Walk for Peace along the Khmer-Thai border

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/multimedia/vdo/237650/walk-for-peace

Thai Buddhists march from Wat Mai Sai Thong in Sa Kaeo on Visaska Bucha Day to greet a Buddhist group from Cambodia at the Thai-Cambodian Friendship Bridge that links the countries. The pilgrims believe dharma can bring a peaceful solution to the border conflict around the site of Preah Vihear temple. Video by Jetjaras Na Ranong.

Moving Out of “Badlands”

Maha Ghosananda leading a dhammayietra in Cambodia

The Dharmayietra (“Pilgrimage of truth”) peace march, led by our late Samdech Prah Maha Ghosananda, is a very significant step toward our ultimate goal, but the laity community needs to be able to gather momentum to push for greater social mobilization onto other fronts such as empowerment of the dispossessed, building capacity in defending human and citizen rights, promoting democracy, gaining equitable sharing of resources, and lay the foundation for community organizing, and most importantly waging public campaign to galvanize citizen movements which in due time will be capable of simultaneously stand up and say “NO” to the overreaching power of the establishment.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Op-Ed by NEAY KRUD’TH

At a time when Cambodia’s socio-economic and political climate continue to decline and increasingly threatens our existing social order, the Khmer Buddhist laity and the Sangha communities are holding on to each other while bracing for impact. We are wandering what the future holds while desperately scanning the horizon for a small glimpse of hope.

Even the prediction might not even be completely accurate, as French mathematician Henri Pointcaré said, “It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all”. To mitigate our fear of uncertainty we need to free up our mental capacity to exercise clear reasoning and analysis.

First, one thing is certain ― the future is almost always different from the past. Going back to Buddha’s Three Characteristics of Existence ― anicca, dukka, anatta, the world is a vanity fair full of changes and transformations. There is birth, death, growth, and decay, combination and separation.

Second, change always comes from something. Some changes are earth-shattering, others might be subtle. Change could be positive or negative. However, its impact is nevertheless disruptive. Change is preceded by a sign of structural shift in social, economic, and politics of a country. One must be diligent and alert to be able to recognize and make sense out events occurring around one’s daily life. These structural shifts signal an end of the “old”, a transformation that is disconcerting to people because it is time filled with unknowns and discontinuities as the “old” goes away and people have not made up the “new”. When that happens, a nation falls into what is metaphorically termed “Badlands”.

The author without a doubt believes that, by now, all of us Khmers have seen what “Badlands” are like ― our ancestors and present-day Khmers together we have endured life in the “Badlands” for the past 700 years or so, since the collapse of Angkor, and sadly enough we see no end in sight. In the “Badlands” the old certainty of the past are being scattered like leaves before a storm. There are confusing landscapes which can be more hostile than they are beautiful, more threats than opportunities. The impact of the latest change left us stunned and profoundly disoriented, and it remains to be seen whether, collectively we will emerge, from the “Badlands” with our values, identity, freedom, and security fully restored.

Clawing our way out of the abyss by steering the “Middle Path” has proven ineffective in the face of brutal internal and external assaults on our citizen’s liberty, our nation’s sovereignty and security. An urgent and appropriate level of response, by our centuries-old community of Buddhist laity and Sangha to the challenge of the future, should be delicately crafted, because an “extraordinary problem demands extraordinary solution”.

The author, in his diminutive status as a layperson has no intention of challenging the traditional Buddhist edicts that have prevented the Sangha community from actively promoting constructive social and political change in Cambodia for the preceding centuries. However, the gravity of our collective suffering at this moment in our history warrants the re-adaptation of the Khmer Theravada Buddhist worldview, in order to optimize the bounds in which the Sangha is allowed to participate in the duties of life, without being trapped in ambiguities and contradictions vis-ā-vis the duties of Dharma. The author firmly believes that there is a great possibility that the Sangha could do much more through direct and indirect non-violent actions to help advance our collective struggle toward restoring the dignity, equality, justice and security for all Khmers.

The Dharmayietra (“Pilgrimage of truth”) peace march, led by our late Samdech Prah Maha Ghosananda, is a very significant step toward our ultimate goal, but the laity community needs to be able to gather momentum to push for greater social mobilization onto other fronts such as empowerment of the dispossessed, building capacity in defending human and citizen rights, promoting democracy, gaining equitable sharing of resources, and lay the foundation for community organizing, and most importantly waging public campaign to galvanize citizen movements which in due time will be capable of simultaneously stand up and say “NO” to the overreaching power of the establishment.

“Necessity is the mother of taking chances”, Mark Twain.

Social change is a complex business. One must changes with it or risks the chance of being left out of the process. Being reasonable is not enough to make change. We all prefer to see the Sangha leads the way in promoting the social transformation rather than the other way around. This way the Sangha is seen as being “relevant” in the consciousness of the laity, and as a consequence fosters more mutual reliance and trust. There will be incentive for both communities ― the Sangha will enjoy bountiful young recruits into its rank, a broadened support base, and a renewed mutual bond; the laity will enjoy the de facto leadership of the Sangha, and the benefit of its ethical and moral guidance. Thus a new solidarity between the two communities is reaffirmed and strengthened in the face of the pernicious enemy of peace and freedom. Together we may be able to achieve what political strategists have been known to say “The first rule of power tactics” is that “power is not only what you have but what the opponent thinks you have”.

The best living example of such power tactics, currently being unfold on the world stage, is the nervous reaction displayed by the Chinese government brought to bear by the loving kindness campaign activities of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet. The Dalai Lama is a mere “refugee” Buddhist monk, with no significant financial or military asset to speak of, or to be considered a threat to any person or any country, let alone China. Yet, he appears to cause the Chinese authority great pain and embarrassment and keep them on-edge every time he travels and makes speeches around the world to teach Dharma, and to raise global awareness of the plight of the Tibet people under the Chinese rule, and to solicit the world’s support for his country’s freedom.

