Chanting in Yangon

Chanting in Yangon!

Every morning when I woke up in Yangon in Myanmar (where I spent the three and a half weeks in late January-February this year working on an assignment with UNICEF on children affected by armed conflict) – I woke up to chanting from one or two of the nearby temples. And when I went to bed I heard chanting and/or singing from these temples, it was almost never quiet. I would attempt to tune into the chanting, to the spirit of chanting, and in the morning I sometimes did yoga to the chanting. Spirituality is very much alive in Myanmar and all generations are participating. I would wake up to chanting or beautiful singing and during the day at the office one could here chanting, singing and the recital of holy texts all day long, and then for lunch walking to a nearby place one could here chanting and recital of holy texts from two different other temples along the way. During two weekends I spent time at different pagodas and especially at the large Shwedagon Pagoda – the temple where so many people came to spend the day, praying, chanting, meditating, checking email or internet (there is a Wi-Fi area), eating and just being. The pagoda has four large entrances and one walks up the stairs barefoot, one is of course barefoot in the temples, and this can be used as preparation for the actual visit to the pagoda, also including buying flowers or fruit as offerings. The first time I was there I had a wonderful guide, a man who had worked there for nine years and who knew everything about the place. He took me around for two hours and explained the purpose behind the many different shrines and holy places, like the boddhi trees! He also helped me participate in some ceremonies for my own benefit. Wonderful! The pagoda has different shrines for the weekday of when one is born (many pagodas have) – and I am a Sunday child and this I knew since before, however they have a calendar with all the dates of birth so they can assist you in getting to know the weekday you were born on. At the Sunday shrine of course I participated in the ceremonies there with the help of my guide of course. He said that the people who are born on Tuesdays are often politicians and leaders, and that Aung San Suu Kyi was a Tuesday child and that this kind of explains her political life! I could see the Shwedagon Pagoda from the patio at the seventh floor from my hotel that with its golden shimmer draws you into its sphere.

Before coming to Yangon I had wanted to attend a meditation center to learn new techniques, there are many such places, however most require that you spend maybe a month at the center. For instance the famous Mahasi meditation center while open to everybody requires that you spend at least six weeks there. Since that was not the purpose for my visit, this needs to wait to another time. This time around I meditated on my own, took advantage of the spirit of the Pagodas with so many people meditating, and as my Shwedagon Pagoda guide said the importance is to set the intention to meditate such as taking a leaf from a boddhita tree and blow one’s intention into the leaf and use it as a focal point.

I believe that one of the reasons to why spirituality is so alive with all generations (you have very cool young guys in updated longhis mixing with elderly people and families walking around the Pagodas during the weekends spending some hours) Myanmar is that this was one sphere that the governmental and military system could not interfere with. There was so much hardship and fear present in the country for decades, but being at the pagodas and having an inner, very private, life could no one interfere with and maybe that has been a refuge.