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Feb 18
Tuesday
Scene and Heard
The Drala of Maidan, part 2

Maidan Square

Maidan Square

Reporting on the Ukrainian Revolution
Interviews from the Front
part 2

(read part one here)

compiled by Ella Reznikova and Sarah Lipton
Ella is Ukrainian by birth, and Sarah has Ukrainian ancestry

We wonder why this Revolution is happening in Ukraine right now.

Shastri Maks Lan explains that the Czech Republic and Poland went through a similar process. “This war is against Soviet man in their pseudo capitalist form. With post-colonial, post soviet mentality. In the center of their mandala is Putin.”

“Now we are having parallel societies,” he continues. “We can also say that belonging to a particular governmental system as well as the historical and geographical situation all have an influence on our society. When a person enters this system, they get shaped so they became what the system wants them to be. If you remain honest, the system spits you out.” Really, Maks says, there is not an easy answer how to change it because the value system is mostly very materialistic.

Ira in Maidan“If we (the part of population that wants honest rules ‘as in Europe’) get destroyed,” Shastri Lan explains, “we will be put in prison or deported from our country. It will not be good.” The country will be thrown back in time. “If we win, however, the process will still be very long because it is not easy to cultivate something real and sophisticated.”

The consensus from our Shambhala brothers and sisters, however, is that right now people are experiencing a genuine and real moment. They are invoking their bravery and tender heart, doing something for others and learning the taste of their generosity. “If these feelings penetrate deeper than our mutual aggression, there is a big chance for something very good,” Shastri Lan says.

“Maidan is like a light shining in the dark,” says one Shambhala friend who doesn’t want to be named. “It’s like a microscope illuminating the problems of the society. Maidan puts the attention in the right place and makes it bigger and shows what is happening in our society. Maidan makes it clear what the big picture is for the people in my country. They don’t make something better they just show what’s happening.”

“For me,” shares Andriy, “it is completely drala. If we told the people in Maidan about the drala of Maidan and our country, they would realize it is completely about dignity. This revolution is about dignity because the people inside and outside of Maidan really care about each other. People have compassion. From a non-egoistic point of view the situation could be better, but not from the point of view of ‘me’.”

But what can we here in the West do to support you all, both Ella and Sarah wonder.

“The whole world is talking about us,” says Ira, “but there is not much help. Everybody is afraid of Putin. It is -20 C, and people are here day and night and they are cheerful. Nobody wants blood, but if they start to kill us, our guys will fight back. We don’t have police and judges to help us in this country – we are hostages of the criminals.”

Ira continues, “I suggested to the leaders of Maidan to lead a shamatha-vipassana workshop for our warriors. He was very grateful and promised to get back to me.” Ira says she sees an ocean of dralas. “I am afraid but I am not going to give up!”

Andriy requests that we practice for Ukraine. “If we receive some hello from you that you remember us that will really help. Practice for Ukraine and for the Ukrainian policemen. Perhaps we could practice as a community. In this case it will be helpful that you remember about us and that you remember we are having a difficult time.” In addition, he says, “What would be really helpful would be sanctions from Europe or the US.”

It was very moving for Ukrainians when all Polish TV channels simultaneously broadcast a video about Maidan Square saying, “Give your hand to Ukraine.” Having watched the video numerous times, Sarah can vouch for the power of this gesture. Here it is:

“I would like to ask our Shambhala friends to please pray for us, so we can succeed,” Ira asks.

Shastri Maks Lan responds to the question of how we as Shambhalians can help the situation in Ukraine by saying, “Only by your own geniuneness. I understood recently that the most important thing that Shambhala gave me is to distinguish what is good and important and real and what is false, and unnecessary, and sometimes harmful.”

Shastri Lan continues saying, “When the situation is appropriate we are capable of telling people what is truly important. We know how to point out ordinary kindness that is so easy not to notice. We as Shambalians have the capacity to help people to notice what is real…and actually there are a lot of conversations about that in Maidan. Can you imagine that? There are so many such unbelievably good people around! Please come to attend the unavoidable celebration of our Victory!”

Our hearts are with you, Ukrainian brothers and sisters. Our love, our tears, our dreams, and our dignity. We stand by your side, even from far away we are with you.

~~
Send your wishes to Ukraine by leaving a comment here, visit their Facebook page, or find out how your community can support their activities.