The author would like to leave the foregoing discussion to the readers, and sincerely hope that a vigorous discussion and debate among communities of Khmer Buddhist will ensue until, together, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Buddhists Ponder the Power of a March

Maha Ghosananda leading a Dhammayietra

By Pin Sisovann, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
09 December 2009

A march of protest is the last resort of a powerless majority to fight and demand justice. A powerful march usually takes place when tolerance of the general public reaches its maximum.

The power of a Buddhist march relies mainly on its topic, which the general public must get behind, as well as trusted leaders, a leading monk says.

In Cambodia, that can mean a “Dhamma Yeatra,” said venerable monk Nhem Kim Teng, executive director of the Sante Sena, a Buddhist organization.

The Dhamma Yeatra peace march is held on various subjects that people are hungry for, said Nhem Kim Teng, who was a special assistant to the late Maha Ghosananda, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee who marched to rebuild Cambodia after decades of civil war.

“It depends on the leaders of the Dhamma Yeatra and its goals,” Nhem Kim Teng said. “Gosananda’s background has nothing to do with political power. He was a genuinely peaceful monk, spiritually and bodily. This drew the attention of everyone. His words harmed nothing and no one. He talked only about the dharma of the Buddha. I think if we could have leaders of a Dhamma Yeatra like Maha Gosananda, people would join a march.”

Nhem Kim Teng, who is working toward a doctorate in Buddhism in India, recalled powerful peace marches like those led by Mahatma Gandhi, as Indians sought independence from British colonial rule, or by Martin Luther King, Jr., in the US civil rights struggles.

In November, Beehive radio station owner Mam Sonando began his own march, from Phnom Penh to Odda Meanchey province, to promote peace and development along the tense Thai-Cambodian border.

Mam Sonando’s journey was hampered at the outset when monks refused to allow him overnight shelter in Kandal province, just outside the capital, because The Ministry of Cults and Religions didn’t give him permission to march.

Mam Sonando’s march was not comparable to those held by Maha Gosananda, Nhem Kim Teng said.

Maha Gosananda was able to overcome landmines and the Khmer Rouge at a time when there were less pagodas and monks, following the reign of a regime affiliated with socialism and communism.

Min Khim, Minister of Cults and Religions, said Mam Sonando’s march was not sanctified, as it could have caused traffic congestion.

“The freedom of religion is well respected, but one has to abide by the law for security reasons, for social order and avoiding the violation of others rights—blocking traffic,” he said.

He said such a march was a throwback to the past. Japanese activists of the Dahamma Yeatra, the remaining team of Maha Gosananda, had changed their strategy from marching to sending their message by Internet, e-mail, and through the radio, to avoid causing traffic congestion, he said.

He added that of if a Dhamma Yeatra was necessary, it should be held outside bustling cities.

Mam Sonando said he had been ordained to lead his Dhamma Yeatra because marching in robe would better bring more attention for Cambodian Buddhists to join the construction of pagodas, schools and other infrastructure. His Dhama Yeatra was meant to defend the border though development.

“If I had marched as a layman, it would not have been as important as if I had marched in a monk’s robe,” Mam Sonando said.

Nhem Kim Teng said the power of the Dhamma Teatra in Cambodia may have decreased, but Mam Sonando’s march didn’t mean the power of Buddhism was waning.

One of the most recent powerful Buddhism marches was in 1999, when nearly 10,000 Cambodian Buddhists and monks marched to transfer a Buddha relic from a stupa in front of Phnom Penh’s railway station, where prostitution was also taking place, to Odom mountain.

Chea Vannath, an independent political analyst and former president of the Center for Social Development, said political pressure on Buddhism was weak compared to the power of Buddhism in the hearts of Cambodians.

The relatively small size of Mam Sonando’s march may have been related to his political background, as both a “Beehive Radio” personality and former president of the Beehive Democratic Party. The radio is deeply involved in politics, Chea Vannath said.

“He was president of a political party running in an election,” she said. “He is the director of a well-known radio station in Cambodia. So one way or another, Mam Sonando is a political player. How can you separate him from a political figure?”

Laymen, monks and experts on Buddhism expressed their concern for the fact that Buddhism in Cambodia continues being implicated in politics.

The concern had existed for years, and it explodes once in a while. Recently the problem showed up again, when Mam Sonando’s march was rejected.

Mam Sonando told VOA Khmer from Koh Keo pagoda, Banteay Meancey, that all pagodas welcomed his march except the first pagoda of Peam Sotharam. He said there were 45 marchers in his Dhamma Yeatra.

Mam Sonando said that the rejection of his march was politically motivated.

“I set it aside and will leave it for the monk to think about it,” he said. “He is supposed to serve Buddhism, but he is political, partisan and acts contrary to Buddhism.”

Mam Sonando’s Dhammayeatra prohibited from continuing up Phnom Dangrek hill

Friday, December 04, 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

On 01 December 2009, the Dhammayeatra (Buddhist peace march procession) led by Monk Mam Sonando has arrived at Wat Prasat Rong Roeung Pagoda, located in Banteay Ampil district, Oddar Meanchey province, at 5PM. The procession wanted to continue its march to carry 11 Buddha statues from Wat Ampil Pagoda to Wat Chub Koki Pagoda, a distance of 15 km away from one another. These Buddha statues were confiscated by the authorities and stored at Wat Ampil Pagoda since 09 November. According to Koh Santepheap newspaper, the procession and the plan to carry the statues were prevented from moving by police officers, military police officers and soldiers who were spread all along the road leading to Wat Chub Koki Pagoda, located on top of Mount Dangrek Chain. The dhammayeatra led by monk Mam Sonando includes 12 monks, and 15 nuns and laymen, as well as 3 trucks carrying equipments. The dhammayeatra left Phnom Penh by foot on 02 November, and the entire trip is about 600 km long. It has already been one month since the procession started until the day it was stopped by the cops. There is only about 15 km left for the marchers to reach their destination. However, after the authority’s prevention, Monk Mam Sonando has no choice besides turning back, i.e. the dhammayeatra will return back to its point of departure.

