Hello, again, Blogonauts!

Despite the posting date, I am writing this in reality on February 7, more than a week since I left Yangon. It deserves its proper place in the travel timeline, but multiple narratives have been writing themselves in my head since I left the city.

Because I don't want to see Myanmar through only my cultural biases, it has been a challenge to fully appreciate religious expression in this highly Buddhist region of the world. The architecture and imagery are beautiful. (However, there are places where the concentration of buildings and Buddhas more closely resembles cultural clutter than devotional design.)

And when joined in these places by Buddhist adherents, I found it touching to watch their rituals and meditations. The Buddha images all display the supreme peace and serenity that humans can achieve. According to what I heard from those in Myanmar and read in various resources, worshipers are said not to be praying to Buddha as Christians, Jews, or Muslims would to God, but instead they are turning to the Buddha images to remind them that internal tranquility is possible.

Buddhists by and large do not practice group worship in any way similar to Christians, Jews, or Muslims. As students, they may learn lessons that they recite together (I heard this repetitive droning several times), and there are various annual community festivals commemorating Buddhist holidays. But unless you are a monk or nun (and you can be a monk or nun for a few months or your entire life), you do not gather with other Buddhists for worship.

Nonetheless, there are famous monks whose teachings are revered. They appear on television and radio. And because these guys can draw a crowd, they even go on national tour. Adherents pay to support them. Every Buddhist monastery and holy site serves as a fund-raising funnel.

Now, I have hinted how prevalently Buddhist architecture decorates Myanmar's and Thailand's landscape. Largely these are pagodas, stupas, and (in Thailand) wats. Although each country or region may define these terms in slightly different ways, pagodas are generally clusters of devotional buildings and altars. Stupas are (often spiked) domes that enclose some relic of the Buddha or a holy person, and there may be several within a pagoda. Wats are Buddhist temples found in Thailand and Cambodia. Each one of these may be associated (or not) with a monastery.

Yangon has several astonishing golden pagodas (or in Myanmar language, paya). The largest and most revered is Shwedagon Pagoda, whose central golden stupa rises to an towering height and rules the skyline of the city.

In Yangon there is also Sule Paya, a perhaps even older pagoda that, while not nearly so grand, has the distinct honor of being in the midst of the city's business and government district. Currently, it lies in the middle of a teeming traffic circle. You literally have to swerve not to run right into one of the chief religious edifices of Yangon. And because of its central location, many of the protests against the government have gathered here.

Each of these religious centers is filled with countless Buddha images, mostly depicting him sitting with his left hand, palm up, placed on his lap, and his right hand draped over his shin with the fingers touching the earth. (Even visitors get to know this image in exquisite detail because it becomes SO familiar.) The images sit on elevated altars, in little shelters, in shallow pools, where adherents pour water over them to "bathe the Buddha," etc. In one place you could even pull a rope to "fan the Buddha" with a waving drapery hung over his head.

Buddhists in this part of the world follow the Theravada branch of Buddhism. Zoë indicated that they believe they are working to build up merit so that when they are reincarnated, they will achieve a better life than they have currently. Thus, offering money to monks and monasteries provides an advantage for your later lives. The same is true of building or caring for the pagodas, practicing compassionate acts, or placing offerings of flowers or fruits to on the altars.

Vendors selling all of these goodies (and more) line the walkways leading to the pagodas. In Yangon, in particular, there are also palm readers and astrologers who purport to help you learn your destiny and make decisions.

One of the most disturbing practices I've seen at various temples involved supposed acts of compassion. A few vendors sit with covered baskets filled with captive sparrows, wrens, finches, and in one case, small owls. Adherents are encouraged to buy one of the birds so that they can take it in their own hands, kiss it and set it free. Doing so is said to garner the purchaser merit for the afterlife.

Now, needless to say, someone less concerned with their own karmic merit captured and caged these poor critters, The practice seems to be the ethical equivalent of paying ransom for a kidnapped bird. (Fowl play, to say the least, for doing so simply encourages further capture of birds for sale.)

Handling wild birds is not the most sanitary practice in any circumstance, but eastern Asia is the hotbed for the spread of bird flu. Mouthing and fingering migratory fowl seems even less wise in those circumstances.

Buddhism, as in other places, is also superimposed over older forms of belief, without attempting to alter or abolish local custom. Thus, the belief in nats, or animistic spirits, is prominent, and Myanmar believers seek to appease these demigods via various offerings. There are at least 37 of these nats, and each one has his or her own story, as well as an area of specialization.

As will become apparent over the coming days, appreciating some of these factors takes on new importance when seeking to understand Myanmar's culture and history. The experience has been eye-opening and given more than a little food for thought regarding our own culture.

So look soon for the blog about one of the biggest religious areas in all the world: Bagan, Myanmar.

Blog to you later!