About 500 people, including 11 monks, gathered for a vigil in Monterey Park in L.A. County today to show their support of the Burmese uprising. The monks leading the service spoke about the atrocities being commited by the Burmese junta on their own people this past week. They mentioned the rumors that the junta has cremated hundreds of bodies - including those of injured monks and protesters who were still alive.

They also spoke of the thousands of monks in Burma who were killed, beaten or arrested for marching in protest of the government. The monks have been locked in their monasteries - or detained - all weekend. Some have been on a hunger strike.

Seth Mydans had a great piece about the importance of the monks in Burma.

The vast majority at the vigil were Burmese living in Los Angeles. And just about everyone - including many of the journalists - wore red, as supporters of the Burma movement have been doing in similar vigils and rallies all over the world.

The monks sat lined up in the front facing the crowd, who sat or kneeled in front of them on the ground. The monks led chanting of religious prayers, and hundreds of voices joined in. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but got emotional just listening to the music and knowing that what was at stake was critically important to everyone there.

The monk leading the service stressed the need for unity among Burmese in order to overcome the junta, which started cracking down on the demonstrations Wednesday. The monk therefore led Christian and Muslim prayers in addition to the traditional Buddhist ones.

There were a crew of journalists including some from ABC and FOX. I know it’s all over the news every single day, but it still surprises me that the world is actually paying attention to Burma. Most people couldn’t give a s*&t for decades, and now, now KCAL 9 news cares. Every movement needs monks - they do wonders for publicity.