Honorable Monk Remember for Peace Efforts

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
10 March 2009

As the two-year funeral ceremony for revered monk Maha Ghosananda approaches, he is being remembered worldwide for his contributions to peace during Cambodia’s time of war.

Venerable monk Nhem Kim Teng, head of Prey Thlork pagaoda, in Svay Rieng province, who is currently doing his doctoral studies in Buddhism at Delhi University in India, recalled Maha Ghosanda’s book, “Step by Step.”

“Maha Ghosananda said we must make one step at a time,” Nhem Kim Teng said in a recent interview.

“The book is divided into two main parts,” he said. “The first part focuses on compassion and sympathy, and the second part focuses on wisdom, utilizing the wisdom each person has. He explained that compassion and wisdom can be compared to two feet, left foot and right foot. If we have only one foot, we can’t move forward properly and might be dangerous.”

A celebration will be held for Maha Ghosananda in an official second-year funeral ceremony at Trai Ratanaram, in North Chelmsford, Mass., March 12 through March 15.

Maha Ghosananda “prayed for all human beings to have wisdom within compassion, metaphorically speaking head in heart, or precious stone inside the lotus,” Nhem Kim Teng said.

“He wrote an article, ‘Peace bridge building,’ in which he suggested that all conflicting factions sit together and negotiate in a friendly manner to quest for peace, because peace cannot be made when we are distant,” Nhem Kim Teng said. “The most important characteristics of peacemakers are to disregard personal interests, the interests of one’s own parties, but to be concerned about the interests of human beings, of society as a whole, and to be honest.

“He said though we have four faces, we must have only one heart. During the Angkorian period, Prom Bayon was built with four faces with only heart. He called for four Cambodian conflicting factions in 1993 to have one heart, a Khmer heart.”

“He was a peaceful individual,” Nhem Kim Teng said. “He always advised everyone who went to see him to do everything in a peaceful manner. Use both wisdom and compassion. A peaceful manner is more powerful than violence.”

Maha Banditho Rithipol, secretary-general of the Maha Ghosananda International Peace Foundation, said the honored monk “had an invaluable mission to promote Buddhism and peace for Cambodia.”

“He sponsored many Cambodian Buddhism monks from refugee camps in Thailand go to the United States to help promote Buddhism,” Maha Banditho Rithipol said, “and he helped build many Buddhist temples in the United States in the 1980s.

“In international circles, he was the first Cambodian monk who was internationally recognized as an active individual, contributing to peace-building in the world as well as in Cambodia,” Maha Banditho Rithipol said. “In 1983 he met with Pope John Paul II in Rome for the first time to discuss a religious basis for the world and Cambodian peace-building.

“In 1987, he led Buddhist monks to the United Nations to discuss a way to quest for peace. In 1988, he went to Jakarta, Indonesia, to meet with King Norodom Sihanouk and four other Khmer factions to discuss the peace process.

“In addition, he worked with the Dalai Lama of Tibet for the sake of peace-building in the world, in Cambodia and in Tibet. He used the concepts of truthfulness, forbearance and gratitude to educate Khmer leaders and political elites and Khmer Mass in Dhammayatras,” Matha Bauditho Rithipol said. “I myself participated in his Dhammayatra [peace walks] three times in Cambodia, in 1993, 1997 and 1998. He was an honorable and peaceful individual. I have never seen as great an individual as honorable Maha Ghosananda.”

Maha Ghosananda's 2nd year funeral rite

Maha Ghosananda

Monk Honored in Second-Year Funeral Rite

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
09 March 2009

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer (Part 1)
Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer (Part 2)

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer (Part 3)

During the dark period of civil war, a Cambodian monk led a campaign for peace in his nation. For years, the venerable Maha Ghosananda contributed to the cause of peace, and he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times. He died on March 12, 2007, and his passing will be marked in an upcoming second anniversary.

Monks and laymen alike will honor the life of Maha Ghosananda across the United States, with an official second-year funeral ceremony to be held at Trai Ratanaram, a community center for Cambodian monks in North Chelmsford, Mass., March 12 through March 15.

“They changed a new robe for him, and bought a new golden coffin to permanently store his body,” said venerable monk Sao Khon, chairman of the Ratanaram pagoda. Laypeople are busy in their communities preparing to honor him, he said.

In years past, Sao Khon said, he traveled with Maha Ghosananda to the World Peace Council, for the cause of peace in Israel, Palestine, the West Bank, Saudi Arabia and other countries. At the UN, they distributed a book advocating peace.

“The honorable Ghosananda was a Cambodian hero monk when our Cambodia was at war,” Sao Khon said. “Using Buddhist dharma, he brought Khmer suffering the world’s attention.”

Maha Ghosananda was born in a very poor family in Daun Keo village, Takeo province, in 1929. He entered the monkhood in 1943 and was one of supreme patriarch Chuon Nath’s students and a member of delegation led by supreme patriarch Chuon Nath to participate in the 6th International Buddhist Monk Congress to celebrate the 2, 500th anniversary of Lord Buddha's Parinibanna, in 1956 in Rangoon, Burma’s capital.

He studied at Nalanda University in India and received a doctorate in philosophy in Buddhism in 1969. In 1980, he established an inter-religious organization called Mission for Peace. In 1981 he led the Khmer community to build Buddhist pagodas in Cambodia, the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. He led 16 Dhamayatras, walks for peace, in Cambodia, advocating nonviolence within society and human rights.

His fellow monks remember him well.

Venerable monk Treung Ky Chantha, a representative of the Kampuchea Krom monks in the US, told VOA Khmer Maha Ghosananda had preached “truthfulness, forbearance and gratitude” in his efforts to bring peace to Cambodia.