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10 responses to “ The Drala of Maidan, part 2 ”
  1. Peta Mudie
    Mar 2, 2014
    Reply

    Cheerful Shambhala Day to you Shambhala warriors of the Ukraine. We missed you on the roll-call today,for understandable reasons at this time of conflict and danger. Regardless, many of us send you our warmest greetings and hopes for peaceful resolution of the serious conflicts in your beautiful country.

  2. Sarah Lipton
    Mar 1, 2014
    Reply

    Dear Jeanne,
    Please stay tuned for an article about our Ukrainian warrior at Warrior Assembly, I’ll be working on an update about Ukraine in the coming week.
    Much love,
    Sarah

  3. Jeanne Riordan
    Feb 27, 2014
    Reply

    Dear Sarah, what is happening to our friends in Kiev now? Any more recent news from those brave people? Did you meet the good man from the Ukraine who came to Warrior’s Assembly at KCL last week? Sending all good wishes to our fellow Shambhalians there, of course and please keep us posted about their activities. love, Jeanne

  4. Byron Wild
    Feb 20, 2014
    Reply

    All the good thoughts to you, those I’ve met and those I haven’t. Sending you strength and love. Don’t give up or give in to fear!

  5. Alice Buehler
    Feb 20, 2014
    Reply

    Dear Ukrainian friends,
    Shambhala Praha is going to practice for you tonight in our Center (and will not stop with that). We are very much touched by your plight moreover as it reminds us of our troubled past. I think of each of you I have met at programmes and admiration I have for your noble qualities. I realize what you are trying to protect you protect for all of us. I wish you all the best in treading your steps in this extreme situation. May all your practice and all the protectors help you!

  6. Reinhold Epping
    Feb 19, 2014
    Reply

    Sorry if I dispel the romantic dreams of certain people, but I just can´t abstain from posting this now.

    Quote: “Maidan is like a light shining in the dark,” says one Shambhala friend / “For me,” shares Andriy, “it is completely drala.

    Well, but what I see there is just the mamos run rampant.

    For everybody who wants to see the events there critically (particularly in the light of last night´s events) I would recommand to read this:

    US and EU Are Paying Ukrainian Rioters and Protesters — Paul Craig Roberts
    February 17, 2014
    US and EU Are Paying Ukrainian Rioters and Protesters
    Paul Craig Roberts
    A number of confirmations have come in from readers that Washington is fueling the violent protests in Ukraine with our taxpayer dollars. Washington has no money for food stamps or to prevent home foreclosures, but it has plenty of money with which to subvert Ukraine.

    One reader wrote: “My wife, who is of Ukrainian nationality, has weekly contact to her parents and friends in Zhytomyr [NW Ukraine]. According to them, most protesters get an average payment of 200-300 grivna, corresponding to about 15-25 euro. As I additionally heard, one of the most active agencies and ‘payment outlets’ on EU side is the German ‘Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’, being closely connected to the CDU, i.e. Mrs. Merkel’s party.”

    Johannes Loew of the Internet site elynitthria.net/ writes: “I am just back from Ukraine (I live in Munich/Germany) and I was a lot at the Maidan. Most of those people get only 100 grivna. 300 is for Students.”

    As I reported on February 12, “Washington Orchestrated Protests Are Destabilizing Ukraine,” http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/02/12/washington-orchestrated-protests-destabilizing-ukraine/ Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, a rabid Russophobe and neoconservative warmonger, told the National Press Club last December that the US has “invested” $5 billion in organizing a network to achieve US goals in Ukraine in order to give “Ukraine the future it deserves.” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37599.htm Nuland is the Obama regime official who was caught red-handed naming the members of the Ukrainian government Washington intends to impose on the Ukrainian people once the paid protesters have unseated the current elected and independent government.

    What Nuland means by Ukraine’s future under EU overlordship is for Ukraine to be looted like Latvia and Greece and to be used by Washington as a staging ground for US missile bases against Russia.
    From the responses I received to my request for confirmations of the information sent to me from Moldova, http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/02/14/russia-attack-paul-craig-roberts/ there is enough evidence that Washington fomented the violent riots for western newspapers and TV channels to investigate. But they haven’t. As we know, the presstitutes are enablers of Washington’s crimes and duplicities. However, the US media has reported that the Ukrainian government is paying Ukrainians to rally in favor of the government. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/16/ukraine-government-protests/5435315/ The Ukrainian government will have a hard time matching Washington’s $5 billion.

