Shan Chronicles
Insight Myanmar2 Huhti 2024

Shan Chronicles

Episode #228: Jane Ferguson speaks about her recent book, Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand, and a Nation-State Deferred. The book’s title refers to Shan attempts to reclaim their land and community after many years of conflict.

Ferguson explains that contemporary concepts of identity—like “ethnicity”—are often mistakenly used to interpret the past. Rather, her study reveals the lack of pan-Shan identity, and that even the way the Shan practiced Buddhism varied from east to west. The British, with hopes of a more efficient Empire, tried unsuccessfully to get the Shan to unite.


Many Shan migrants work in Thailand, where they eke out a living to send money back to their families and communities in Myanmar. Recent changes in Thai-Myanmar relations and plans to create economic zones, however, raise many questions about the future of this arrangement.


During the transition years, the Shan were skeptical that the NLD would be supportive of their political and economic interests. Whether it was the elected government under Aung San Suu Kyi or the military regime that was in power, they often felt they were caught between a rock and a hard place.


In closing, Ferguson says that there is this idea that, “Okay, now that the military is back in the saddle, everybody has a common enemy again, so they're more likely to unite… I've met some really creative people that have incredible ideas for building a better future. I can't begin to express the horrors and the biggest internal conflict that Myanmar is fighting since the time of World War Two, it's tremendous. But on the other hand, there are some pockets of real optimism.”

Jaksot(507)

The Power of Mettā in Action

The Power of Mettā in Action

In looking back at the turbulent recent history of her country, Sayalay Chandadhika, a Burmese Buddhist nun based in Germany, sees a never-ending spiral of destructive patterns that continue to produc...

22 Helmi 20211h 34min

Facing Darkness with Light

Facing Darkness with Light

“We are already in the danger. So we don’t care anymore. The dawn won’t be that much darker than the midnight. And we are already in the midnight, so the darkness can’t be much worse. We are at the pe...

16 Helmi 202152min

Finding Inner Stability in Troubling Times

Finding Inner Stability in Troubling Times

“The Dhamma is so central to this culture, and [yet] not understood by the people who write about this place in the media from overseas. So all those sorts of things get reported from a vacuum of unde...

6 Helmi 20211h 19min

The Mystery of U Lokanatha, Part 1

The Mystery of U Lokanatha, Part 1

Antonio Costanzo and his team may never solve all the mysteries of the life of the great Italian monk U Lokanatha, but they are certainly trying!Even the little we know of U Lokanatha’s spiritual resu...

2 Helmi 20211h 8min

From the River Bank of Consciousness

From the River Bank of Consciousness

“And then there was a particular moment in the meditation where it was almost as if awareness separated out from the rest of the objects of consciousness.” So begins David Sudar on sharing about one o...

24 Tammi 20211h 21min

Luissa Burton

Luissa Burton

Today’s episode explores a journey from the fashion runway to the meditation hall. An actress, model, and beauty queen, Luissa Burton discusses the circuitous route that ultimately brought her to medi...

15 Tammi 20212h 19min

Detached Engagement: Racial Equity Training in the Vipassana organization of S.N. Goenka

Detached Engagement: Racial Equity Training in the Vipassana organization of S.N. Goenka

What place does engagement in social justice issues have, if any, within vipassana meditation centers in the tradition of S.N. Goenka? That is question Clyde Ford is asking, and is at the heart of a t...

6 Tammi 20211h 55min

Voices: Burmese Theravada in a Catholic Land, Part 2, Raymond Riveria

Voices: Burmese Theravada in a Catholic Land, Part 2, Raymond Riveria

This is the second episode in our series exploring Filipino meditators affected by the Dhamma of the Golden Land. Here, we tell the story of just one Filipino meditator: Raymond Riveria, or Mon for sh...

27 Joulu 20201h 23min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
tervo-halme
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
viisupodi
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-podme-livebox
rss-asiastudio
otetaan-yhdet
the-ulkopolitist
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
rss-kiina-ilmiot
linda-maria
rikosmyytit
radio-antro
rss-polikulaari-pitka-kiekko-ja-muut-ts-podcastit