“He always paid attention to helping Cambodian society, within and outside the country,” Treung Ky Chantha said. “He devoted his whole life to his nation and religion. In particular, he always led Dhamayatra [peace marches] in Cambodia, as well as in other places in the world to pray for peace, happiness and prosperity. Although he passed away, his name and reputation are still alive to be a good role model for all Cambodian people.”

Maha Ghosananda contributed to social development through Buddhism. He led the first Dhamayatra in the northern part of Cambodia in 1992, as UNTAC helped prepare the first democratic election in Cambodian history.

Venerable monk Nhem Kim Teng, abbot of Prey Thlork pagaoda, in Svay Rieng province, is currently doing his doctoral studies in Buddhism at Delhi University in India.

“Honorable Maha Ghosananda participated in Dhamayatras in India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other countries at war,” Nhem Kim Teng said. “He was recognized throughout the world as a person dedicated to the quest of peace not only in Cambodia, but across the world. People knew his name as a Cambodian hero monk who actively advocated peace through Buddhism.”

Venerable monk Chhuon Chhoeun, of Damnak pagoda, Siem Reap province, said that in 1993 and 1998 Maha Ghosananda led Dhamayatra from his pagoda, with 2,000 Buddhist novices, monks, and nuns throughout Siem Reap town.

“The Dhamayatra led by honorable Maha Ghosananda from Damnak pagoda in 1993 was not in the fighting areas because conflicting factions in our country were already united,” he said. “Before, his Dhamayatra went to fighting areas, such as Samlot, where the Khmer Rouge were positioned.”

Men Maya, a Buddhist follower at Dhamikaram pagoda in Rhode Island, met with Maha Ghosananda in 1983. She, like many others, was devoted to him, seeing him again in 2006 and staying with him until the end.

“I served him for five months and a half until his last day,” she said.

Monks To March on UN Over Border Dispute [-Dhammayietra organized by Venerable Sao Khorn

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
27 November 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

Monks and Cambodians from various US states plan to hold a peace march at the UN headquarters in December, aiming to renew attention to ongoing border disputes.

The Community Center of Khmer Buddhist Monks will organize the march Dec. 10 to appeal to the UN to honor the 1991 Paris Peace Accords and have its signatories defend Cambodia’s borders.

Venerable monk Sao Khorn, head of the Massachusetts center, said Cambodian monks living on pagodas along the border were suffering a violation of human rights and sovereignty.

A monthslong military standoff between Cambodia and Thailand is centered around a the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda on disputed land near Preah Vihear temple, occupied now by Cambodian monks and troops from both sides.

PEACE IN EVERY STEP: The late Maha Ghosananda of Cambodia proved the healing power of wisdom and compassion

Maha Ghosananda during a Dhammayietra walk

Sunday August 31, 2008
VASANA CHINVARAKORN
Bangkok Post

There was some inexpressibly cool and unhurried sense of peacefulness that exuded from the man. The year was 1997, November 5 to be exact. I was attending an inter-faith conference at a small town about an hour's drive from Phnom Penh. He was there among the crowds who came to give their blessing to the opening of the auspicious event. I felt something special about this frail but ever-smiling monk although I couldn't tell why. "Oh, that is Venerable Maha Ghosananda; he is very famous in Cambodia," whispered Buddhist scholar Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, urging me to interview him.

So I did. But as obliging as Maha Ghosananda was with a then green-horn journalist like me, I found it extremely difficult to write an article on him. He talked very little about his personal life, which Acharn Chatsumarn (who was later ordained as Bhikkhuni Dhammananda) said was so fascinating. Throughout the brief conversation I had with him, Maha Ghosananda would make extensive references to "dharma" - the importance of keeping oneself aware of the rising and ebbing away of mental phenomena, pleasant or not, how to constantly cultivate loving-kindness toward every sentient being, and last but not least, how not to cling to anything. I accept the truth of the adages, but they were, well, (given my ignorance at the time) hard to put in a newspaper.

His name, and that mysteriously cool aura, has however been an enigma for me. Every now and then I would come across some mention about or by him. He has been called the "Gandhi of Cambodia", the "Buddha of the Battlefields", and in the words of the late Dith Pran (whose life inspired the film The Killing Fields), the "dreamkeeper" of his homeland. In the 1990s, King Sihanouk conferred on him the special title of "Leader of Religion and Peace", and later "International Patriarch". He received numerous awards for his peace activism, including being nominated a few times for the Nobel Prize. His dharmayietra (literally "Pilgrimage of Truth") movement, which he initiated in 1992 with friends from different denominations, has since been carried on in his homeland, and later adopted elsewhere, including in Thailand (albeit totally different from the one recently staged during the dispute over the Preah Vihear world heritage site). In the late '70s, he helped set up hut temples at the refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian borders, and later to rebuild temples and provide education to hundreds of monks and nuns in Cambodia (it was estimated that of about 65,000 monastics, only 3,000 survived the Khmer Rouge era). He also founded over 30 home-based temples in North America, Europe and Australia for the Cambodian migrant communities there.

The more I learned about Maha Ghosananda's biography and the tortuous history of Cambodia, the more I appreciate and marvel at his ability to remain unperturbed, so refreshingly serene in the midst of raging fires.

I would have the same question once raised by Benedictine monk James Wiseman: "Looking at the Venerable Ghosananda, one has the impression that not only his smile, but his whole body is radiant. It seems as if his skin has been washed so clean that it shines. One can only wonder what this man has seen, what he has experienced of the terrible killing fields in his home country (considering that all the members of Maha Ghosananda's family died under the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot).

"One thing however is obvious: Whatever his experience has been, it has brought forth extraordinary growth in the spiritual life."

Of his early years, there is sketchy, rather scattered information. His date of birth varies - it was some time in the 1920s - depending on the source. It was reckoned, though, that Maha Ghosananda's potential may have been recognised not long after his ordination, for he came under the tutelage of Venerable Chuon Nath, later appointed to be the Supreme Patriarch and a key leader of the reformist movement in Cambodian Buddhism in the early 20th century.

