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Buddhism
Sons
of the Buddha
In the hot month of April,
around the time of Thingyan, when the water festival is celebrated in
Myanmar, the streets of Yangon come alive with cavalcades of cars carrying
golden umbrellas.
Inside the cars, resplendent in dazzling traditional court costumes of
Myanmar princes, complete with sequinned winged helmets and shoes, sit
young nervous boys with anxious parents and relatives. And the local band
follows them, playing gay tunes while they make their way to a monastery.
This is not only in the country's capital city. Elsewhere in the rural
countryside, similar processions are undertaken - young 'princes' are
heralded on the shoulders of their proud fathers or on horseback and
elephants. The destination for all these young people is the same – the
pongyi chaung
or monastery. There, under pagodas and majestic figures of the Buddha,
young boys have their hair shaved, clutch their black lacquer begging
bowls for the first time, take the 75 Buddhist precepts of a novice and
don saffron robes to become the sons of Buddha.
Theravada Buddhism, the oldest and the most traditional Buddhist sect,
came to Myanmar from Sri Lanka nearly 3,000 years ago after Emperor Ashoka
sent his children to Sri Lanka as Buddhist missionaries. Today, nearly 90
per cent of the Myanmarese are Buddhists. Every year at Thingyan, which
also marks the New Year for Theravada Buddhists, thousands of young boys
are initiated as novices in a ceremony called Shin-pyu. What makes this
practice of Buddhism in Myanmar striking, centuries after it came to its
shores, is that it is still practiced with the same awe and fervor. What
is equally significant is that it is the cornerstone of Myanmarese life
even today.
When the British colonized Burma, Queen Victoria promised religious
tolerance to her colonized subjects, but did not extend any patronage to
Buddhism. Instead, Christian missionary schools mushroomed and made Bible
studies compulsory for all Burmese students. The result of this was that
the monastic schools, which were the mainstay of Burmese society,
disintegrated. It was only after the country became independent and there
was renewed interest in finding roots, that monasteries were
revived.
Today, the age-old Buddhist beliefs of the Five Great 'Beings' - the
Buddha, His Teachings, the Monk, the Teacher and the Parent - are still
prevalent in Myanmar. Monks are not priests as Buddhism never considered
ritual to be of any importance. Instead, they bear the title of Thagiwin
Mintha, or the heir of the prince of Kapilawut (Kapilavastu) and the
receiver of his inheritance. Novitiation marks the first social rites of a
young Buddhist boy's passage into puberty while also providing him the
basic tenets of Buddhist customs and values. The young boy enters the
monastery in princely attire to symbolize the royal life of Prince
Siddhartha, and by donning yellow robes
of the novice he renounces the world to enter the life of a monk like
Buddha.
The novitiation ceremony is solemn as the Abbot asks the son's mother
whether she is willing to renounce her son and it is only after her
consent that the ceremony to make him a novice takes place. The novice
then takes his precepts and is ordained. He remains in the monastery for a
few days or weeks depending on the wishes of his parents or as per the
decision taken by the family astrologer. Through their son's
novitiation, parents gain kutho (Buddhist merits) for a better rebirth.
Po Po, Maung Maung, Sein Tun and Maugho Win are four friends who got
novitiated together at Dagon Pariyadti Sathintike monastery under their
74-year-old Abbot Ega Mahapandita U Gu Na Nan Da. All four friends, just
past their tenth summer, wore brand new robes of monk-hood with pride.
They watched their parents walk away with a smile, because for years they
had heard how one day they must all become sons of the Buddha. Now
they must learn to walk the middle path, to work their way to nibbana
(nirvana) through good work, meditation and by studying the dhamma or
Buddhist philosophy.
While novitiation is universal for all Buddhist boys, girls too can become
temporary nuns and don pink robes in a simple ceremony. They get initiated
into nun-hood by piercing their ears and shaving off their long hair,
which is a source of pride among young Myanmarese girls. Few families send
their
daughters to become nuns because unlike monks who receive daily donations
of cooked food from the community, nuns have to cook their own food.
Most novitiates from poor families learn basic Buddhist tenets and in
addition, also receive basic skills of reading and writing. The literacy
rate in Myanmar is 81 per cent and monasteries contribute enormously
towards it. Very often what boys from rural areas learn at the monasteries
may form the sum total of their formal education. The Buddhist Order has
its own curriculum and stages of learning right up to the doctorate level.
Interestingly, one subject that monks do not learn is arithmetic as they
are not allowed to handle money.
U Gu Na Nan Da, the Abbot of Dagon Pariyadti Sathintike Kaung (Teaching
Monastery) was only nine years old when he was novitiated. It was to be a
turning point in his life because once novitiated, he refused to leave the
monastery. "I just wanted to be a monk. My mother cried for days and would
return to ask me to come back home. She thought I was too small to know my
mind, but I did - it was the only thing I ever wanted to be in my life,"
he says.
Today he heads a monastery that has more than a 100 novices and monks. "It
gives me great pleasure to teach children the ways of the Buddha," he
says, exuding quiet peace, dignity and energy. The Abbot agrees that young
boys joining monasteries nowadays have different ideas and attitudes which
can be expected as the world is changing, but once they don the robes they
"become like water - everyone becomes one."
For instance, 13-year-old novice Wai Tun, came from a small village in
Muse (close to the Chinese border) three years ago. He came to Yangon with
his elder brother, 21-year-old monk Moe Chow. "I miss my mother
sometimes," says Wai Tun, who is the youngest of seven siblings. He is
sure that when his time comes to be a full-fledged monk at 19, he will
step forward and accept his legacy. But for now he is content to
learn and, along with his friends, prepare the early morning breakfast for
the monastery's inmates.
Monks in Myanmar are held in high esteem. People donate generously to
pagodas and monasteries and till a few years ago, people did not cross the
shadow of a monk. Even today at bus stops and airports, monks are given
the best seats and people bow three times in their presence touching their
forehead to the ground. What also makes Buddhism popular is that it is
less of a religion and more
a way of life and the young generation holds it in as much awe as the
older one. For instance, 35-year-old Kyaw Maung, who did his entire
schooling and university education in America, dons the yellow robes of a
monk every Thingyan. "Ever since my novitiation, I have gone back to
become a monk every year for 10 days or for a month. It's Buddhism that
keeps me sane," he says.
– Madhu Gurung
June 2, 2002
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Buddhism
By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
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