By Ed Cropley
MANDALAY, Myanmar (Reuters) - Beneath the veneer ofserenity and religious devotion, Myanmar's maroon-robedBuddhist monks, the engine of the protests six months agoagainst the ruling junta, are seething with rage.
Some talk impetuously of revolution. Others even say theyare ready to lay down their lives in a repeat showdown betweenthe monkhood, the former Burma's highest moral authority, andthe raw might of the military.
But pro-democracy campaigners and even some monks admit theregime's bloody crackdown on the September marches has brokenthe clandestine network that, albeit briefly, turned thecountry's 500,000 Buddhist monks into a potent political force.
Even the approach of the numerologically auspicious August8, 2008 -- the 20th anniversary of the brutally suppressed8-8-88 anti-junta uprising -- looks unlikely to precipitateanother challenge to 46 years of unbroken army rule.
"There are no plans being made because most of the activemonks are in prison or have fled," a leading member of thepro-democracy underground told Reuters at a safe house inYangon, the former capital.
Among the 80 people the junta says it is still holdingafter the protests are 21 monks, including 27-year-old UGambira, a leader of the All-Burmese Monks Alliance whichplayed a prominent role in the marches.
Human rights group Amnesty International said in Januarythat 700 people arrested in the crackdown remained behind bars.
TINDER-BOXES
Despite the arrests, the southeast Asian nation'smonasteries, some of which are home to as many as 3,000 mainlyyoung men at any one time, remain political tinder-boxes thatcould re-ignite at the slightest provocation.
At least 31 people were killed when the junta sent introops to crush the marches in September, but this UnitedNations death toll does not include any monks, despite reportsof several beaten to death when soldiers stormed monasteries inYangon and elsewhere.
Dissident Web sites also posted pictures of mutilatedcorpses of what appeared to be monks, spurring the deepestpossible outrage amongst clergy and lay people alike.
No monks interviewed by Reuters in the religious centres ofYangon, Mandalay and nearby Sagaing said they had lifted theirban on accepting alms from members of the military junta ortheir families.
Known as "patam nikkuijana kamma" or "turning over the almsbowl" in Pali, the ancient language of the Theravada Buddhistpriesthood, the 2,500-year-old rite is similar to the Christiannotion of excommunication and is taken very seriously.
It can be rescinded at any moment if the perceivedwrong-doers apologize and mend their ways -- something thegenerals have steadfastly refused to do.
"If they do not apologize, we will start our movement," ayoung monk from the coastal city of Sittwe told Reuters,claiming to lead a network of 1,000 monks and students wantingan end to falling living standards and galloping inflation.
"People are getting angrier and angrier. Their suffering isworsening day by day and they cannot tolerate it any more," hetold Reuters at a secret location in Yangon.
"If there is another uprising, the soldiers will shoot tokill and there will be another bloodbath. But I am prepared togo to prison or be killed."
Others have no more stomach for a fight.
"I hope it doesn't happen again. The country is peacefulnow," one Mandalay monk said.
MONASTERIES RE-FILLING
Although many monasteries were closed at the height of thecrackdown and thousands of monks disappeared either to prisonor back to their home towns and villages, most have beenallowed to reopen.
However, three dissident establishments in Yangon remainlocked and in Mandalay, Myanmar's religious heart, monks atseveral large monasteries said numbers were 20-30 percent lowerthan before the crackdown.
The junta has also called in scores of senior abbots,telling them to keep in check their young charges.
"Our abbot told us not to protest again. He told us thatthey'll shoot and we'll die. What can we do? We have no arms,"a 23-year-old at a large Mandalay monastery said. "But if weget the chance, we will do it again. This government is nogood."
In the central town of Pakokku, where heavy-handedtreatment of monks by soldiers and pro-junta thugs in earlySeptember triggered the nationwide monastic revolt, the regimeappears to be taking steps to ensure against a repeat.
Regime agents are undercover in the monasteries and areviled local gang leader known as "Mr. 2 by 1", after the2-inch thick wooden baton with which he beat monks andprotesters, is behind bars to avoid inciting protests, oneresident said.
(Editing by Michael Battye and Megan Goldin)