In 1951, he left for a study at Nalanda University in India (where he would be eventually granted a PhD which he jokingly translated as "Person Has Dukkha" - suffering). Importantly, while in India, Maha Ghosananda had an opportunity to learn about the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence with Nichidatsu Fujii, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of Nipponsan Myohoji, a Japanese Buddhist order dedicated to world peace.

After his time in India, Maha Ghosananda reportedly travelled extensively to different temples throughout Asia, returned to Cambodia briefly before a long spell of residence in Thailand (the exact number of years is not known). It was said he studied Vipassana (insight) meditation with Ajahn Dhammadaro in Nakhon Si Thammarat, but an obituary written by his long-time friend Sulak Sivaraksa last year also mentioned reformist monk Buddhadasa as another mentor of Maha Ghosananda.

It was at this very juncture in Thailand where all the years of dharma practice came to fruition. At a forest monastery in the South, Maha Ghosananda heard news about the series of tragedies that beset his homeland: The American bombing raids, which dropped over 2.7 million tonnes of bombs and killed an estimated 600,000 Cambodians, the successive changes of regimes and ensuing bloodshed, the brutal genocide of the Khmer Rouge ...

A biography written by American monk Venerable Santidhammo described the tenacious struggle the Cambodian monk had to go through:

"He learned that his parents and all his brothers and sisters had been murdered. He was told, over time, of the death of many of his fellow monks and nuns. And of course, he said, he wept for so many losses. He wept for his country. He wept, he said, every day and could not stop weeping. But his teacher urged him to stop. Don't weep, he was told, Be mindful.

"Having mindfulness, his teacher said, is like knowing when to open and when to close your windows and doors. Mindfulness tells us when is the appropriate time to do things - you can't stop the fighting. Instead, fight your impulses toward sorrow and anger. Be mindful. Prepare for the day when you can truly be useful to your country. Stop weeping, and be mindful!"

We will never know how and for how long before the inner battle came to an end. By 1978, Maha Ghosananda embarked on a mission to bring peace to his fellow Cambodians. In an introduction to his only book, titled Step by Step - Meditations on Wisdom and Compassion, editors Jane Sharada Mahoney and Philip Edmonds related the monk's visit to a refugee camp in Sakeo. Amid the bleak and dilapidated atmosphere, Maha Ghosananda's presence was like a glowing candle that rekindled the spiritual warmth long suppressed by the protracted wars.

"In that moment," Mahoney and Edmonds write, "great suffering and great love merged. Centuries of Buddhist devotion rushed into the consciousness of the refugees. Waves of survivors fell to their knees and prostrated, wailing loudly, their cries reverberating throughout the camp. Many say that the Dharma, which had slept gently in their hearts as the Bodhi tree burned, was reawakened that day."

Maha Ghosananda himself would later stress the duty of socially-engaged Buddhists: "We must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to the Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettoes and the battlefields will then become our temples."

There is no discrimination either between ideologies or on the basis of past conflicts. Maha Ghosananda's temple huts catered to all refugees alike, including former Khmer Rouge soldiers. "We have great compassion for them because they do not know the truth," he later told film producer Alan Channer. "They suffer so much; they burn themselves. They want peace; they want happiness and Buddhism gives them peace and happiness.

"I do not question that loving one's oppressors - Cambodians loving the Khmer Rouge - may be the most difficult attitude to achieve. But it is a law of the universe that retaliation, hatred, and revenge only continue the cycle and never stop it. Reconciliation does not mean that we surrender rights and conditions, but rather that we use love in our negotiations. It means that we see ourselves in the opponent - for what is the opponent but a being in ignorance, and we ourselves are also ignorant of many things. Therefore, only loving-kindness and right mindfulness can free us."

It is a message that he would repeat the rest of his life. During the top-level talks between different Cambodian warring factions in France, Switzerland, and Indonesia, Maha Ghosananda led his contingency of monks, "the fifth army of peace", to open daily sessions with prayer and meditation; they implored the leaders to recall their Buddha nature, and reminded everyone of the power of non-violence. Sulak recalled the monk had personally asked him to seek holy water from the Supreme Patriarch at Wat Bowon Niwet in Bangkok to sprinkle on the Cambodian representatives - an initiative that was unanimously welcomed by all parties.

In her article on the dharmayietra movement in Cambodia, Kathryn Poethig wrote: "For Maha Ghosananda, the essence of Buddhist dharma is the practice of peacemaking. It requires skilful means, the ability to listen with compassion to the perspective of the one who has done you and others harm, and being mindful and selfless in negotiating a peaceful resolution to conflict."

Ingenuity and patience are certainly key. Maha Ghosananda often talked about how "wisdom and compassion must walk together. Having one without the other is like walking on one foot; you will fall. Balancing the two, you will walk very well, step by step."

In 1992, as the refugee camps were preparing to close with the planned repatriation of some 350,000 Cambodians, Maha Ghosananda and his friends from various faith groups launched the first dharmayietra. Over a hundred Cambodian refugees, escorted by international walkers including monks from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Japan, did the arduous 450km trek from the Thai borders back into their homeland. Every day, the returning Cambodians found their long-lost family members. By the time the band reached Phnom Penh, their number had swollen to more than a thousand.

The first few walks have been wrought with great difficulty. For the inaugural walk, most of the senior monks invited declined to join; it took a while to get permission from the Thai, Cambodian, and UN officials for the refugees to cross the borders. The subsequent ones fared no better; landmines and exchanges of gunshots and grenades between the Khmer Rouge and government troops were still the norm. During the third walk, in 1994, a skirmish caused by a misunderstanding ended with a monk and a nun killed, a few participants injured, and some taken hostage (though they were later released).

