Olympic Torch Protest in San Francisco

although i have other things on my mind tonight they will have to wait... there are more important things than my own personal complaints about the life i have created for myself.

tonight the most important thing is that we are on the eve of the Olympic Torch protest in San Francisco.

you can view the BBC's footage of the protest in London here: Olympic Torch Protest in London

i ask humbly and simply that you really really think about the actions of the Chinese Government and their history of human rights violations. i remember very clearly the tiananmen square protests of 1989. we lived in hong kong then and it was a moment that i will never forget. some people know exactly where they were when jfk was killed or when elvis died. i'll never forget that footage and the knowledge that a government can oppress and erase whatever it is they see before them that they don't agree with. i suppose some people think that i'm just off on a tangent here... going on about what is pc or what is currently popular.... and i have ceased to try to be understood in this world. i have accepted that all i can do is use my words, heart and mind for good and let everyone else sort themselves out. keep my side of the street clean as my friend zach says.... sometimes thats the best a girl on the punk rock retirement plan can manage.

i wish i could more clearly express that i believe everything comes down to love. it's the basis of the universe. it is the basis of science, religion and of basic human instinct. love is the answer. it's in everything and causes everything. you can manifest whatever destiny you want... i'm choosing to manifest one based in love that asks for peace and harmony in the world, in the hearts of man and in our understanding. i am asking for these things simply because there is no other logical conclusion to come to.

tonight or tomorrow as you hold the things dear to you close remember that autonomy, democracy, freedom and free will come at price. you have the responsibility to use it for the good of the whole and to bring the universe to right. you have one job and it's to love - yourself, others and most importantly the global community and the planet. make a difference. change the world. do one small thing. use the voice you have been given. i promise that if you do it in love the harmony, peace and love will come back to you tenfold.

i leave you tonight with a simple prayer for peace for the world, health and comfort for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for a peaceful protest tomorrow in San Francisco that reverberates through the american nation so loudly that we are moved to action on the global front.

May all beings everywhere plagued
with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending
one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
fearful wilderness--
the children, the aged, the unprotected--
be guarded by beneficent celestials,
and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.

The Buddha

with my whole heart

i understand it's hard to see the forest for the trees sometimes... we're all guilty of that. i know that sometimes it's hard to understand the big picture of the world and the universe and all the opinions and voices and politics. i know that it seems difficult to start today and inform yourself when there is a long history of he said / she said between countries and leaders and religions.

i encourage you to find out about the atrocities that are being committed by the chinese government. i encourage you to understand that the plight for freedom in burma (or myanmar), in tibet and all over the world today. i encourage you to open your heart and understand that the suffering of few that you may not know or see affects how we view each other and treat each other.

i feel it necessary to express to you that i believe that the crimes against people by the chinese governement are serious enough that i literally have lost sleep over it in the past week. i wish that there was more i could do than sign petitions, be informed and use this small forum to express clearly where my heart lies. i wish there was more that i could do than boycott the 2008 olympics, the olympic sponsors and all souvenirs of the olympics. i wish that i had won the lottery a few weeks ago so i could spend those millions on changing this situation.... on changing the world but alas i am one person with my eye on the forest and the injustices and the climate of oppression that is filling the world.

with every particle of my being i want to impart this small piece of wisdom that i firmly believe: you must stand against injustice no matter how big or small. you must stand against oppression and against inhumanity. please if you do nothing else with your freedom and your tax rebate check please take the time to learn a little bit and make up your own mind - have any opinion you choose but please have an opinion.

in closing i give you this clip of His Holiness the Dalai Lama asking for a miracle. i ask that you in your prayers or thanks or thoughts or whatever it is that you believe in give a moment and ask the universe to bring peace to the people of Tibet in the coming weeks, to bring peace and well being to the Dalai Lama himself and to bring solace and comfort to those in need.

Burma

Burmese Bloggers without Borders

More News

the week in review

Over the past week I have been reading and watching the events in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). On Friday night as I lay down to sleep I reviewed the information from the week. I reviewed the things I had done and said to increase awareness and inform my family and friends of the events. I thought about the amount of wealth, time and power we have as Americans and how little we use those things in defense of others.

I admit that I feel powerless and overwhelmed in the face of global crisis. I have information at my fingertips and see injustice. I want to be able to change things and to use my power as a person to make it right. However I can’t change it with a keystroke, a signature, and all the funds in my bank account or with the sheer force of the emotion that I feel in my heart. I know that the only thing I can do is provide information to the people who want to listen and be faithful to my beliefs. I am one person and I stand against violence, hatred, injustice, cruelty and evil. I stand against the things with every fiber of my being.

