Namo Amida Butsu
A year ago September, I went to Burma. It was a work trip for Mike. I was tagging along so as to see this country, its people and the situation they were in with my own eyes.
Burma was once a very prosperous place in Asia. However, decades of civil war has turned the country into a shambles. I have heard enough about the problems of the country in recent years. I know I will never go there for vacation. So, I seized the opportunity to visit when there was one,
As a traveler, you have to bring cash because credit cards are not widely accepted in Burma. And it is not just any cash. It has to be mint-conditioned cash in high denomination. Why? Because money changers either reject your money or they give you a discounted rate for bills with any marking, crease, dog ears, or whatever tiny smuts they can find. Small bills also get lower rates than large bills. Before our trip, I scoured through multiple banks for perfect looking money so we could have a stack of beautiful US$100 bills with us. On your way out, however, you get from money changers dirty, worn out foreign currency in an assortment of small denominations. As I see it, the whole system is just another way of exploiting foreigners.
Yangon was the old capital city. I bet it had a glorious past, looking at the careful layout of the wide boulevards by the waterfront at the southern end, lined by fancy colonial style buildings. Clearly, these building have seen much better days. I was stunned to see trees and vines grow on, through and/or out of these abandoned structures. Most windows are missing and the roofs are long gone. They are so run down and broken -- just like the country they are in. I felt like I was walking through a modern version of Angkor Wat!
The biggest tourist attractions in Yangon are Buddhist pagodas. There are quite a few of them in the city. They are under constant care and upkeep so that they also looks marvelously shiny. From afar, you can see the glowing reflections from the golden stupas. They look particularly magnificent at sunset. When Mike was in meetings, I visited several pagodas on my own.
The first one I ventured to was near our hotel. Not surprisingly, there was a special entrance fee for foreigners -- only six times of that for locals. After I surrendered my money, I was given a "souvenir sticker" to wear on my shirt. Within minutes, a young man approached me in English and offered me a free tour. I was quite pleasantly surprised and accepted his offer. My guide said he was a novice monk when he was a boy, but he has since returned to normal life. As we pass by the many shrines around the main stupa, he explained to me some of the traditions and worship practices which are interesting.
The pagoda was not big. The tour was soon over. My guide pointed to behind us a monk. "This is my teacher. He is a Buddhist monk. Have you heard of karma? Do you want to have good luck? If you want to have good fortune, you need to build good karma. The best way of building good karma is to make donations to support monks like my teacher. Buddha will bless you." While talking, my guide opened a book in his hand. There were large denomination bills of various currencies between the pages. "We accept different currencies. You see? Someone very generous gave a hundred dollars earlier. A European visitor gave fifty Euros this morning. The more you give, the more good karma you build. What do you carry? US Dollars? How much do you want to give?"
No word was enough to describe my shock and disappointment. I really did not expect such karma sales pitch at a Buddhist pagoda. I guess my emotions must have been written all over my face. The former novice monk could tell I was not sold. "Well, at the very least, you can give fifty dollar? Maybe twenty? You know, I gave you a tour!" I was tempted to give him nothing, but I knew he would not let me go. So, I decided I would give him all I have of one currency. "Thanks for the free tour. I really appreciate it. I don't have much money. I just came from Thailand. If you want, you can have all the Thai Baht I have left." I emptied out my wallet and gave the man about five US Dollars' worth of Thai Bahts. Sure enough, he was pretty upset. I walked right out of the pagoda without looking back.
I visited a few more pagodas and got repeatedly charged a special entrance fee for foreigners. Every single time, I was given a sticker to wear, which, I later realized, is an identifier for foreign visitors. You wear a sticker, someone will approach you for donations. From then on, I promptly removed my stickers when the staff were not watching.
At one pagoda, I heard a tour guide explaining to his group how to win Buddha's blessing by performing generous deeds of donation. Needless to say, "The more you give, the more good luck you have." Before you know it, people started elbowing each other in order to be the first to put monetary offerings onto the Buddha statue. That probably explains why the donation boxes in front of the shrines tend to be all filled with money. I happened to be there when a team of security guards were clearing the boxes. They basically dropped the front of the boxes and shoved the bills into nylon bags double or triple the size of a Santa Claus' sac. By the time they are done, the bags are all stuffed solid. If I did not know, I would have thought they were collecting trash. Maybe that is why the shoulder patch on their uniforms says "Cleaner"?
At one location, I even got the opportunity to witness the ingenuity of combining amusement park game ideas with worshipping. A table is set up with mini stupas and monk bowls on it. The table is connected to some power mechanism so that it moves around randomly while spinning. Worshippers may buy tokens and try to toss the tokens into the monk bowls from a distance. Their wish would be granted if their token gets into a monk bowl. While I was amazed by the creativity, I could not help feel sick to the stomach. As a Buddhist student, I do not think this is what Buddhism is about.
After a few days in Yangon, we traveled to the rural areas in Shan State to meet with victims of abuses by the military. We also visited several Internal Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Reading or listening to reports is one thing; meeting the people in person and seeing what it is like in reality is another. Many of these man-made sufferings are brought by the ruling Buddhist majority of the country.
My one entrance ticket is worth six local tickets. All proceeds of the pagodas go to support the Buddhists establishments of the country.
What is the value for me to see another pagoda? What is the significance of having a few more pictures of yet another shiny golden structure? And what does it mean for me, as a human, to indirectly support such a ruling regime?