But the peace walkers did not waiver. For Maha Ghosananda, the dharmayietra was not a political demonstration - they discouraged any effort by public figures to co-opt the event - or a new innovation into Cambodian Buddhism. It was simply following the example of the Buddha, he cited, who long ago had walked right onto the battlefield in an effort to end a war and bring reconciliation to two hostile factions of his own clan.

The suffering of Cambodia has been deep.
From this suffering comes Great Compassion.
Great Compassion makes a Peaceful Heart.
A Peaceful Heart makes a Peaceful Person.
A Peaceful Person makes a Peaceful Family.
A Peaceful Family makes a Peaceful Community.
A Peaceful Community makes a Peaceful Nation.
And a Peaceful Nation makes a Peaceful World.
May all beings live in Happiness and Peace.

In Venerable Santidhammo's biography, moving accounts of those who participated in the walks reveal the beauty of humanity, if given a chance to grow. The dharmayietra heralded the end of the war, reunited families, inspired new vision. A number called the experience Dhamma Teak Tong, or "Dhamma Contact". For at that very moment, all the boundaries melt; any notions of "us" versus "them" are tossed away.

One local woman said: "We Khmer haven't seen peace for so long. We've never known it. Now seeing the monks and all these people walking makes me think they've come to teach us to love one another, to unite. When I see them I feel speechless. Maybe we will have true peace after all."

Due to his fragile health, by 2000, Maha Ghosananda could no longer attend the dharmayietra walks, which have since been done on more localised scales, with the themes ranging from environmental to human rights, Aids, and youth issues. According to Peter Gyallay-Pap, founder and executive director of the Khmer-Buddhist Educational Assistance Project (KEAP), the spirit of the monk has been carried on by his followers who seek "change in terms of actively following the middle path, not in social or political confrontation".

But will true transformation ever come? To Cambodia and the rest of the world? On the last page of his book Step by Step, Maha Ghosananda expressed his faith in the practice of mindfulness as "the only way to peace".

"Slowly, slowly, step by step," he urges. "Each step is a meditation. Each step is a prayer."

On March 12, 2007, Maha Ghosananda passed away at a temple in Lowell, Massachusetts, one of the many sanctuaries he had built for his fellow Cambodians around the world.

Marchers demand speedier trials for Khmer Rouge tribunal

Cambodian nuns march to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), in Phnom Penh. More than 600 Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as Muslim leaders, marched to Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal to demand speedier trials of Khmer Rouge cadre.(AFP/Sreng Meng)
Cambodian Buddhist nuns participate in a march heading to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2007. Some 600 hundred protesters, including Buddhist nuns and Cambodian Muslims, marched in the capital Tuesday to urge a speedier trial for former leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist monks lead the march heading to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2007. Some 600 hundred protesters, including Buddhist nuns and Cambodian Muslims, marched in the capital Tuesday to urge a speedier trial for former leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist nuns march to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2007. Some 600 hundred protesters, including Buddhist nuns and Cambodian Muslims, marched in the capital Tuesday to urge a speedier trial for former leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — More than 600 Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as Muslim leaders, marched to Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal Tuesday to demand speedier trials of Khmer Rouge cadre.

The group marched silently to the courthouse, with the clergy in white robes, carrying banners that read "reconciliation" and "the tribunal is a remedy for the cycle of vengeance."

"We are marching because we want peace and justice to be rendered in the Khmer Rouge cases," Buddhist nun Chou Salean told AFP.

"We want the court to speed up the prosecutions because we have been waiting for nearly 30 years," said the 60-year-old woman, who said she lost seven relatives under the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

Many of the nuns said they had hoped to see the five suspects who have been arrested by the tribunal.

"The marchers support the court. The court will try its best to respond to the demands of the victims under the regime," said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath, who greeted the march.

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed under the Khmer Rouge.

The Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during its rule.

Established in July 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations, the joint Cambodian-UN tribunal seeks to prosecute crimes committed by senior Khmer Rouge leaders.

Five top Khmer Rouge leaders have been detained to face charges for crimes committed by the regime's brutal 19975-79 rule. Trials are expected to begin in mid-2008.

All the defendants claim to be suffering from serious health ailments, causing concern among those hoping to find justice for Cambodia's genocide victims before the alleged perpetrators die.

Protest march urges quick trial of Khmer Rouge leaders in Cambodia

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Some 600 hundred protesters, including Buddhist nuns and Cambodian Muslims, marched in the capital Tuesday to urge a speedier trial for former leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge.

A long-delayed, United Nations-backed tribunal is seeking accountability for atrocities during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, under which an estimated 1.7 million people died from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.

The marchers, with students and Buddhist monks also among them, walked some five kilometers (3 miles) to the tribunal's office on Phnom Penh's outskirts.

"If the process of the trial continues to be too slow, then the aging former Khmer Rouge leaders will be die before facing trial," said Yin Kean, a 72-year-old nun. "I wish to see these leaders taken to court soon so that they will reveal who is responsible for the deaths of Cambodians under their regime."

The genocide trials are scheduled to begin next year. Five high-ranking former leaders are in detention after being charged with crimes against humanity and other charges.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath welcomed the marchers.

"Their presence here is a very significant step, showing that this court has received support from the entire Cambodian population," he said.