    As Karl Marx wrote, money turns everything into a commodity that is bought and sold. I wouldn’t be surprised if some protesters are working both sides of the street.

    Of course, not all of the protesters are paid. There are plenty of gullible dupes in the streets who think they are protesting Ukraine government corruption. I have heard from several. There is little doubt that the Ukraine government is corrupt. What government isn’t? Government corruption is universal, but it is easy to go from the frying pan into the fire. Ukrainian protesters seem to think that they can escape corruption by joining the EU. Obviously, these gullible dupes are unfamiliar with the report on EU corruption issued February 3 by the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs. The report says that a business-political nexus of corruption affects all 28 EU member countries and costs the EU economies $162.2 billion per annum. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/02/eu-report-corruption-widespread-bloc-20142313322401478.html According to the World Bank, the economic cost of EU corruption is almost as large as the size of Ukrainian GDP. http://data.worldbank.org/country/ukraine Clearly, Ukrainians will not escape corruption by joining the EU. Indeed, Ukrainians will suffer worse corruption.

    I have no objection to Ukrainians protesting government corruption. Indeed, such gullible people could benefit from the lesson they would learn once their country is in the hands of corrupt Brussels and Washington. What I object to is the lack of awareness on the part of the protesters that by permitting themselves to be manipulated by Washington, they are pushing the world toward a dangerous war. I would be surprised if Russia is content to have US military and missile bases in Ukraine.

    It was fools like Nuland playing the great game that gave us World War I. World War III would be the last war. Washington’s drive to exploit every opportunity to establish its hegemony over the world is driving us all to nuclear war. Like Nuland, a significant percentage of the population of western Ukraine are Russophobes. I know the case for Ukrainian dislike of Russia, but Ukrainian emotions fueled with Washington’s money should not direct the course of history. No historians will be left to document how gullible and witless Ukrainians set the world up for destruction.

    http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/02/17/us-eu-paying-ukrainian-rioters-protesters-paul-craig-roberts/

    But sure, I will pray for the people in the Ukraine – I mean ALL of them – including Yanukovic.

  7. Paweł Molenda
    Feb 19, 2014
    Reply
  8. Lesia Waschuk
    Feb 18, 2014
    Reply
  9. Sarah Lipton
    Feb 18, 2014
    Reply

    This live link is showing the people singing while the square is being bombed:

    http://www.radiosvoboda.org/section/tv/3512.html

  10. Sarah Lipton
    Feb 18, 2014
    Reply

    Update from an unknown source shared just now….things have become very dramatic and awful in this last hours….

    “Yanukovych and his allies have organised a deliberate provocation and a trap for protesters

    All the so-called peaceful negotiations have turned out to be a well-planned trap. These deliberate delays allowed them to concentrate enormous power in Kyiv to start the violent scenario. Yanukovych has never intended to make any concessions from the very beginning. All muddling around the political process, behind the scenes negotiations on amendments to the Constitution – everything intended only to lure protesters into the trap.

    Today’s events have all been well planned for at least a week . Currently Kyiv subway is closed, all city entrances are blocked. Some places in Kyiv (e.g. dormitory of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute) are cut off from the internet. Over these few hours a state of emergency has been effectively introduced in Kyiv. And do not tell me that this is all possible without proper intelligence, preparations and planning. Anyone understands that the capture of the city of 4 mln people requires several days of preparation, most likely 2-3 weeks.

    Large numbers of riot police and interior force troops are accumulated in the city. Government hired thugs (‘titishky’) acted in accordance with the Berkut forces and have been throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the protesters. The whole operation has been planned in such a way to allow the protesters to come into the government quarters and cut them into several isolated groups. If the goal were not to allow the protesters into the government quarters – Hrushevskogo would have been blocked in the same way as before.

    The actions of the police and the government-hired thugs (‘titushky’) have been extremely violent. At the moment at least four protesters were killed, a woman among them. A few are currently dying from the gunshot wounds – Berkut and Interior troops have been shooting with the real ammunition. Berkut forces have been shooting from the rooftops and throwing grenades into the crowd. Dozens of people are severely injured, lots of eye injuries and headshots .

    This massacre has been carefully planned in advance and is intended to eventually destroy any hint of democracy in Ukraine . The authors of this scenario would like to repeat the 1993 Moscow events in Kyiv in and forever settle the fear into the hearts of Ukrainians, completely pulling out any thought of defending their rights.

    This will not succeed!”


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