U Nu and Burmese political Buddhism
U Nu with US President Dwight Eisenhower According to the Indian social reformer Ambedkar , Buddhism is based on reason, morality, egalitarianism, and progress; it would he hard to make that claim for Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or Hinduism. However, the same religion has been interpreted to serve racist, sexist, xenophobic and discriminatory ideas by monks from Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. For Burma, the development of political Buddhism can be traced back to its nationalist movement of U Nu, the first prime minister of Burma. During the colonial period, U Nu reconciled Marxism and...