Candle Procession for Burma

On Sunday evening, 21 October 2008, the people of Sydney saw the streets in the heart of Sydney’s CBD lit by a long line of more than a hundred people walking mindfully and in Noble Silence carrying candles. Organised by Bodhikusuma Buddhist and Meditation Centre, this candle procession, in which not a single political banner was carried, was a public statement of peaceful and compassionate support for the suffering people and Sangha in Burma.

Afterwards, 9 Theravada monks from Thailand, Burma, England, and Australia filled the main hall of Bodhikusuma with traditional Pali chanting. The evening was concluded by Ajahn Brahm, Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth giving a talk on ‘Peace.’ His message: “We should appreciate the sacrifices the Burmese monks made for the people of their country marching the streets reciting the Metta Sutta. This is Dhamma in action, as the Buddha taught that violence cannot be overcome by violence, but only with love and compassion.”