From Slate:
How Many Burmese Monks Are There?At least 10,000 of them demonstrated over the weekend …
Amid historic demonstrations against the Burmese government, 10,000 maroon-robed monks protested the military junta in Yangon on Sunday. The next day, 1,000 monks led a crowd of almost 100,000 in a 12-mile march. How many monks does Burma have?
No one really knows, but experts in the West estimate between 300,000 and half a million. In Burma, like in other Southeast Asian countries, it’s customary for a male to enter a monastery at some point in his life. Some might remain a monk for just a few days, while others—an estimated 15 percent—stay for life. (A monk’s tenure might depend on how religious he is or how much money he could earn outside the monastery.) Either way, it’s a good thing to have on your résumé: Monks hold the highest status in Burmese society, and men are considered more mature and marriageable if they’ve been ordained. A man might also join the monkhood to acquire merit, or good karma, to help his mother have a better next life; even a short stint is thought to help.
It’s pretty simple to become a monk in Burma. You have to be at least 7 years old, and you may need permission from your parents or spouse. Families who can afford it often have a big village blowout for a young son’s ordination; the festivities are replete with drinking, feasting, and dancing—sort of like a Buddhist bar mitzvah. The idea is to act out the temptations that the monk-to-be must resist. Meanwhile, the boy sits still and dons sunglasses as a metaphor for blindness to the wild behavior around him. During the ceremony, the novice monk vows to abide by the Ten Precepts, which include abstaining from things like sexual contact and luxurious seats. Then he puts on his maroon robe, receives the bowl that he’ll use to collect alms, and enters the monkhood. (There’s a different ceremony for men who ordain for the first time when they’re at least 20 years old or for novice monks who are ready to become full monks.)
Monks come from all strata of society, but those who join monasteries as children tend to come from poorer backgrounds. This is because entering the monkhood can be a bit like going off to free boarding school; some boys go for the schooling, food, housing, and health care. Monks who join when they are older might hail from upper-class or religious families, or be retirees who are ready to renounce the world.Burma is a stronghold of Theravada Buddhism, a more orthodox school popular in Southeast Asia. So is Thailand, which has about half a million monks. Laos and Cambodia each have only about 30,000, and in Sri Lanka, where monks tend to be lifers, there are fewer than 50,000.
Do the things for which Buddhists refrain from apply only to the monks? Apparently not, if everyone at the festival is drinking around him. Or maybe everyone is allowed to take a day off.
Also, the article refers to luxurious seats, but the link to the Ten Precepts refers to high beds. I’m assuming these are the same. How high can a high bed in Burma be? Is it just off the floor and the monks are relegated to the floor to sleep on the same rugs for which meditation takes place.
I’m sorry. The more I read, the more confused I become.
A.L., these are good questions. Personally I’m not familar with Burmese culture but I’ve passed the question along to someone in the community who is. He may post a response here later today. I can answer how lay people practice the precepts from a Zen Buddhist perspecitve — I have taken both five and ten precepts in that tradition. They are seen as guidelines of ethical behavior rather than laws or rules to be taken literally under all circumstances. For instance, the vow not to drink alchohol is often worded “I vow to abstain from taking substances to induce heedlessness.” So a person might have a beer, for instance, but the intent is that a person doesn’t overdo it and lose him or herself in over indulgence.
A.L. – I’ve been to Burma a number of times and my overall impression of it is that it is pretty socially conservative. Drinking and partying to excess is frowned upon but you will certainly find examples of it here and there. But it is probably better not to paint the lay people or the sanghas (monks) with a broad brush of them being one way or the other. They are people just like us struggling with temptations and desires – and in Burma, where many people are desparately poor, you will find lay people doing things that really are pretty clearly against the precepts (I once had my sandals pilfered by someone outside a shrine I was visiting in Yangon). The economy in that country is in a desparate way and I assume it probably pushes people to do things that they otherwise wouldn’t normally do.
Even our approach to those in robes should be done with a sense of balance, although always with respect. As a monk once told me, “All monks don’t come from heaven.” Some may sleep only on the floor, some in a bed 10 or 12 inches high. Whether a monk sleeps on the floor or on a bed doesn’t tell us much about their character. We can only do that by getting to know them personally.
I wish I could quote from the text that this idea supports but generally, if what a monk teaches us is good, leads to goodness, and delivers us from suffering to a happier life, then this is a monk worth listening to. If not, then our search continues. The only way to understand how to do this, practically, is by educating ourselves, listening to Dhamma talks, reading books, establishing a sitting practice and keeping the 5 precepts for ourselves no matter what others around us are doing.
Even with those cautions, though, if one thoroughly investigates the country that is Burma (Myanmar), you will discover that, in many ways, it is still the land of the Dhamma. In spite of the turmoil and contradictions you may find, there are many monks, in my opinion, that are true representatives of the Buddha’s teaching, cultivating wisdom and a boundless heart towards others.
If you are confused, don’t worry, just knowing that you are confused is a good, sound start. If you know you are confused it means there is every likelihood there will come a time when you will know that you are not. It’s those who don’t know the difference who are really suffering…
Thanks Lee, that was helpful as well as opening some doors for more studying.
I met you at the temple where you furnish the tea on Wednesdays, but am unable to go there now due to timing. Nice man, you are!
And thanks Lisa for finding Lee!