After the visit to Shan State, I had two more days in Yangon. I did not do any more sightseeing at pagodas. I just can't.
Burma was once a very prosperous place in Asia. However, decades of civil war has turned the country into a shambles. I have heard enough about the problems of the country in recent years. I know I will never go there for vacation. So, I seized the opportunity to visit when there was one,
As a traveler, you have to bring cash because credit cards are not widely accepted in Burma. And it is not just any cash. It has to be mint-conditioned cash in high denomination. Why? Because money changers either reject your money or they give you a discounted rate for bills with any marking, crease, dog ears, or whatever tiny smuts they can find. Small bills also get lower rates than large bills. Before our trip, I scoured through multiple banks for perfect looking money so we could have a stack of beautiful US$100 bills with us. On your way out, however, you get from money changers dirty, worn out foreign currency in an assortment of small denominations. As I see it, the whole system is just another way of exploiting foreigners.
Yangon was the old capital city. I bet it had a glorious past, looking at the careful layout of the wide boulevards by the waterfront at the southern end, lined by fancy colonial style buildings. Clearly, these building have seen much better days. I was stunned to see trees and vines grow on, through and/or out of these abandoned structures. Most windows are missing and the roofs are long gone. They are so run down and broken -- just like the country they are in. I felt like I was walking through a modern version of Angkor Wat!
The biggest tourist attractions in Yangon are Buddhist pagodas. There are quite a few of them in the city. They are under constant care and upkeep so that they also looks marvelously shiny. From afar, you can see the glowing reflections from the golden stupas. They look particularly magnificent at sunset. When Mike was in meetings, I visited several pagodas on my own.
The first one I ventured to was near our hotel. Not surprisingly, there was a special entrance fee for foreigners -- only six times of that for locals. After I surrendered my money, I was given a "souvenir sticker" to wear on my shirt. Within minutes, a young man approached me in English and offered me a free tour. I was quite pleasantly surprised and accepted his offer. My guide said he was a novice monk when he was a boy, but he has since returned to normal life. As we pass by the many shrines around the main stupa, he explained to me some of the traditions and worship practices which are interesting.
The pagoda was not big. The tour was soon over. My guide pointed to behind us a monk. "This is my teacher. He is a Buddhist monk. Have you heard of karma? Do you want to have good luck? If you want to have good fortune, you need to build good karma. The best way of building good karma is to make donations to support monks like my teacher. Buddha will bless you." While talking, my guide opened a book in his hand. There were large denomination bills of various currencies between the pages. "We accept different currencies. You see? Someone very generous gave a hundred dollars earlier. A European visitor gave fifty Euros this morning. The more you give, the more good karma you build. What do you carry? US Dollars? How much do you want to give?"
No word was enough to describe my shock and disappointment. I really did not expect such karma sales pitch at a Buddhist pagoda. I guess my emotions must have been written all over my face. The former novice monk could tell I was not sold. "Well, at the very least, you can give fifty dollar? Maybe twenty? You know, I gave you a tour!" I was tempted to give him nothing, but I knew he would not let me go. So, I decided I would give him all I have of one currency. "Thanks for the free tour. I really appreciate it. I don't have much money. I just came from Thailand. If you want, you can have all the Thai Baht I have left." I emptied out my wallet and gave the man about five US Dollars' worth of Thai Bahts. Sure enough, he was pretty upset. I walked right out of the pagoda without looking back.
I visited a few more pagodas and got repeatedly charged a special entrance fee for foreigners. Every single time, I was given a sticker to wear, which, I later realized, is an identifier for foreign visitors. You wear a sticker, someone will approach you for donations. From then on, I promptly removed my stickers when the staff were not watching.
At one pagoda, I heard a tour guide explaining to his group how to win Buddha's blessing by performing generous deeds of donation. Needless to say, "The more you give, the more good luck you have." Before you know it, people started elbowing each other in order to be the first to put monetary offerings onto the Buddha statue. That probably explains why the donation boxes in front of the shrines tend to be all filled with money. I happened to be there when a team of security guards were clearing the boxes. They basically dropped the front of the boxes and shoved the bills into nylon bags double or triple the size of a Santa Claus' sac. By the time they are done, the bags are all stuffed solid. If I did not know, I would have thought they were collecting trash. Maybe that is why the shoulder patch on their uniforms says "Cleaner"?
At one location, I even got the opportunity to witness the ingenuity of combining amusement park game ideas with worshipping. A table is set up with mini stupas and monk bowls on it. The table is connected to some power mechanism so that it moves around randomly while spinning. Worshippers may buy tokens and try to toss the tokens into the monk bowls from a distance. Their wish would be granted if their token gets into a monk bowl. While I was amazed by the creativity, I could not help feel sick to the stomach. As a Buddhist student, I do not think this is what Buddhism is about.
After a few days in Yangon, we traveled to the rural areas in Shan State to meet with victims of abuses by the military. We also visited several Internal Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Reading or listening to reports is one thing; meeting the people in person and seeing what it is like in reality is another. Many of these man-made sufferings are brought by the ruling Buddhist majority of the country.
My one entrance ticket is worth six local tickets. All proceeds of the pagodas go to support the Buddhists establishments of the country.
What is the value for me to see another pagoda? What is the significance of having a few more pictures of yet another shiny golden structure? And what does it mean for me, as a human, to indirectly support such a ruling regime?
After the visit to Shan State, I had two more days in Yangon. I did not do any more sightseeing at pagodas. I just can't.
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