” The purpose of human life is to achieve our own spiritual evolution, to get rid of negativity, to establish harmony among our physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual quadrants, to learn to live in harmony within the family, community, nation, the whole world and all living things, treating all of mankind as brothers and sisters- thus making it finally possible to have peace on earth.”
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926-2004), US psychiatrist and writer.
Aung San Suu Kyi was born on June 19th, 1945 to Burma’s independence hero, Aung San, who was assassinated when she was only two years old.
She left Burma to study at the university of Oxford, UK. Returning to Burma in 1988 to nurse her dying mother, Aung San Suu Kyi was immediately plunged into the country’s nationwide democracy uprising. Joining the newly-formed National League for Democracy (NLD), Suu Kyi gave numerous speeches calling for freedom and democracy. The military regime responded to the uprising with brute force, killing up to 5,000 demonstrators. Unable to maintain its grip on power, the regime was forced to call a general election in 1990.
As Aung San Suu Kyi began to campaign for the NLD, she and many others were detained by the regime. Despite being held under house arrest, the NLD went on to win a staggering 82% of the seats in parliament. The regime never recognized the results of the election.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been in and out of arrest ever since. She was held under house arrest from 1989-1995, and again from 2000-2002. She was again arrested in May 2003 after the Depayin massacre, during which up to 100 of her supporters were beaten to death by the regime’s militia. Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Rangoon.
She has won numerous international awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament and the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has called on people around the world to join the struggle for freedom in Burma, saying “Please use your liberty to promote ours”.
Click here for a link to the Burma Campaign website where you can sign the petition demanding UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon make the release of Burma’s political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, his personal priority.
On May 6th, the organization cofounded by Clare, Sara Bronfman, and Keith Raniere – the World Ethical Foundations Consortium – will sponsor and host a public talk by His Holiness The Dalai Lama at the Palace Theater in Albany, NY. The event, coordinated by Clare and other members of the WEFC, will feature His Holiness speaking on the topic “Compassionate Ethics in Difficult Times”; for more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the website created especially for the event: The WEFC Presents His Holiness The Dalai Lama.
This incredible speech by a determined 12 year old proves we are never too young, nor too old, to affect change. Truly inspiring.
the incredible power of song to unite us all… beautiful video.
Check out this incredible documentary in progress. Traveling through 25 different countries, two former college soccer stars discover the humanity celebrated through a single game.
The Soccer Project from Rebekah Fergusson on Vimeo.
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