?

Egoic Clinging in the Sahel

Mauritania

Shocking?  Well for the black Africans of Mauritania, these are mild. These Africans known as the Haratin, have Sub-Saharan African origins, yet there culture and language are derived from Arab-Berber culture due to centuries of enslavement even today after slavery has been outlawed as government officials look the other way.

The fact is that the Haratins of Mauritania not only have lost a chunk of their population to slavery, but for freed slaves, the suffering goes on. The Haratins cannot find good education or employment; they are harassed by police and marginalized by governments. Their women and children are disproportionally affected by slavery. Even though Mauritania has made some strides towards the twenty first century and ethnic national unity the fact remains that tribalism runs deep in the elite of Mauritania, who are ethnically Arab or Berber.

Buddhism teaches that we should not cling to identities we have. Self is merely an illusion. We are much more than our ethnic background or cultural identity. To accept the true nature of who we are is to see beyond our ethnic background or cultural identity and do the same with others.

Blind Faith in Bangladesh

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

-The Buddha
 

Having no oil, Bangladesh does not get the same media attention as countries like Iraq or Sudan. Yet if most Americans knew the harsh treatment of Bangladesh's Jumma people, areas of regular news interest would fall under the radar.

The Chittagong people (the Jumma) of eastern Bangladesh are a distinct people who follow Buddhism, Shamanism, Hinduism or Christianity. During the last decades they have been victims of an ongoing genocide by the majority Bengali Muslims. Rape and murder by the Bengali government has been perpetuated to make room for Bengali settlers. In CHT, the settlers now outnumber the indigenous Chittagong.

The settlers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are driven by the Islamist ideology of the Saudi-sponsored "missionary" group Al-Rabat, meaning "Students of God." The Islamist sect of Al-Rabat is called Wahhabism which declares followers of other religions, including non-Wahhabist Muslims, as "infidels." Osama bin Laden himself, was raised in the Wahhabist sect. Saudi Arabia, a state where Wahhabism is the official state religion, bans the practice of all non-Muslim religions for naturalized Saudi citizens (Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Jewish foreign workers in most of Saudi Arabia may only practice their religions in private).  

Chittagong mother and her dying child in and Internally Displaced Person's Camp.

 

According to Right View, part of the Buddhist Eightfold Path, we should consider that all things can be seen from many different viewpoints. The first precept of the Buddhist order founded by Thich Nhat Hanh is, "Do not be idolatrous towards any doctrine, belief or theory-even Buddhist ones." It is being able to not be attached to viewpoints that can allow us to become more compassionate people.  

"Holy War": "Us" vs. "Them"

The Lord's Resistance Army of Uganda

For the last two decades, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army of Uganda has been fighting for an overthrow of the Ugandan government and replace with a theocratic Christian government.  The rebel group lead by the insane Joseph Kony uses terror tactics including killing, rape, torture, mutilation, abduction and forced child recruitment.  Joseph Kony has been indicted by the International Criminal's Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Photos four and five: victims of the LRA

"Us" vs. "Them"

According to the Buddha, a leading contributor of suffering is dualism, which includes ideas such as "good vs. evil," "heaven vs. hell," civilization vs. nature," and "saved vs. the damned."  When we use these distinctions, we may do anything to the "other."  We may exploit the earth's resources, abuse women and so on.  It is only being able to overcome the illusion of separateness that ensures true peace.

Engaged Response to the Horn of Africa

Darfur: the Story Not Told By George Clooney

The civil war in the Sudanese region of Darfur, between pro-government Arab nomads and anti-government African farmers, has been one of the most brutal yet grossly misunderstood conflicts of the century.  Darfur activists, known as the Save Darfur Coalition and its supporters such as George Clooney and Mia Farrow, have claimed that the region in Western Sudan, known as Darfur, is undergoing an official policy of genocide carried out by the Sudanese government.  And when asked to justify this they point out that up two 300,000 civilians have been killed in Darfur.  What they don't mention however is how these people died.
For the vast majority of civilian deaths in Darfur, they were a result of a lack of access to nutrition and medical care that stemmed from war.  It is true that rape has occurred in Darfur, but many of these were actually spontaneous, occurring due to the breakdown of social order caused by war.  The anti-government rebels in Darfur, such as the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army, have been lauded as heroes by the Save Darfur Coalition.  But the fact is they too have been responsible for atrocities against civilians, including rape, torture, murder, and looting.  In both sides of this war children have been forced to fight as soldiers.
The fact that Darfur's problems have have been labeled genocide has not helped the people of Darfur.  On one hand, attributing most of the deaths to murder may have caused the public and the international community to overlooked the real causes of death (disease and malnutrition) and consequently have, instead of providing Darfuris with food and medicine, provided them with African Union soldiers, whose presence may have only increased tensions in Darfur.  Secondly, the claim of good vs. evil stories of evil Arab government militias fighting saintly African rebel soldiers has done two things.  One, it has allowed the rebels like the JEM and the SLA to get away with atrocities.  These rebels main support came from Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda and the Sudan People's Liberation Army.  Each of these groups and countries received large amounts of foreign aid from the U.S.  Had the U.S. been aware of the rebels atrocities, they could have pressured these countries and groups into ceasing their support of the anti-government rebels in Darfur by threating to withhold foreign aid.
Second, the claims that the rebels were good and the Arab militias, such as the Janjaweed, were bad overlooked crucial information about the Arab militias.  By and large, Arab militias have been fighting in Darfur, not to exterminate, but to gain control of land to help them through droughts common to West Sudan.  Had the West been aware of the suffering of the Arabs in Darfur, we might have also given them aid to help them survive, which could have curbed their need to take land from African farmers in Darfur.  The American stance on Darfur may also have encouraged the rebels not to engage in peace negotiations.

