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Life
in a
Monastery is not so easy, there are plenty of
rules and you have to get up every
day around 4am. The pictures here
will give you a visual idea what's
going on.
About
the Order of the Sangha
or Bhikkhu (monks) and the Order of Bilkkuni (nuns) for men and women
wishing to renounce the world and live a life of purity,
austerity, perseverance and self-discipline. To
achieve one’s goal although one’s spiritual
progress is expedited by this process. A lay
follower can also become an Arahat
(Saint) and proceed to his or her final
destination.
Community of Monks
is the Sangha. After his enlightenment the Buddha founded an order
of monks, who under his training were to attain to Arahants
or Enlightened Ones and then spread his
gospel to men. His first disciples
were five ascetic wanderers with whom he had
lived for a time in his earlier search for
truth.
These were converted as a result of
his first sermon at Benares, the sutta of
turning the wheel of the doctrine. Later
two
Brahman ascetics, Sariputta and Mogallana,
joined him and attained the status of arahants.
He made these two his main
disciples, perhaps the best known of the early
disciples is Ananda, who became his personal
attendant, and by his faithfulness and
affection earned the title of the 'beloved
disciple'. He was spiritually the most
immature of all the disciples and in the
scriptures
is constantly asking questions which however
result in the clarifying of the teaching in monastery.
He did not
attain to complete enlightenment until after the Buddha's death in 483
B.C., but such was the reverence in which he was held that at the
council which followed his death the version of the Dhamina
which he recited (Sutta-Pitaka) was accepted as the standard.
Besides a
'beloved disciple', there si a Judas ; this was Devadatta, a powerful disciple who when the Buddha
became advanced in age suggested that lie
should resign and that the leadership of the
Order should be vested in himself.
Monastery in Mandalay
Buddhist Monastery at Sale at Bagan
Become a Monk teaching
This was refused and from that time the
enmity of Devadatta increased until finally he was expelled from the
Order.
Even then he plotted with a hostile rajah to kill the Buddha. At
the time of his death there was already a large amount of monks
and this continued to grow.
Become a monk
and join many
other. Alone in Myanmar are over 200.000 of
them.
These must not be thought of as priests in
the Christian sense of the word.
They are
primarily concerned with their own quest for
enlightenment and Nirvana, though many of
them expound the law for the benefit of the
laity, and. all of them afford a means of
gaining merit to their dayakas or
supporters.
The original name of the was
Bhikkhu, meaning
mendicant or homeless one. But in
Burma he is known
as
Pongyi meaning
'Great Glory', thus showing the great
reverence in which he is held by the people,
who in speaking to him use a whole set of
honorific words to describe his daily
actions:
Thus he does not 'walk', he
`processes', he does not 'speak' but
'pronounces', he does not 'sleep' but
'reposes',
become a monk.
Bago Myanmarmonk
Monastery in Mandalay
Novice getting food
The Brotherhood consists of two classes the novices
(Koyin) and the fully ordained monks (Utazin). The
novice observes the five great commands binding on
all Buddhists and in addition five more of a
disciplinary and ascetic nature :
1. Not to take food after noon.
2. Not to sit on high seats or couches (this
indicating pride and luxury)
3. Not to use personal adornments, unguents, etc.
4. To abstain from witnessing dancing, shows and
plays (now-a-days more honored in the breach than in
the observance).
5. Not to accept or use money in any form.
Tripitaka scriptures in an old chest in a Bagan monastery
Any male of over seven years of age may be ordained
as a novice and in practice almost every boy
enters the monastery for a period, it may be for a
lent, or a year or several years, or even for as
short a period as a fortnight.
Any fully ordained novice may leave
the order at will at any time means
there is no pressure etc. this is
one of the strength.
Until he becomes a novice a Myanmar is not
looked upon as having come to maturity either in
religion or in membership of the nation.
During
and after becoming a monk the place
to stay is one of the monasteries.
Most monasteries in
countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia etc. also function as
school, that’s the places where the
knowledge of reading and writing was
passed to the population for
hundreds of years.
These
monasteries have often been
masterpieces of wooden architecture;
large wooden buildings were
widespread until the 19th century,
after brick buildings took over.
