Myanmar and The Wall
As I read this weekend of the demonstrations in Myanmar with excitement and worry. I recalled Nov. 9, 1989. A German expat acquaintance told me it would happen, about 3 weeks before. I thought "Dream on, Karl." Then came the images of the Wall falling. I met a Romanian who was in the crowd at the very first uprising against the police. "We were just ordinary people in the square after church", he told me. "We went home and took whatever was at hand."
freedom nonviolence oppression protestYesterday in Yangon. Different place, same dance. 
I was there when it happened. One of the moments in my life I will never forget... Monika
I fear many will be killed and tortured in this dance.
Yet these monks are beautiful in their non-violence. I'm sad for them and for us, and I'm grateful for their teachings.
Weems
This morning I picked up "Peace is Every Step" to look for this passage.
"When you begin to see that the enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight. When you see in yourself the wish that the other person stop suffering, that is a sign of real love. But be careful. Sometimes you may think that you are stronger than you actually are. To test your real strength, try going to the other person to listen and talk to him or her and you will discover right away whether your loving compassion is real. If you just meditate on some abstract principle such as understanding or love, it may be just your imagination and not real understanding or real love.
...We need indignation in order to act, but even righteous, legitimate indignation is not enough. Our world does not lack people willing to throw themselves into action. What we need are people who are capable of loving, of not taking sides so that they can embrace the whole of reality."
- Thich Nhat Hanh
10000 monks