The cemetery was some hour’s drive form Yangon and we still had just under an hour to travel to our first destination in Bago the Kyakhatwaing Monastery to learn something about the daily life of devotion followed by Buddhist monks. This Monastery is the largest in the south of Myanmar and the third largest in the country with some 500 monks.
At the age of 12, according to my guide book, although many of the boys that I saw this morning appeared to be as young as 7 or 8, a male child normally has his shin-pyu (To make a monk) and once he novates to become a believer he can proceed to raise or lower his status in his next life.
Once accepted the boy is given his distinctive maroon robes and a lacquer offerings bowl in which to accept donations of food and other gifts. At first sight it seems rather harsh for a young boy to enter such a life but Buddhism eschews suffering and so there are far from harsh. They learn and observe the five Great Precepts of Buddhism: not to take life, steal, commit adultery, lie or drink alcohol, they are also taught to read and write and have basic lessons in mathematics. They will, however, rise at 4.30am every morning and go on an offerings round for their food and carry out other domestic duties around the monastery. Depending on their families and how pious they feel, a boy may stay for a few days, a week, several months or for life. As I have mentioned elsewhere study can lead to a variety of qualifications including degrees and doctorates.
This is probably an appropriate point to speak about the role of monks in Burmese Society. It may not come as a total surprise to learn that supporting the many thousands of monks places a heavy burden on the Myanmar economy and people but society demands nothing more in return ‘save the merit gained through guardianship of the monks’.
The role of the monks has changed considerably over the years and in particular since British colonisation. Prior to this all education was in the hands of the monks and all boys attended monastic schools free of charge. Even today one of our guides pointed out that at that time Burma could boast that it had the highest rate of literacy in Asia. The British began to change things by introducing lay and mission schools but the major change came after Independence in 1948. The Ne Win Military Government of the 1960s regarded Buddhism as a potential threat to their rule and amongst other changes, such as forcing all monks to register, removed education from the monasteries. Today, education is State run but monastic schools still continue in remoter areas and provide homes for orphans.
Despite being deprived of the provision of education the monks continue to have a universal influence in Burmese society through example and as a constant reminder of the way of the Buddha. The life of the monks may appear austere but for many of them ‘the calm of the monastic routine, uncluttered by modern paraphernalia provides the ideal environment in which to study and adopt the teachings of the Middle Way – a life of no extremes devoted to achieving Nirvana.
So let me get back to why we were visiting this monastery today. We were here partly to witness for ourselves the routine and calm of the monastery but in particular to observe the monks at lunch. This monastery is so large and of such high status that it receives sufficient donations to provide the food for lunch. Although this means that the monks still have to rise early morning to gather alms for their breakfast they can then devote the rest of the day to their studies.
At precisely 12.00noon a gong sounded and the 500 monks lined up in a great procession to move towards the kitchens where two cauldrons of steaming rice along with curries and vegetables had been prepared in the kitchens. The lay visitors line the procession route with gifts and offerings for the monks – I was given a small bar of soap as an offering, others brought sweets or snacks or pamphlets for reading. As the monks file past you simply ‘catch their eye’ and make your offer. They open the lids and you drop your gift into their lacquer offering bowls (See photo) and they move on silently and devoutly to their lunch. They sit crossed legged in the dining hall (See photo) consuming their second and only other meal of the day.
The food looked very good and certainly as I was leaving the dining hall a huge tray of ice cream that would have graced even the Balmoral’s tables was being taken in for the consumption.
I also noticed that on some of the very youngest monks had cartoon characters affixed to the tops of their offering bowls!
It was a moving experience and one that clearly demonstrated the reverence with which the lay people of Myanmar regard their monks and in setting the example of the ‘Middle Way’.
No comments:
Post a Comment