Mandalay and Orientalism

A vision of wind-swept Mandalay

The Meditator Guidebook to Myanmar is in its final stages. As the guide gets closer to publication, we will begin to share excerpts of what yogis and meditators may expect... some sneak previews of what is to come. Here is an excerpt from the section on Mandalay, and discusses the popular lore surrounding the city:
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In Western travel mythology, Mandalay has become associated with other such “exotic” locales as Timbuktu and Zanzibar, leaving many armchair backpackers to place a visit to this Upper Burma city on their Bucket List. In truth, the city’s mystique can be traced back to the 1890 poem by the colonial cheerleader, Rudyard Kipling. Of course, Kipling never actually made it to Mandalay himself, and so the expressed exoticism of Mandalay—as well as its very geography—is more a product of Kipling’s imagination than any reality. 

Kipling’s “Mandalay” painted such an exciting and exotic picture of the colonialist’s view of the Orient that it has stuck to this day. Triggered by the repeated refrain, “The Road to Mandalay,” his fevered imagination has gone on to inspire everything from a World War II memoir to a modern luxury cruise ship, and from two films (one a 1926 Lon Chaney silent picture and another a later aborted Bing Crosby/Bob Hope production) to two songs (the first by Frank Sinatra and the more recent from Robbie Williams). It certainly can’t get stranger than the multi-million dollar Las Vegas casino christening itself “Mandalay Bay” after the landlocked city, with a sprawing hotel theme encompassing various Southeast Asian locales through the Pacific islands and atolls!

Walking Paths Amid the Sagaing Hills

The Meditator Guidebook to Myanmar is in its final stages. As the guide gets closer to publication, we will begin to share excerpts of what yogis and meditators may expect... some sneak previews of what is to come. Here is an excerpt from the section on the Sagaing Hills, known as the place where monks and lay people who are serious about meditation come to work in silence and seclusion:
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As the British colonial government took over control of the country, life in the forest monasteries of Sagaing Hills was little affected. Writing in 1907, V.C. Scott O’Conner describes his own visit here in Mandalay and Other Cities of the Past In Burma: “By far the most interesting part of Sagaing lies in the hilly country above it, where austere monks live; and every peak bears testimony to the piety of bygone kings and people…. The effect of the spectacle is enhanced, and lifted up to something strangely majestic, by the atmosphere, dry, prismatic, mystical— glorious with all the effulgence of Sagaing… One does not come upon sights like this out of Burma. There is some unconscious undercurrent of great qualities in the Burman personality that alone makes them possible.” 

Even as recently as a generation ago, a lay person coming to pay homage to a particular revered monk would have to bushwhack a path up the mountains and be on the watch for snakes, and monks had to keep an eye for tigers and leopards while on their alms rounds, including one monastery that was even built as a kind of tiger safe-house. Despite the signs reading “Cut One Tree, Three Years In Jail,” modernity is slowly finding a way to seep in, with some paved tracks laid allowing easier transport to the start of the Sagaing Hills and pushing the remote ascetic’s life deeper into the forest. But make no mistake, still today the best way to explore the hills is on foot, as many small monasteries are totally inaccessible by cars or even motorbike or bicycle. Burmese author Khin Myo Chit notes that while some of these sites “can be reached by motor road, the pilgrim whose sweet and wholesome hours are reckoned with the tinkling of temple bells is not pressed for time; this pilgrim prefers to ascend one of the brick stairways zig-zagging up the hill.” Some of these walking paths were laid down several hundred years ago, and the tread of royal processions and monks that walked upon the can still be seen in the grooves of the stones. Others have become so narrow that they are just one meter wide, while others have become completely reclaimed by jungle.