By the
end of the 19th century there were
more than twenty such monastery
complexes in Mandalay alone with
hundreds of monks and novices, they
formed an entire street, which
stretched from the Mandalay hill
almost four kilometers to the
southeast, even today are still more
than a dozen monasteries in the city
plying an important role in the
community.
The
people come to seek advice from the
monks, both in religious question
and non religious. The children are
sent as novices sent to the
monastery, it is normal that every
young boy spend at least around a
week in the monastery, some become
regular monks afterward.
In the monastery
the
novice acts as attendant to the
monks, studies his religion from the sacred books,
and joins in the morning and evening religious
exercises of the Order.
In recent years the
Brotherhood of Monks has
suffered a decline, both in the
reputation and respect in which it is held by the
laity and also in its influence on the moral and
spiritual life of the country. This is not entirely
due to internal causes. For in the days of the
Burmese Kings the Sangha was strictly controlled
through an archbishop or Thathanabaing appointed by
the King and responsible for the
monastic discipline throughout the
country.
With the annexation in 1886, the
British Government with its
recognized principle of
neutrality in religious
affairs, allowed this
important office to lapse
and so since that time there
has been no coordinating or
controlling the nucleus in
Buddhism. The result has
been that the discipline in
individual monasteries has
depended entirely on the
presiding abbot : in some
cases strict standards of
moral life and monastic
discipline have been
preserved, in others there
has been sad laxity in both
those spheres.
In recent years monks have
involved themselves in
politics, especially some of
the younger ones and have
helped to stir up violent
nationalistic feeling. The
monastery too
has often been looked upon
as a sanctuary for Burmese criminals and the ease
with which a man may become a novice has encouraged
this. In Rangoon for example a big block of
monasteries in Godwin Road was often a source of
anxiety and trouble. There is obviously a need of
some official register of monks and
a stricter scrutiny of those who present themselves
for this life. It has been suggested that in the
reconstruction of Burma after the war the ancient
office of Thathanabaing should be revived and that
he should be assisted by advisory bodies of trusted
monks and devout laymen. It is possible that
something more far-reaching than this is necessary
and that Buddhism should be made the state religion
of Burma with an annual grant for furthering truly
religious objects. In Siam the King is regarded as
the sole defender of the faith and many of the
monasteries are under his direct control and in
these a stricter rule of life is observed.
It must not be thought that this unhappy state is
completely acquiesced in, for many monks and leading
laymen deplore it and there have been efforts to
remedy it. Only a year or two ago a bill was to have
been presented to the Legislative Council by a
leading Buddhist to provide some control of the Sangha but was withdrawn at the last moment as the
mover was violently threatened while on the way to
the Council Chamber.
And in every generation there have been monks of
outstanding piety and learning. Twenty-five years
ago the saintly Ledi
Sayadaw became a great
spiritual force in the life of the people, and in
many a town in Lower Burma his teaching is still
remembered and practiced. In recent years there has
been the Monyin Sayadaw who has organized a powerful
Buddhist centre near Monywa
wherever he goes, crowds flock to hear him for he
speaks simply and directly to the moral needs of the
people, and where this is so there will always be
plenty of people eager to listen and learn. After
the Burma Rebellion in 1931 many Buddhist monks
toured the affected areas preaching peace and
goodwill, and in the rehabilitation of Burma after
this war the monks will have a still greater part to
play.
But it must be admitted that there is a real doubt
as to whether or not a country like Myanmar or Burma can
support as many as 100,000 monks. Economically such
a large number is a serious drain on the country,
and it is to be questioned whether it is morally
healthy for so many men in the prime of life not to
be doing some really creative work. In the Christian
monasteries of the Middle Ages, under the influence
of S. Benedict and his order, the twin principles of
work and prayer were accepted, and from the
monasteries there came out not only religion and
learning but much practical inspiration for the
development of agriculture and industry. If the
Buddhist rule could be modified to include manual
labor what a difference it would make to the
thinking and life of the people generally ; possibly
with the spiritual aristocracy doing manual work the
rising generation would come to see that manual work
was at least as praiseworthy and valuable as a
routine job in a government office, which seems to
be the extent of ambition at present.
To pursue the high moral life laid down by the
Buddha, to point men ever to the rooting out of all
selfishness, to live worthy of the great reverence
in which they are held by the people and their
achievement in any degree would augur a spiritual
and moral revival among the people of Burma, already
one of the most friendly and loveable races in the
world.