Top: children from the Justice and Equality Movement

Bottom: Soldiers from the Sudan Liberation Army

Politics Behind African Famine

Above: an Ethiopian man starving

The North African country of Ethiopia has long been thought to suffer from famine due to drought and a lack of food being able to be grown there.  In truth however, Ethiopia has suffered from leaders who rose to power in the 1970's.
Around the 1970's the Marxist ideals became embraced by university students and left-wing intellectuals.  Protests were held throughout Ethiopia and in the streets of Addis Ababa.  All this eventually culminated into a coup against the Ethiopian monarchy in the 1970's led by Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu.  He and his followers known as the Derg (committee) overthrew Haile Selassie and came to power becoming the first African country to attempt to implement Communism.
The promise Mengistu made to the four largest oppressed ethnic groups and the Eritreans however, were not held.  Later the Tigray, Afar, Somali, Oromo and Eritreans formed in opposition to Mengistu.  Backed by the Soviet Union however, Mengistu was able to put down these rebels.  Furthermore in the predominantly Muslim Oromo south, lands and cattle were taken away from the people in order to subjugate them with hunger.  This caused many Oromo to flee into Somalia.  The Tigray were relocated from their traditional homelands and forced to work on government projects.  The sheer labor was done with only a few loaves of bread a day.
Eventually, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, Tigray Liberation Front, Afar Liberation Front and Oromo Liberation Front launched into action, fighting the Derg for over a decade against the Derg and his Soviet weaponry.  Eventually with the Tigray, Afar, Somali and Oromo people's liberation movements they merged into the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front working with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front.
Tanks rolled into the streets of Addis Ababa.  The Derg was overthrown and Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe where he was given asylum.  The Eritreans became free and independent and Ethiopia's five largest ethnic groups (Amhara, Tigray, Afar, Somali, and Oromo) were granted their own regional states.  When it was over, Mengistu was found guilty of genocide.
We see only a small portion of the world which informs our view of reality.  Our world is so saturated by media.  Meditation allows us to see a bigger picture which can help make us agents for social change in our world.

Sutras on Autism Discrimination

Several days ago I remembered a quote by the Buddha that I believe has great relevance to the autistic community. When governments act moral, people act moral. And when governments act immoral, people also act immoral. If the American government were to change the way it neglects the needs of people with autism, perhaps the stigma attached to it wouldn't be so strong.
The Buddha also said that hatred (or it's variations like stigma) are self-defeating. When you can't accept another person, whether it's because of their race, religion or disability, you only make your own life more miserable. People with autism probably aught to not worry for too much longer because people who are prejudiced will eventually bring about their own implosion.

Stone Age People Timeless Religion

Papua New Guinea

The island of Papua New Guinea has over 1,000 languages. The western half, known as Irian Jaya to Indonesians and West Papua to the Papuans, has at least 800 languages and 312 tribes. The eastern half has at least 715 languages. Papua New Guinea is made up over 600 islands. The western half is controlled by Indonesia while the eastern half is run as an independent nation. It's biodiversity is legendary. Many researchers believe these wet mountainous lands could even contain a cure for cancer.

The Indonesian government was believed by most of the world to have liberalized with the ousting of dictator Muhammed Suharto.

For the West Papuans that is not the case.

Settlers from Java and Sulawesi have increased the islands population and marginalized the native Papuans. Nearly all jobs go to Indonesian settlers. The forests of this vastly forested country have been torn down. Pro-independence supporters have been thrown in prison, tortured, beaten and killed. Women are routinely victims of rape and sexual violence. Throughout West Papua military personnel are garrisoned to prevent rebellion. The Indonesian government denies that it is committing such atrocities.

