Freedom Behind Bars
Insight Myanmar25 Nov 2022

Freedom Behind Bars

Episode #134: Liv Gaborit, a Danish social scientist with a background in psychology, conducted a groundbreaking study about intensive vipassana meditation retreats offered in the tradition of S. N. Goenka in notorious, overcrowded, Insein prison.

Gaborit was told a story about a high-level military figure who regretted his bloody actions in suppressing the 1988 democratic uprising. Seeking spiritual salvation, he traveled to India, where he took a course in the Goenka tradition and was determined to bring it back to the prison system in Myanmar.


Gaborit’s study centered on the experience of hearing voices in solitary confinement versus during a meditation retreat. Solitary confinement can lead to a range of hallucinations and mental disorders; while during intensive meditation, seeing and hearing from invisible beings can be understood as a deepening practice. Another important factor that Gaborit points to is the presence of metta, or loving-kindness. When political prisoners hear voices on meditation courses, metta is in the environment and cushions the experience, while in solitary, it is quite a different story. For the political prisoners on the prison course, Gaborit says that the result of that positive energy was remarkable, while for the monk, the lack of being able to receive or practice metta no doubt contributed to his mental imbalance.


What began as a research project has transformed into something far larger for Gaborit: her own life trajectory has been radically altered. After the coup, Gaborit left her position in academia to become a full-time activist, and co-founded Myanmar Action Group Denmark.

Avsnitt(515)

From Halo-Halo to Milk Tea

From Halo-Halo to Milk Tea

Episode #461: “I think this time, there is even more hope for a fundamental shift and change in [Myanmar],” says Gus Miclat, co-founder of Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID). He contrasts to...

2 Jan 1h 18min

Towards Confederation

Towards Confederation

Episode #460: “This is not only my interest—it is also my duty,” says Khay, a research fellow in Berlin, describing his work to better understand Myanmar’s crises. Raised in Karen State during an era ...

1 Jan 56min

Both Sides Now

Both Sides Now

Episode #459: This is the third episode in a three-part series that emerged from a three-day Digital Storytelling Workshop hosted by Insight Myanmar Podcast, with support from ANU and IDRC. What began...

30 Dec 20251h 58min

ASEAN in the Balance

ASEAN in the Balance

Episode #458: Lilianne Fan is a long-time Myanmar analyst and advocate who served as an adviser to the ASEAN Special Envoy on Myanmar and as part of Malaysia’s advisory group during its ASEAN chairman...

29 Dec 20252h 20min

Neither Free Nor Fair

Neither Free Nor Fair

Episode #457: Brang Min, a Kachin State civil society organizer and student activist with the Kachin State Civil Movement; Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a leading organizer and deputy director of the Anti-Sham ...

28 Dec 20251h 27min

Abandoned in Plain Sight

Abandoned in Plain Sight

Episode #456: “We will not leave them behind,” says Simon Billenness, director of the Campaign for a New Myanmar and a Burma policy advocate with more than three decades of experience lobbying the Uni...

26 Dec 20252h 8min

The Bloodiest Election

The Bloodiest Election

Episode #455: Mon Zin, a Myanmar-born pro-democracy activist based in Sydney, is a founding member of the Global Myanmar Spring Revolution, a network that coordinates Burmese diaspora communities arou...

25 Dec 20251h 39min

Into The Mystic

Into The Mystic

Episode #454: In our third episode with U Jāgara, a Canadian monk, he reflects on his journey through decades of meditation practice and teaching, focusing on the adaptation of Burmese meditation trad...

23 Dec 20251h 48min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

svenska-fall
aftonbladet-krim
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
fordomspodden
rss-expressen-dok
flashback-forever
motiv
aftonbladet-daily
rss-sanning-konsekvens
spar
blenda-2
rss-vad-fan-hande
olyckan-inifran
svd-ledarredaktionen
rss-krimreportrarna
rss-frandfors-horna
dagens-eko
rss-flodet
kungligt