BURMA

We have a day and a half left in this beautiful country and I don’t ever want to leave. The anticipation and trepidation I felt as we arrived in Yangon has been transformed into pure amazement and bliss. I have been looking forward to visiting Burma ever since I began researching its history and culture. I was especially anticipating the opportunity to be in a country that is 89% Buddhist. It is so apparent that their religion is intertwined with their culture and humanity. Every single person you meet on the street or in the market greets you with a humongous smile and a wave. While the country is stricken by widespread poverty and oppression by the government, there is not a poverty of spirit.
The past few days have been the best of the voyage for me. Yesterday Joe and I visited the Shwedagon Pagoda in the early morning, which was a very powerful experience for me. What an enchanting, beautiful place. The shimmering gold main stupa towers 326 feet above the city of Yangon and is visible for miles. The Shwedagon Pagoda is considered one of the wonders of the religious world. The very top of the stupa is encrusted with 4531 diamonds, the largest of which is a single 76-karat diamond! The entire grounds of the Pagoda are beautiful and very powerful. I felt as if I could spend the entire day there, looking at all of the hundreds and hundreds of different Buddhas, carvings, and ancient architecture. It is a very holy place for the Burmese people. Many people come to the pagoda in the morning and evening to say prayers to the Buddha. There are different statues of the Buddha encircling the stupa, for each day of the week. Depending on which day of the week one was born, the person offers cooling water to the Buddha by pouring small cups of water over the Buddha statue’s head. Each person pours the number of cups as his/her age, plus one year. The extra year isn’t for good luck, but for the (almost) year one spends in his/her mother’s womb. All of this is deepening my passion for Buddhism and reminding me that I need to reintegrate a regular practice into my daily life, now, and when I return home. I am thankful.
Next we visited the Kalaywa Monastery where we got to interact with about 200 young novice monks and nuns in their school. They learn English throughout their education, but they had been practicing even more knowing that we would be coming to visit. They had lots of questions for us! What is your name? Where are you from? What is your parents’ name? What is the name of your ship? Please sing a song for us! Please tell me your favorite hobby…
It was so fun to sit and talk with them. We also got to play a giant game of tug-o-war with the monks. (Joe has great pictures of all of this!) Then, they taught us the traditional Burmese sport of Chinlon (Cane Ball), which is similar to hacky-sack, but played with a woven cane ball. They were VERY good at it! They let us try to play with them, but we weren’t too talented… except for Joe, who is always good at games. Joe also showed the monks how to juggle, which they loved! J It is difficult not to fall in love with these people. If only you could be here, you would see.
Today, I had the pleasure of leading a trip to a small rural orphanage. The orphanage has 2 main one-room schoolhouses, a meditation room, and a separate kitchen. The kids were SO HAPPY to see us! Right when our bus pulled up, they ran out of the school with big smiles on their faces. They greeted us with a traditional song of well wishes and welcome. We were so happy to be with them! When we arrived in their schoolhouse they offered us a demonstration of their prayers and chants to the Buddha, they recited their alphabet and lessons, and sang us some traditional songs. At one point they sang their national anthem and expected us to return the gesture. Our national anthem isn’t the easiest song to pull-off on a whim, but I think we did a pretty good job. Then, we got to PLAY with the students! This was the best part. I sat and drew pictures with a bunch of different kids, while other students demonstrated how to make origami, how to play the recorder, and how to play ping-pong with mini paddles. It was so fun! Everyone was glowing with happiness. It was very difficult to leave once it was time to go.
I had already decided that I was going to try to make it back to the ship in time to leave on a different trip back to the Kalaywa Monastery to see the Buddhist Novication Ceremony. I made it just in the nick of time, as my bus returned at 12:59, and the next trip was leaving at 1:00. Each male in Burma, in accordance with tradition, must become a monk during his lifetime. Before they become monks, they must participate in a Novication ceremony. On this day, the boys are dressed in glittering clothes to look like a prince. The boys’ families and relatives (and us!) follow the procession accompanied by singing and dancing. The journey symbolizes the Buddha’s life as a Prince, which he renounced in his search for enlightenment. At the end of the procession, the boys recite some ritual prayers with the head monk and then they have their head shaved. Once their heads are shaved, each boy asks for admittance into the monastery. Once accepted, each boy is given his monastic robes and remains at the monastery away from his parents. Tradition is that a boy does not enter the monkhood before the age of 7, but there were some very young boys at this particular novication ceremony. Our guide said that some families choose to have their son enter the monkhood at an early age because it is considered good fortune to have a monk in the family, particularly if a relative is in ill health. There were two boys today who were barely 2 years old!
I did not expect that our group would actually participate in the procession, but it was explained to us that our donation allowed some of the families to “give” their sons to the monastery. So, we are considered symbolic parents in the ceremony as a result. The whole experience was one of the best of my life. It is so amazing to see how interwoven Buddhism is in the lives of the people. Their rituals and ceremonies revolve around family and community and permeate every single person. I felt honored to be a part of it.
We’ll tell you more stories soon!
MISS YOU ALL!
A BIG thank you to Oakes College and to Sarah & Danny! It was so fun to receive your cards in Burma!!! Joe says Crown and College Eight better get on it… Oakes is showing you up!!!