Transforming Our Greed, Transforming Our World

The entire western half of New Guinea came to be occupied during the Suharto regime, a two decade long rule that ended years ago and brought democracy to the country of Indonesia, with the exception of the Papuans.
Why is the west so slow to intervene on the behalf of Papuans living under Indonesian rule as has been China? Is it that these countries don't want to upset trade relationships with Indonesia? How could this greed be transformed for the people of West Papua?

Rescuing from the Hell-Realms in Southeast Asia

Socially engaged Buddhism is about being aware of the suffering that happens to to people outside your doorstep without discrimination so you can cultivate true unbiased compassion for all beings.

When people talk about genocide, they nearly always talk about Darfur or Rwanda. They hardly ever talk about Myanmar.

In Myanmar, there are over one-hundred ethnic minority groups. These people for fifty years have been victims of rape, torture, random shootings, abductions and forced labor. Over 3,500 villages have been burned down completely. It is time for the American people to take a stand in Myanmar.

Strife in the Heart of Africa: The World's Deadliest Modern War

The conflict in the Congo is one of the most complex conflicts to take place in the world, between Rwandan and Ugandan backed rebels, and the weak transitional government of the Congo backed by soldiers from Chad, Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The rebels include militias such as the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo and the Rally for Congolese democracy who Rwanda and Uganda use to control most of eastern Congo and it's lucrative cobalt, diamonds, copper, zinc, manganese, niobium, tantalum and uranium, the last of which was used in making the atomic bombs that were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan in World War II. The conflict, which rages on in the east has taken over five million civilian lives, mostly from disease, starvation and malnutrition, since the government of the Congo has become so weak that it is unable to provide services for it's people. The rebels have resorted to using rape as a weapon as war. Pygmy hunters of the Ituri rainforest have been hunted down and eaten as if they were animals.

Currently the East is ruled by the Ugandan and Rwandan backed militias the Movement for Liberation of the Congo and the Rally for Congolese Democracy. Other cross-border militias also play a key in fighting the government such as the Angola backed UNITA, an insurgent group based in Angola who are fighting to overthrow the Angolan government, and who frequently stage attacks from the rebellious Namibian province of Caprivi. The conflict began during the rule of the thirty year ruling U.S. backed dictator, Joseph Mobutu also known as Mobutu Sese Soku. During the last few years of his rule, refugees from Rwanda and Uganda entered the Congo, including both innocent civilians and the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide which killed over half a million people in about one hundred days. Also entering the Congo was the Lord's Resistance army which operates in Uganda, South Sudan and the Central African Republic and has been at war with the Ugandan government of president Yoweri Museveni since he took office in 1987.

In 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-dominated group commanded by current Rwandan president Paul Kagame, shot down the plane carrying then Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana which sparked a horrific consequence: the Rwanda Genocide. Hutu militias, such as the Interahamwe started killing Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and when the Rwandan Patriotic Front took over Rwanda from neighboring Uganda, Paul Kagame invaded the Congo to go after these Hutu gunmen.  Under the cover of a small Tutsi militia, Rwanda and Uganda overthrew the rule of Mobutu Sese Soku in order to gain control of the Congo and it's vast resources. Laurent-Desire Kabila, a long time opponent of Mobutu, came to power backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Soon after however, Laurent realized that he was merely a prop for Rwanda and Uganda and he ordered the Rwandan and Ugandan troops to leave the Congo.  

This move was not well received by Rwanda and Uganda. Rwanda formed an ethnic Tutsi militia called the Movement for Liberation of the Congo and Uganda formed the Rally for Congolese Democracy lead by Congolese Warlord Jean-Pierre Bembe. These two groups went to war with Laurent. With no real army of his own, Laurent received help from Chad, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola, the last country which has been at war with the militia UNITA, which functions in southeastern Congo and attacks Angola from Namibia's Caprivi Strip, which has been at war with the Namibian government. Talks between government and rebels were held at Lusaka, Zambia, the Congo's neighbor to the south. Unfortunately, the American-picked Zambian peace-broker, Frederick Chiluba, was not a neutral candidate in this agreement. Chiluba had in fact allowed UNITA to operate in Zambia where it staged attacks on Angola.

The Lusaka Peace Agreement was signed in 1999 but the fighting restarted. President Laurent Kabila was assassinated and his son Joseph took over. Fighting continued between the army of Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwandan and Ugandan backed rebels and women throughout eastern Congo are raped by HIV-infected militias and the conflict continues to be driven by importation of Congolese minerals.

It seems to me that socially engaged Buddhists, already intent in helping Tibet and Burma, really ought to take a stand in the Congo.