I knew close to nothing about Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi before this book. I am grateful to all its contributors who brought a number of perspectives on Aung San Suu Kyi’s life up to the day of her release from a six year long house detention. The book is not covering events after 1995 and the subsequent events, we learned about from media.

Regardless of developments, I found value in this book. I learned about Burma’s history, literature, values, Buddist faith, societal organisation and its years of struggle to independence and democracy.

I was surprised to learn that the equality between men and women and equality was part of their traditions. This is a gentle reminder that whenever the “white man” or his messengers shout about values they bestow on us, a bit of himility is warranted. Buddha teachings, except for the perspective on women, seemingly contributed to that:

“There are no real cultural impediments to a woman as a leader in Burma. Throughout its history, women have enjoyed equality with men in the household and the economy. Marriage was and is a civil act; women retain their own names during marriage, and divorce is a simple procedure with no stigma attached to either party. More important, women have always had the right of inheritance. Only in Buddhist religious terms were they considered inferior.

We like to give precedence to our men in our own homes because we acknowledge them, until their death, as head of household. Possibly we can afford to offer this courtesy because we are secure in our rights and status. But part of the deference we offer them stems from the influence of Buddhism… We believe when a new Buddha comes to the world it will be as a man (though, to be sure, one of us who is now a woman may, in later life, be born as a man and eventually progress to Buddhahood). We feel that this gives men an inherent superiority: mentally, they can reach higher than women.”

The book contains accounts of the Burma leader by many distinguished contributors, among which her University fellows. Thus we learn that she was:

“outstanding student, hard-working, disciplined and always at the top of his class.”

These, in combination with her father’s political inheritance, give to the reader many valuable insights into her character and the values she promoted while under house arrest, to the extend she was allowed to do so by the regime back then:

“At the very beginning of what was to be a sustained campaign, she set out, to mass acclaim, the principles of personal commitment, discipline, unity, non-violence and the restoration of basic human rights – and especially multi-party democracy – which form her creed and the legacy of Aung San and Gandhi.”

“If there is no discipline, no system can succeed.”

Her few speeches reproduced in the book are simple and clear. A reason for them to reach 80% of voters’ hearts in an election which did not materialize into governance at that point.

What resonated with me to the core was her statement about the reason for a corrupt behavior:

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

When I read the below quote, I wondered if she still considers so today, in the light of the development of her political life:

Buddha’s teachings were central to the way Aung San Suu Kyi saw back then the governance of her country:

“To provide the people with the protective coolness of peace and security, rulers must observe the teachings of the Buddha. Central to these teachings are the concepts of truth, righteousness and loving kindness. It is government based on these very qualities that the people of Burma are seeking in their struggle for democracy.”

Books like these make me pause and wonder: for how long swill we keep holding on to madness?:

Aung San Suu Kyi spoke often of a “spiritual revolution”:

“The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation’s development. A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success.”

Her vision for the way forward for her country from back then is still an aspiration:

“Sincerity and goodwill are the foundations of confidence, and confidence is the foundation of any system that can succeed.”

And we wish the people of Burma to make that aspiration come true, as Tagore put it:

“Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.” – Gitanjali.