A monk's account of the military coup's brutality in Myanmar.

Brings me to tears every time I hear these. The military has destroyed my dad's career, my both paternal and maternal grandparents' careers and even hindered my education so much. I am fortunate to have found a way to study abroad but karma is not of the side of millions of people in Myanmar. I have friends that are imprisoned, some shot, one dead and many who cant go back to their homes because they are too scared to be kidnapped by the military. There was the Saffron Revolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_Revolution back then too. I saw monks being beaten for the first time with my eyes for the first time in my life and the hatred for the military has grown in my heart ever since. I never thought as a Buddhist, I would ever hold such a grudge against a particular set of people but they are not human. They are savages. They kill, rape and plunder. The saddest thing about it is that they swore vows to protect us. I don't think people from overseas understand the role of the Sangha in Myanmar very well. We cant even wear our flops to the monastery or even walk past them with our heads held above them. We celebrate our birthdays and weddings there. Even in death, it is the place where our remaining loved ones go for a funeral. Its a honor just to offer the Sangha alms. Even when I was a novice monk, my parents had to prostrate before me. Its not because of me but rather they respected the robes of the Sangha so much that they prostrate even it is their own son who they have raised. And to see these soldiers and police treat the Sangha like this, I fear the hatred inside my heart grows its roots ever deeper and deeper.

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