Ashin Issariya, the 36-year old Burmese
Buddhist monk and activist who co-founded The Best Friend in 1999,
worked to organize the monks during 2007’s Saffron Revolution, and has
opened many education centers both in Burma and Thailand, relates his
story, and why he does not believe the time is right for him to return
home.
Ashin Issariya, aka ‘King Zero’, was born in 1975 in Taw Kha Yan Gyi
Village in Rangoon Division and is the fourth of six siblings. He lived
on his family’s peaceful farm until the late 1980s, when the government
shut down all schools following the 1988 national uprising of students
and activists protesting for democracy and change in Burma. Like so many
others, King Zero was unable to continue his education.Ashin Issariya recalls a time in 1988 when he had to make some very tough decisions.
“My father talked to me to about being an educated person. He wanted to send me to a monastery to get education”, he says.
After schools re-opened again in 1989, his father asked him if he wanted to go back to the government school he had previously attended, or continue with his studies at the monastery. At the time, he could not decide, and he had many talks with his father and the head of the monastery. He was happy living and studying in the monastery, but was not sure if he would always be happy. “Novice and monk hood is not easy”, he explained.
King Zero finally decided to continue his monastic studies. He continued his studies for three more years at his local monastery before moving to larger monastic education centers in Pegu and Rangoon and eventually attending the State Sasana University (SSU). He says that until now, he has always been very happy.
It was while at the university that he fully realized the poor situation of the education system of his country. Students
were forbidden to see their examination scores, do anything deemed to
be political, or to learn English. Even state universities had
insufficient learning resources.“The library only had many old books. Most of the students were very uninterested in their library. They felt it was a waste of time to go there.”
This sparked his idea to create a better library as a place of learning where people could come together and discuss different issues freely. In 1999, he started The Best Friend Library with Ashin Sopaka and a few friends in his dorm room. The monks collected over 500 books, had around 50 students, and over 100 members.
“Ashin Sopaka could also speak English very well”, he explains, so they also opened up a language school in his room.
Unfortunately, operating an independent library was not allowed by the university authorities. The monks were told they must shut down their library. King Zero decided to leave the university and pursue Buddhist studies at a university in Mandalay and at a private Buddhist university after the first disappointing setback at SSU.
He carried on teaching poetry and writing articles in different villages and schools throughout Burma till opening another library in 2003 and opening a language school in Mandalay in 2004. He continued to teach and spread education while traveling to different villages, and eventually succeeded in establishing fourteen libraries throughout the country by 2007.
“Knowledge
is very important to think the right way. Most people in Burma are
uneducated, so they don’t understand what’s important or what’s going
on. We hope we can open their eyes and ears, and we can give knowledge
to all,” he says.For example, King Zero has worked to share the Burmese translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and has published copies of books and his own poetry in hopes of explaining his country’s situation to communities in different villages across Burma.
Soon after helping to organize and serving as one of the leaders of the Saffron Revolution in 2007, during which thousands of monks protested against the military regime for ignoring the rampant poverty and problems of the people, he became ‘wanted’ by the authorities. The military regime arrested, tortured, beat, and killed hundreds of students, monks, and political leaders that year for their peaceful protests and non-violent demonstrations. King Zero went into hiding and traveled up and down the length of Burma to elude capture after the authorities learned of his identity.
He continued to do peace work, and a new underground movement with other leaders of the Saffron Revolution resulted in distributing political papers and CDs, “Stop The Violence” stickers, and statements demanding the military apologize to the monks. Before long, the authorities went to his family demanding his whereabouts and threatening to arrest his brother in his place. His brother was also forced into hiding.
During a secret meeting with his family, they discussed that it was no longer safe for him to be in Burma, so King Zero crossed the Thai border into Mae Sot. He contacted Ashin Sopaka, who was living in exile in Germany at the time, to inform foreign news agencies so the authorities would no longer harass his family.
Today,
he continues to live in Mae Sot and runs The Best Friend Library there –
the first branch to be opened outside of Burma in 2009. The
library provides free English and computer classes, and also runs social
welfare projects at the Mae Sot Rubbish Dump. King Zero is currently
focusing on building a meditation center near Mae Sot.When asked about his future plans and what he hopes to accomplish, King Zero says he hopes to reopen libraries in Burma and set up a clinic.
“Our country’s people need to read a lot; we need to train them to read books. The military regime doesn’t like them reading, so they have opened many gambling and alcohol shops. It is a bitter problem. There is also no medicine. We need to train people about medicine and teach them to be good leaders, get a higher education, and lead for the people.”
King Zero, like so many others from Burma now living in foreign lands, hopes to return home soon.
“I would like to go back one day and help my country’s people. I will go back and build libraries and give knowledge and education to all. At that time, I can do more. A lot of people have asked me to open a library in their villages. We have a lot to do.”
At the time, his friends in Burma say that it is not yet safe to go back.
“Now is not okay for me. They want me to live in Mae Sot because I can support them for what they need. I can continue to give information to all countries about what is happening in our country.”
He also hopes to go back if there is change in the Sangha Council, the organization that oversees the actions of the country’s monks.
“The government, led by ex-military generals, controls the Sangha Council. Older monks control the other monks. They are only controlled by the military regime. It is not good.”
King Zero also mentions that before he goes back, he needs to make sure he will be allowed to live in a monastery.
“If I want to go back, I need to have a monastery. Abbots are very afraid of the government and the military. If they are told not to allow me to live in their monastery, then I wouldn’t be able to live there. This is what has happened with Ashin Gambira. He was unable to find a monastery that would allow him to live there, and now he has had to disrobe.”
“I do not have fear, but I must be able to do work for our country. If I cannot help the people, I don’t want to go back.”
When speaking about returning, King Zero also says, “When I am in Burma, I want to open a radio station. Media is very important. In Mae Sot, I also give talks on the radio. A lot of people listen to what I talk about on the radio. I can change their ideas to be good. I explain to them why they should work to become educated people, to read a lot of books, to learn. I want to share education with all.”
Article and photos by Vicki Lau
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