aid to burma?

Devastation has struck the people of Myanmar, with thousands killed, even more homeless. By definition, their military dictators are not nice people: recall recent images of demonstrating monks being beaten and shot. Suu Kyi–leader of the democratically elected government, Nobel Peace Laureate, and Honorary Citizen of Canada–has been in prison or under house arrest for much of the last 18 years (see yesterday’s post).

Potentially an ethical dilemma: should I send money (since I can’t go there with a shovel or a stethoscope) to assist the aid effort … knowing that some of the funds will end up in the wrong pockets and that the junta is made up of thugs? For me the answer is clear; the question is how to help. Due diligence means finding a trustworthy organization with transparent accounting and legal presence in Canada. And to inform myself via reliable sources. 

As someone wrote in response to this morning’s CBC News article:

“I don’t care if it’s Rangoon, Pyongyang, or Tehran. Human suffering knows no boundaries, or politics. The true test of a compassionate people is not how we treat our friends, but how we treat our enemies.”

photo: SPIEGEL/AP

practice living, practice dying

For more than 30 years Stephen and Ondrea Levine have provided direction and inspiration on death and dying. Their books are of “subtle beauty and honesty … [offering] wise and grounded lessons,” writes Thomas Moore. With Ondrea coping with leukemia and Stephen too frail to travel and teach, their friends are passing the hat to assist with overwhelming costs for insurance and treatment. Kindly scroll to my post of Thursday, 1 May 2008 for ways you might help. In his last book Stephen wrote–

“Socrates recommended that we should ‘always be occupied in the practice of dying.’ So did the Dalai Lama. Recently, when someone asked him what he would like to do next, he answered that he … felt it was time to complete his preparations for death. I too am … two thirds through an imaginary life. When a journey is in the future, it is never too soon to check out the travel guides and customs, and to learn the language of the world approaching. And it’s never too late to complete our birth. As Buddha said, ‘It doesn’t matter how long you have forgotten, only how soon you remember.’”

source: Levine, S. (1997). A year to live: how to live this year as if it were your last. New York: Bell Tower, p.8.