Last night in central Myanmar a bomb went off 50 feet from a talk being given by Ven Wirathu. At least three people were injured, including a monk. Please send your prayers to the victims.

Contrary to misleading information in the media, Venerable Wirathu is not uneducated. The reason for this is the frequently cited Times Magazine article that he left public schools at age 14. However, as with most things in Time Magazine, the whole story was not revealed. Frequently overlooked in the West, monasteries have been a traditional place for education in Southeast Asian cultures for thousands of years. Young monks are fully expected to complete their studies. Wirathu worked hard as a young man to earn the equivalent of a Phd in Buddhist studies which is only awarded to students between the ages of 22-26 years old and is a very difficult exam to acquire. Since 1998, Ven. Wirathu has been volunteering his time to serve the education needs of his community.

He serves as the teacher of between 60-80 youths without the money needed to pay for schooling to this day.

At the 969 Movement, we seek to follow his example and lead the way with promoting education to both genders worldwide. With the rise of online resources such as the Khan Academy and Wikipedia, we feel it is an amazing opportunity in world history to lower education costs across the board. In the coming months and years we will offer further education programs and volunteer opportunities for Buddhists who want to get contribute to this important undertaking.

These images are the huge stacks of signatures collected by monks in Myanmar for the Buddhist Defense Laws. As you can see, these petitions are very popular in Myanmar. This is what Buddhist activism looks like in action!