"MY MYANMAR"
True to their word, the Singapore Temple arranged a visit to Myanmar.
We landed in Yangon.
A beautiful colonial hotel was our base for a couple of days while we explored the city. Monks headed out each morning with their bowls for people to donate money or food, it was considered a privilege to support them, their presence brought a sense of tranquility to the hustle and bustle of the city.
Our first 'Temple of call' was the gold plated Schedagon temple towering over the city, it is the cities highest structure as no other building was allowed to be built higher. It is the most sacred for the Burmese people as it is said it holds relics of the previous Buddha, and eight locks of Siddharta Gautama's hair.There is a huge diamond at the tip of the temple's 'spire', George Orwell wrote about it and the impression it made on him in one of his travel books.
Leaving the city, we headed for the 'Golden Rock' (Kyaiktiyo Pagoda), one of the three main Buddhist pilgrimage destinations in Myanmar.
and stayed overnight in a simple rustic cabin at the base of a very steep mountain.
The next day, we were the only 'Westerners' to join the steady stream of pilgrims making their way slowly up the side of the mountain.
Exhausted, we finally reached the peak.
Only to discover the Golden Rock blanketed under a heavy cloud cover, and not even visible!
So near, yet so far!'
Suddenly, the clouds parted to reveal the Golden Rock in all it's glory, glowing and radiating a golden light under the sun.
It was called the Golden Rock as devotees have been praying and applying gold leaf to it for more than 2,500 years.
Balanced on the edge of the peak of the mountain, with a large portion suspended in space, it looked so delicately balanced I could blow on it and send it toppling into the valley far below, but it had remained balanced in this position over hundreds of years through wars and earthquakes.
A small 'stupa' perched on top of the rock was said to contain a hair of the Buddha keeping it in perfect balance. I felt it was like a physical visual example of the Buddha's teaching of maintaining ou "internal balance".
Putting gold leaf on the rock for a blessing, as is protocol, I felt the rock itself was indeed conscious, in fact, more conscious than many people!
Even after night fell the Golden Rock continued glowing like a beacon.
It is interesting to note that despite the recent devastating earthquake in Myanmar didn't disturb it.
(*The legend associated with the pagoda is that the Buddha, on one of his many visits, gave a strand of his hair to Taik Tha, a hermit. The hermit, who had tucked it in the tuft of his hair safely, in turn gave the strand to the king, with the wish that the hair be enshrined in a boulder shaped like the hermit's head. The king had inherited supernatural powers from his father Zawgyi, a proficient alchemist), and his mother, a naga serpent dragon princess. They found the rock at the bottom of the sea. With the help of the Thagyamin, the king of Tawadeintha Heaven in Buddhist cosmology, found the perfect place at Kyaiktiyo for locating the golden rock and built a pagoda, where the strand was enshrined. It is this strand of hair that, according to the legend, prevents the rock from tumbling down the hill. The boat, which was used to transport the rock, turned into a stone. This is also worshiped by pilgrims at a location about 300 metres (980 ft) from the golden rock. It is known as the Kyaukthanban Pagoda or stupa (literal meaning: stone boat stupa *WIKIPEDIA)
Next, another of the three main pilgrimage sites in Myanmar, Pindaya Caves. A huge system of caves, high in a limestone ridge in the Myelat region where pilgrims over hundreds of years have been placing statues of the Buddha, almost every centimeter from the ground up to the highest heights was covered in tiny to huge beautiful statues. It is known to house over 8,000 images of Buddha, some of the older statues and images date from 1773.
Immersed amongst so many beautiful images, it felt natural to slip into a state of visual meditation. Throughout the huge complex, there were caves the size of multi storey buildings and small tiny caves where the pilgrims could retreat for quiet solitary meditation.
Next, 'All aboard for Inle Lake'.
If you were a raindrop this is one of the places you would love to fall to Earth. We may have caught it on a good day, but it certainly seemed to express it's name, 'The Ocean of Bliss'.
The lake is a huge system of shallow waterways where the locals use a unique one-footed approach to rowing, and the fisherman also had their own way of fishing. As it is quite shallow, there are also large areas of gardens growing food.
We stayed in simple cabins perched above the lake.
We explored the waterways by long boat, temples dotted the edges of the lake. One old wooden temple we visited was home to many 'cool cats', and one particular monk who must have spent hours focused on his special relationship with them.
Not too far away was the market where locals come from miles away, pushing, pulling, dragging or simply carrying their wares loaded on their backs.
It was bustling with energy and crammed full of local produce, crafts and we were able to sample delicious local food. It was the social centre where people had walked from miles away gathered, sharing gossip and their own stories, or just simply enjoying the company of others.
Onto Bagan, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan from the 9th to the 13th century, and united the territories that are now Myanmar.
Often compared to Cambodia's Angkor Wat, it holds a unique place with many historical and architectural wonders.
The Singapore temple was assisting in the restoration of these temples and stupas.
Along the way, we were stopped in our tracks by a procession of small boys all dressed in finery as young princes, as it is part of the Buddhist tradition for them to be given an introduction into the precepts of Buddhism. They were dressed and treated as princes to replicate the early part of the Buddha's life. On arriving at the temple this finery would be replaced by simple Buddhist robes, and they were introduced to a life of simplicity, meditation and education they would the carry back into their world.
Myanmar is a golden country. The evening sunsets seemed to fill the sky with liquid gold constantly changing shape and tone, even the days seemed to have a golden tinge, perhaps from the number of Golden statues of the Buddha.
Which put us on the road to Mandalay.
Rich with Buddhist influence from the past, from a series stone tablets, with the sutras carved into them higher than a man to a bridge made from wood from an ancient temple that still had speckles of gold leaf sparkling in the sunlight.
Invited to the "Waking of the Buddha" ceremony at the temple at sunrise where the head monk each morning washes the face of this huge bust of the Buddha and then distributes the cloths to the devotees as blessings.
Obviously not many Westerners had visited this ceremony and when he saw me in the distance struggling to get a picture he invited me up to be beside him as he gently and respectfully washed the Buddha's. Again it is said, even recorded, that this huge and life like sculpture was done while the Buddha was in Myanmar.
We visited many other Buddhist centres including the largest reclining Buddha and large temples were the monks were studying.
The Burmese people were very graceful and authentic and it was refreshing to be in their company.
Then with many golden experiences and memories it was back to Singapore.
