Myanmar Dhamma Diaries: Empathy for the Executioners

Insight Myanmar

In 2017, Zach Hessler, then known as U Obhasa, was a forest monk in upper Myanmar. Following in the tradition of monks during the Buddha's time, one day he set out from his forest monastery on foot to wander among the mountains and villages in the vicinity. He did so with the intention of following a set of ascetic practices known as dhutaṅga.

But he could not have imagined what would happen next. Unknowingly entering a forbidden area, he and his monastic companion suddenly found themselves surrounded by several dozen men wielding weapons, suspecting that the two bhikkhus were spies.

Where some would spin what ensued as an adventure tale of escaping a near-death experience in an exotic locale, Zach instead goes into the Dhamma wisdom derived from that terrifying encounter. His fascinating story explores a range of topics: the conditioning of the mind, modern and traditional forms of monkhood, living in nature, the purpose of the Vinaya, complacency, the value of practice, and what happens within the mind when the concept of death becomes an imminent reality.

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