Photos from the Dhammayietra for Peace and Justice to the KR Tribunal

Cambodians including Buddhists monks, nuns, schoolchildren and Muslims march from Phnom Penh international airport to the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) on the outskirts of the city December 25, 2007. The march is to give members of the religious community and students an opportunity to participate in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and raise public awareness of the upcoming trials of senior Khmer Rouge officials. The march also aims to promote peace and reconciliation, reduce violence and strengthen the solidarity of the Cambodian people during the long and difficult process of achieving justice. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Buddhists monks, nuns, schoolchildren and Muslims march from Phnom Penh international airport to the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) on the outskirts of the city December 25, 2007. The march is to give members of the religious community and students an opportunity to participate in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and raise public awareness of the upcoming trials of senior Khmer Rouge officials. The march also aims to promote peace and reconciliation, reduce violence and strengthen the solidarity of the Cambodian people during the long and difficult process of achieving justice. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Buddhists monks march from Phnom Penh international airport to the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) on the outskirts of the city December 25, 2007. The march is to give members of the religious community and students an opportunity to participate in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and raise public awareness of the upcoming trials of senior Khmer Rouge officials. The march also aims to promote peace and reconciliation, reduce violence and strengthen the solidarity of the Cambodian people during the long and difficult process of achieving justice. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Nuns march from Phnom Penh international airport to the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) on the outskirts of the city December 25, 2007. The march is to give members of the religious community and students an opportunity to participate in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and raise public awareness of the upcoming trials of senior Khmer Rouge officials. The march also aims to promote peace and reconciliation, reduce violence and strengthen the solidarity of the Cambodian people during the long and difficult process of achieving justice. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Nuns march from Phnom Penh international airport to the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) on the outskirts of the city December 25, 2007. The march is to give members of the religious community and students an opportunity to participate in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and raise public awareness of the upcoming trials of senior Khmer Rouge officials. The march also aims to promote peace and reconciliation, reduce violence and strengthen the solidarity of the Cambodian people during the long and difficult process of achieving justice. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Plan for a Dhammayietra (Peaceful March) to the KR Tribunal

Monday, December 24, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The former victims of the KR regime, including about 600 monks, nuns, Cambodian Muslims, students and the public, plan to organize a Dhammatyietra (Peaceful March) on 25 December, to march to the KR Tribunal. RFA indicated that this first Dhammayietra for justice and peace will start from Wat Phnom park in Phnom Penh and will march to the KR Tribunal located in the city suburb. Ms. Seur Sayana, an official of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DCCam) said that about 600 people are expected to participate in this Dhammayietra which was already authorized by the authority of the city of Phnom Penh which will ensure its security. The goal of the Dhammayietra is to push to for justice, peace, solidarity, and the end to violence.

Khmer Krom ask to organize a Dhamayietra, Walk for Peace, for the second time

Thursday, June 28, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Monk Yoeung Sin, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Monks Association, said that he will send a request to the Phnom Penh municipality on 28 June, one week before the date for holding a which is Dhammayietra Walk for Peace from Phnom Penh to Oudong Mountainscheduled for 07 July 2007. The goal of the Dhammayietra is to pray for peace for Khmer Kampuchea Krom people. Monk Yoeung Sin said that if this second request will not be accepted by the authority, he will find other means to resolve this issue because it is a matter of life and death, and of safety for Khmer Kampuchea Krom brothers and sisters, therefore, there can no longer be any delay for holding this Dhammatyietra. Monk Yoeung Sin did not specify his ultimate course of action should the authority refuse to allow the organization of the Dhammayietra for the second time. Monk Yoeung Sin said that the Dhammayietra is not contrary to the Buddhist Dharma law, and that the Dharma law does not ban any Dhammayietra nor does it band demonstrations.

Hochimonk Non Nget and the Minister of Cult and Religion issued a declaration restricting all monks from participating in Khmer Krom Dhammayietra

Khmer Krom Dhammayietra March for Peace faces new obstable

23 June 2007
By Pov Ponlok
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A representative of the Khmer Krom community said that Khmer Krom people plan to apply for an authorization from the authorities one more time to organize a Dhammayietra, March for Peace, but that their plan is facing a new obstacle because a patriarch monk issued a declaration preventing all monks in Cambodia from participating in this Dhammayietra.

The Khmer Krom community sent in a petition to organize the Dhammayietra from Phnom Penh to Oudong mountain on 07 July, following a prevention from the Cambodian authority to conduct such March in June.

The organizers of the Dhammayietra plan to pray for peace for Khmer Krom people and Khmer Krom monks who are currently living in the former land of Khmer Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam), following the recent events in Vietnam where Khmer Krom monks were defrocked by force and sentenced to jail when they were demonstrating against the communist Hanoi regime.

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Krom community, said: “Khmer Krom associations, and, in particular, the Khmer Krom monks association, had applied (earlier) for an authorization to organize a Dhammayietra from Phnom Penh to Oudong to pray for the release of Khmer Krom monks jailed by the Vietnamese, but the (Cambodian) authority did not authorize it. Now, we are planning to apply (for the authorization) one more time to organize (the Dhammayietra) on 07 July 2007, but the (Cambodian Buddhist) patriarch (Non Nget) issued a declaration restricting all monks from participating in religious demonstration or Dhammayietra. This restriction of monk’s participation is a serious violation in Cambodia.”

RFA could not reach the Ministry of Cult and Religion yet to obtain further information, however, Monk Yoeung Sin, the representative of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom monks, said that he received the declaration dated 08 June, restricting all monks from participating in the Dhammayietra, and it was signed by Buddhist patriarch Non Nget, and by Khun Haing, the Minister of Cult and Religion.

Monk Yoeung Sin said that this directive cannot deter the will of Khmer Krom monks: “Khmer Krom monks have no intention of opposing the Royal Government of Cambodia, but they have no choice but to organize (this Dhammayietra), it’s our last choice, we must organize it. Why do we organize it? It’s for our Nation, for our birth land, we have no other choice, so we organize it … we are not organizing this (Dhammayietra) for any other purposes.”

A government official said today that the authority did not know yet that the Khmer Kampuchea Krom community plans to organize the Dhammayietra again.

Khmer Kampuchea Krom ask for the King’s intervention

11 June 2007
By Sophorn
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

A representative of Khmer Kampuchea Krom people and Khmer Krom organizations claimed that his group will ask for the King’s intervention so that they can organize a Dhammayieta Walk for Peace, following the rejection to their demands by the Ministry of Interior (MoI).