We may close our study with words taken
from the Buddha's charge when he sent them out on
their mission : 'Go ye, 0 Bhikkhus, and wander forth
for the gain of the many, for the welfare of the
many, in compassion for the world, for the good, for
the gain, for the welfare of gods and men. Proclaim,
0 Bhikkhus, the Doctrine glorious, preach ye a life
of holiness, perfect and pure.
To become a full member a man must be at least twenty
years old, must be free from debt, government
service, and certain diseases and deformities. He
can only be ordained by a senior of at least ten
years' standing in the presence of a chapter of at
least ten fully-ordained monks.
The office of
ordination handed down from earliest times is read
out by the senior in Pali, and sometimes in Burmese
as well, as an understanding of the classical
religious language of Buddhism is not likely to be
an accomplishment of the new monk so early in his
career. For five years after ordination the new one
remains under the instruction of an
Monastery
and monks
Achariya, and when he has acquired ten years of
seniority in the Order he becomes a Them or Elder
and can then confer ordination on others and act as
the abbot of a community of monks.
No less than 227 rules have to be observed
in a monastery, his
whole life being regulated for him. There are four
deadly sins which involve immediate expulsion from
the Order the breaking of the rule of chastity, the
taking by fraud or violence of anything not given to
him, the taking of human life, and the laying claim
falsely to arahantship or the possession of any
superior or superhuman
powers. He may own only
eight possessions the three garments composing the
Yellow Robe, his begging bowl, his girdle, his
water-strainer, a razor to shave his head, and a
needle to repair his robes, no one may own more than this.
In a Buddhist monastery
important monastic practices which
have survived from the time of the Buddha are two. The first
is the Uhosatha or fortnightly chapter at which the
list of offences given in the Vinaya is recited and
confession is made by each of infringements.
The second is the keeping of the
Buddhist Lent (Wa)
which covers three months of the Rainy Season ; this
period is to be devoted to religious retreat, and
traveling is forbidden.
The Buddhist Lent
is opened and closed by two great festivals which
in their social nature and hospitality do much to
compensate the pleasure-loving Burmese for the
quietness and sobriety of the period between.
Every morning a novice accompanied by some of the boys, `sons of the monastery' as they are called,
go out in silent procession to beg their daily
supply of food. They all carry a black
earthen or lacquer begging bowl and as the
procession comes to the house of a known supporter
it stops and a member of the household will come out
and put an offering of rice in each bowl and perhaps
a portion of curry in the receptacles carried by the
attendant boys.
No word will be spoken, either of
request or thanks, for the monks are doing the laity
a favor in allowing them to acquire merit, and eyes
will be discreetly cast to the ground and
must not look upon a woman, lest fleshly lust be
aroused.
On the return to the monastery the food will be
reheated and eaten before noon. But nowadays in
a less strict monastery the food
collected is given to the boys and a
more palatable meal is eaten which has been given by
wealthy supporters and cooked while the monks are
out on their morning round. The rest of the day is
passed by studying the scriptures,
teaching the younger practice meditation.
At
monastery schools,
the
boys of the village were taught reading, writing,
some elementary arithmetic and the principles of
their religion. The teaching methods in most of
these schools were primitive and the boys learnt
most of what they did, by heart, shouting out the
lesson after the teacher. Yet the result was that
almost all boys learnt to read, making it the most literate country in the East.
In addition
they received a good deal of instruction in the
religion at an
impressionable age and this combined with
the custom of every boy becoming a novice
for a shorter or longer period helps to
explain the hold which religion has on it.
Here
it is assumed that to carry out the
eightfold path and extinguish all the fires of
craving and desire, it is essential to abandon
ordinary life in the world and become a monk.
Thus
it is not uncommon for an elderly, who has
retired from public service and whose family is
grown up or otherwise sufficiently provided for, to
forsake the world, take the monk's robe and spend
his declining years in that religious self-culture
which advances him on the road to Arahantship and
Nirvana.
A Buddhist nun
is the women version.
This insistence on the necessity of leaving the
world and join the monastery is not seen in the
teaching of the
Buddha, although he undoubtedly held
that the monk was freer to pursue the goal. One day
he was asked by a layman : 'Must I give up my
wealth, my home and my business enterprises and,
like you, go into homelessness in order to attain
the bliss of the religious life''