The situation in Myanmar is declining. People around the world held their breath at the end of last week hoping that the UN Envoy to Burma would bring Peace to the crisis. Unfortunately those prayers and hopes weren’t answered. A UN statement from Sunday said that the special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has so far been unable to talk to Burma's most senior general, and he is extending his stay in an effort to secure a meeting. The politicians and the head of the Burmese military have ignored the international community and the UN’s effort to bring stability and peace to the region. The news has begun to trickle out again despite the loss of internet and phone lines and it seems that much to our horror the real death count is much higher than anyone could have imagined. Today a photo was released of a monk floating dead in the river beaten and tortured. Thousands of people have been arrested. There are monks that are being tried in mock courts after being forced to take off their sacred robes and cruelly abused in prisons – their only crimes being that they will no longer quietly sit and allow the dictatorship to subject the citizens to poverty, genocide and rape.

I found the words below to really put things into perspective for me.

“We are just the ordinary people struggling and working for our family’s needs everyday. We stage our protests out of our courage to fight against the dictatorship. We are not well-funded, well-supported nor well-organized. Against all the odds and all the bullets from the soldiers rifles, there are monks, students and people out there in Burma marching and sacrificing their lives for what they believe and what they have been longing for - free Burma where everyone is free from fear, free from dictatorship, free to think, free to express one’s belief, free to do a business and free to have a control over one’s own life. For many ordinary people in Burma, their only glimpse of hope to stop the military regime's act of atrocities, is the intervention by the international community. They keep praying that UN or international forces will miraculously appear in Yangon where people are being killed and evidence of corpses are being removed by burning them.”

I know that I cannot sit idly by. I know that I cannot sleep well with the freedom and comfort that has been inherited by my citizenship. I feel that I owe it to myself to give everything I can in an effort to make the world a better place. I received a response the other day after my first email out about this subject and it simply said “I should be removed from your list. I’m not much for changing the world.” Now I realize that there are different ways of living and different ways of looking at the world but that was shocking. That was a friend that I have spent years listening to and supporting. I have given my time and love to someone that will not return kindness to people that cannot help themselves. Please don’t misunderstand my words – I don’t think everyone has to feel the way I do. I don’t think that everyone has to sign a petition to be friends with me but I DO believe strongly that there is no room in my life for people that are simply selfish. Who thinks to themselves ‘I have the power to change the world but I don’t really care and so I’m choosing NOT to. I’m making a conscious decision to deny hope, change and peace to people in need.’

It’s not that I think I am better than anyone. It’s not that I think I know all the answers. It’s that I think and feel and act with compassion and with love towards others. I’m simply trying to be the best person I know how and using my voice. I hope that the world will one day be a place in which war and atrocities are a distant memory. I pray for it everyday.

May I become at all times, both now and forever
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

pictures from myanmar

a simple request

Picture of a sign held by a Buddhist Monk during protests against oppression in Myanmar (Burma). This is his message to the world.

Friends and Family,

This email is somewhat out of the ordinary.

The situation in Myanmar (formerly Burma) has declined to a state of horrific violence and injustice. It is to the point where the military-forces are beating and killing peaceful Buddhist Monk protesters. The protests, beginning on Sept. 19, 2007 were triggered after the government hiked fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. This most recent string of protests reflects a deep-rooted discontent with a repressive military rule that's dated back to the early 1960's. I could enumerate the horrible things that have been going on there for decades, but I believe each one of you is intelligent enough to know the nature of these things.

I am asking each of you to get involved now in the way that you can. I have included below two links. The first is a short video from BBC about the current state of things. The second is a link for you to sign an online petition and letter to the leaders of Government of the People's Republic of China. This is important because, "China has an unequivocal leverage with Burma's military regime." Mahatma Gandhi once said that "You Must Be the Change You Wish To See In the World" and that is what I am asking of you. Small things to ask. This is the thing you can do right now to create a world that we all are proud to live in. This is the thing you can do right now to be the change for the better, the change you wish to see in the world. Use your voice and use your power as a citizen of a country that enjoys freedom to extend hope and freedom to citizens of this planet.

I love all of you and have faith that each one of you will act and help to change the world.

Always,

Lex.


PETITION - 2 Minutes to sign

Video from the BBC