Monk Yoeung Sin, President of the Khmer Krom Monks Association, said that after his meeting with MoI and Phnom Penh municipality officials on Monday, they refused to allow Khmer Krom monks and people to organize the planned Dhammayietra Walk for Peace.

Monk Yoeung Sin said that this was done to restrict the people’s right to express their opinion. “Both the MoI and the city said that monks have no right to organize the Dhammayietra or anything else. We will find a way so that we can organize it,” Monk Yoeung Sin said.

Ang Chanrith, executive director of the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Human Rights Organization, told RFA on Monday that it was because the MoI’s refusal to allow the Dhammayietra, Khmer Krom organizations are preparing letters to send to the king to ask for his intervention in this case.

Ang Chanrith said: “We cannot organize it, we asked to organize (the Dhammayietra) last Sunday, (but our demand was rejected) because of the negative reply from the MoI provided by H.E. Khieu Sopheak.”

However, Khieu Sopheak, MoI spokesman, clarified the case by saying that he was only applying the law, and regarding the request to organize the Dhammayietra by Khmer Krom monks and organizations, those who asked for the authorization did not follow the law, they must ask the authorization from the local authorities along the path of the walk first.

Khieu Sopheak said: “In summary, they did not do according to the law. If they follow the law, there would be nothing wrong. The law said that they should ask the authorization from the local authorities of the communes the Dhammayietra is crossing through, from Phnom Penh to Oudong, in every communes they are crossing.”

Chan Saveth, an Adhoc human rights official, said that usually, the Cambodian authority never authorized Khmer Krom to organize demonstrations to demand for their freedom. He said that this is a lack of respect for democracy.

The Khmer Krom association, along with the Khmer Krom Monks Association and Khmer Krom Student Monks Association, plan to organize a Dhammayietra Walk for peace from Phnom Penh to Oudong with the participation of about 1,000 monks and laymen last Sunday, in order to pray for the peace for Khmer Krom people and monks who are currently living in the former lands of Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam). The walk was organized because, recently, the Hanoi’s regime defrocked and sentenced to jail several Khmer Krom monks who participated in a demonstration opposing them. The Dhammayietra was canceled after Phnom Penh refused to give its authorization.

Khmer Krom Associations postpone Dhammayietra Walk for Peace [-Gov't use delay tactics to prevent the Dhammayietra]

9 June 2007
By Mayarith Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

The plan for a Dhammayietra Walk for Peace which will be participated by up to 1,000 monks and laymen this Sunday, has been postponed because the Phnom Penh municipality did not give its authorization.

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom community, told RFA on Saturday that the plan organized by three Khmer Kampuchea Krom associations, including the Khmer Krom Monks association and the Federation of Khmer Kampuchea Krom Student Monks, has been postponed.

Thach Setha said: “Yesterday (Saturday), they invited me, Monk Yoeung Sin and Monk Chau Sang, the Dhammayietra Walk for Peace representatives, for a meeting at the city hall, and they showed us the writing of Sar Kheng, the Vice-prime minister and Minister of Interior, which said that they cannot authorize (our Dhammayietra) because we gave them a too short notice, and secondly because we did not ask the proper authorities: we should have asked the municipality and the provinces involved only, we cannot ask (the authorization from) the Ministry of Interior. That was the reason why the government does not provide its authorization to us.”

The Dhammayietra Walk for Peace to pray for peace for Khmer people currently living in the former Kampuchea Krom lands, was organized following the recent events which took place in Vietnam whereby several Khmer Krom were defrocked and sentenced to jail after they demonstrated against the Hanoi regime.

The Dhammayietra organizers said that the three Khmer Kampuchea Krom associations will meet each other again to discuss and to ask the authorization for the Dhammayietra one more time from the municipality of Phnom Penh: “We will send in our request, including the documents they said were missing, and we will fulfill all the requirements again … But we will have to hold another meeting with all the Khmer Krom associations to decide one more time. In fact, there was ample time, I sent in my request (to hold the Dhammayietra) on Thursday, there was sufficient amount of time, but the Ministry of Interior said that in my request letter, I did not affix the association stamp. My habit is to sign my letters only, I never had to affix the association stamp on them, but the ministry required to see the red (association) stamp (affixed on the letter). When I returned back (to provide the stamped letter), they said that something else is meeting, they asked to see the authorization to form the association. In fact, the ministry has the government authorization for us to form the association, but they insisted that we provide the document to them. So it was another day lost on Thursday, and on Friday, they received everything from us. On Saturday, they told us that the date is too close, we can see that they created all these delays so that we cannot organize (the Dhammayietra), this is not our fault, this is a government delay tactic to prevent us from organizing (the Dhammayietra).”

Khmer Krom Monks plan Dhammayietra Walk for Peace

Kampuchea Krom Buddhist monks from southern Vietnam hold a Buddhist flag during a protest in front of the royal palace in Phnom Penh April 20, 2007. Around fifty monks protested outside the Vietnamese embassy on Friday, calling on the communist-run nation to allow greater freedom of religion. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

08 June 2007
By Mayarith Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Three Khmer Kampuchea Krom associations, including the Association of Khmer Krom Monks, said that they will gather about 1,000 laymen and Khmer Krom monks to organize a Dhammayietra Walk for Peace from Phnom Penh city to Oudong mountain, in order to pray and ask for peace for Khmer people and Khmer monks currently living on the former Kampuchea Krom territories.

Recently, the Vietnamese government defrocked several Khmer Krom monks and sentenced some of them to jail, following a demonstration against the Vietnamese authority. The action taken by the Vietnamese government caused outrage among Khmer Krom people all over the world.

The Dhammayietra which will be participated by the Khmer Kampuchea Krom community, and the Alliance of Khmer Krom Student Monks, will depart on 10 June starting from Wat Phnom, in Phnom Penh city.

The group informed the Ministry of Interior (MoI) about the event and requested security along the Dhammayietra road, but as of Friday, there was no answer yet from the MoI.