BURMA'S BUDDHIST SUMMIT: WE BUILT IT, NOW FIND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001582

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL/IRF
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2014
TAGS: SCUL PHUM PREL PGOV BM
SUBJECT: BURMA'S BUDDHIST SUMMIT: WE BUILT IT, NOW FIND
SOMEONE TO COME

REF: A. RANGOON 1569

B. RANGOON 1378

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (SBU) Summary: The SPDC carried off its World Buddhist
Summit despite the 11th hour loss of the primary sponsor and
the 1,600 attendees it was planning to bring. The regime
saved face by launching a dual strategy of publicly
belittling its departed Japanese co-sponsor while using
influential Burmese Buddhists overseas to whip up support and
attendees. Though the Summit was not notable for its
doctrinal initiatives, it met the regime's more important
definition of success -- bolstering the SPDC's notions of its
international credibility and role as defender of Theravada
Buddhism. End summary.

GOB Pulls Off the Sponsorless Summit


2. (U) Despite the October 30th decision by Japan's
Nenbutsushu Buddhist sect to pull its sponsorship, the SPDC
plowed ahead with its World Buddhist Summit from December
9-11 (ref B). The only concession made to the original
sponsors, who bailed following the ouster of former Prime
Minister, and Summit champion, General Khin Nyunt, was to
drop "The 4th" from the name of the Summit. The Nenbutsushu
sect had sponsored three prior World Buddhist Summits in
Japan, Thailand, and Cambodia and insisted Rangoon could not
host the "4th" such World Summit without it.


3. (SBU) According to Burmese state-run media, 1,652 monks
from 36 countries attended the 3-day event, held in a
man-made "cave" built in 1956 for the 6th Buddhist Synod.
However, 1,200 of these monks were Burmese -- either from
Burma or flown back from neighboring countries for the event.
Despite the negative publicity of Nenbutsushu's pull-out and
global calls for boycott, the Thai and Laotian Prime
Ministers, and the Cambodian Deputy PM, attended the opening
ceremony (ref A). Religious Affairs Ministry representatives
or Rangoon-based ambassadors read congratulatory messages
from the PMs of Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Nepal, and the
Presidents of India and Sri Lanka. (Note: the Sri Lankan PM
showed up for an official visit to Burma, but arrived on the
day the Summit closed and did not participate. End note.)
So-called "arch-monks" from 28 countries also attended the
Summit.

Nevermind the Mahayana Sects


4. (SBU) Following Nenbutsushu's decision, the SPDC adopted a
two-prong strategy in order to save face. First, SPDC media
mouthpieces and the Religious Affairs Ministry launched
vicious attacks on Nenbutsushu and on Mahayana Buddhism in
general (Burmese Buddhism is Theravada). A December 4th
article in "The New Light of Myanmar," called the Nenbutsushu
sect "third-class" and accused it of trying to establish its
headquarters in Japan as "the Vatican" of Buddhism. It
downplayed the importance of the sect's financial
contributions, claiming the group had committed to pay only
10 percent of the overall expenses -- an unlikely assertion,
as Nenbutsushu had planned to pay the airfare and lodging for
more than a 1,600 attendees from Japan. A December 11th
"editorial" fumed that since, "...hatching evil plots against
others is against" Buddhist teachings, Nenbutsushu's attempt
to "plot to stop Myanmar from holding the Summit...is a sin."


5. (SBU) The Religious Affairs Ministry took the mudslinging
a step further, claiming the Mahayana Buddhism practiced by
the Nenbutsushu sect is incompatible with the practices of
Theravada Buddhism. The Ministry further asserted that
Nenbutsushu's decision was for the best, as it was not really
appropriate for such a low-ranking Mahayana sect to sponsor a
Buddhist Summit inside Burma, the "champion" of Theravada
Buddhism.

Round 'Em Up


6. (C) Aside from trashing the Summit's erstwhile co-sponsor,
the other component of the SPDC strategy involved drafting
into service Burmese religious figures of international
standing to whip up attendees. According to a GOB source,
since early November the Ministry of Religious Affairs along
with a pro-SPDC, fundamentalist Theravada monk and teacher --
known as Saya Thigadu -- have been working with overseas
Burmese-born monks and teachers. One in particular, an
ethnic Indian Burmese meditation teacher with schools in
India, Europe, North America, and Asia, was reportedly
critical to drumming up enough support among Burmese and
other Theravada Buddhists around the world to bolster
attendance numbers. The meditation teacher was rewarded at
the Summit with extensive publicity for his schools, and
future economic benefits are likely for his son -- a Rangoon
businessman.

Comment: Another Feather in the SPDC Cap


7. (SBU) Nothing of major doctrinal significance emerged from
the three days, only a blandly worded joint communique that
called for further propagation of Buddhist teachings around
the world. The real story was the face-saving "success" of
the Summit for the SPDC after losing its co-sponsor. Over
the past few years, the SPDC has made it a priority to host
as many international conferences and Summits as possible;
gaining strength and confidence from each one that gets good
attendance and uncritical rhetoric. On top of this, the
completed Buddhist Summit was successful enough to justify,
in their minds, the SPDC leadership's self-appointment as
defender of the faith. Meanwhile, the regime's cynical
support of Buddhism (rewarding monks for their political
support and jailing those who refuse SPDC patronage) and
patently "un-Buddhist" behavior continue to make most pious
Buddhists here cringe with disgust. End comment.
MARTINEZ