Original artwork in Shwe Lan Ga Lay shows a typical stone staircase that one finds when wandering through the Sagaing Hills

Footwear Diplomacy

Original artwork sketched by one of Shwe Lan's artist contributors shows a typical pair of monk's sandals 

In this excerpt from the book, we pick up an entry from our "Monastic Life" chapter. Following is a short excerpt from the section on proper pagoda protocol:
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The tense relationship between England and Burma in the 19th century and their contrasting cultural perspectives was perhaps nowhere better displayed than through their opposing attitudes towards footwear. While the Burmese demanded bare feet on all religious sites, the British insisted that the public removal of one’s shoes was a degrading, humiliating, and servile practice. It was further exacerbated by the intricate boots that British officers wore at the time, which were time-consuming to unfasten, as well as by the fact that no similar custom was anywhere near present in Victorian society at the time. Long diplomatic meetings attempted to clearly designate appropriate shoe-wearing and non-shoe-wearing zones, which eventually proved to be so ineffective that “meeting houses” were actually built in a kind of no-man’s land. On these sites, the British could comfortably keep their shoes on while the Burmese could still feel were within their premises. When Yangon fell in one of their Anglo-Burmese wars and the British gained control of the city, the victorious British troops paraded around Shwedagon. At this time, one soldier recorded in his diary his immense joy and pride at finally being able to approach the religious monument while clad in boots. This sensitivity to footwear goes back some time, as there is a story of King Narathiapate executing an entire Mongol diplomatic mission when they didn't remove their shoes for a royal audience. And it was taken up by the Young Men’s Buddhist Association in 1916, when they protested British authorities who continued to wear boots on the upper platforms of Shwedagon.

Today, of course, bare feet are the requirement for all nationalities, and one that the current world power has no difficulty in following— as evidenced by the photos from the 2011 and 2012 visits to Shwedagon Pagoda by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and President Barack Obama, respectively. Unfortunately Jackie Chan did not follow suit, and a recent photo of him at Shwedagon in sneakers gathered immediate criticism from Burmese voices across the web.

Dalla and Pyaw Bwe Gyi: Saya Thet Gyi's Center

For this Shwe Lan Ga Lay excerpt, we have included the introduction to the Dalla region, the gateway leading to the area south of Yangon across the river, and which leads eventually to Saya Thet Gy's village and meditation center further south.
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“Halts are made at every village and the people swarm on board by the hundreds, and great is the haggling, noise, and confusion. It is curious to watch the manner in which this is kept up over every article purchased, until the last warning whistle drives the crowds ashore.” M.M. Shoemaker, Quaint Corners Of Ancient Empires (1899)

Getting to the sites listed below is half the fun, and as the journey takes you over Yangon River it also takes you closer to the rice fields of the low-lying regions of the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, close geographically but increasingly further in culture and tradition than Yangon. This is the river that a middle-aged Sayagyi U Ba Khin rowed across when escaping his government office to learn meditation under Saya Thet Gyi, which at the time would have been filled with ships and junks of all kind dealing in trade. B.M. Croker describes an amusing incident in The Road To Mandalay (1917) where a herd of 60 elephants are encouraged to swim the entire one mile between Rangoon and Dalla, and upon reaching the shore are promptly hoisted onto a ship at the pier one by one. Although it’s not clear if this is a true story, Dalla served as a repository for the Burmese rulers’ elephants, so it is certainly plausible. Long before this, however, Dalla was a place of great importance, and Dagon (the village that stands where Yangon is now built) was known for one thing only: its Golden Dagon (or Shwe Dagon) Pagoda. Although this was almost 1000 years ago, when Dalla was the principal town in the Delta and was located closer to what is modern day Twante. Even as late as the 16^th century it was known, with Englishman Ralph Fitch noting that it “hath a faire Port into the Sea, from where goe many ship to Malacca, Mecca, and many others places,”

When looking to get out here, you can take the long and expensive way, which involves taking a vehicle from Yangon and driving far out of your way to cross the river at Hlaing Thar Yar bridge (and will take you a half day in total and cost as much as 100,000 kyat), or you can go the short and inexpensive way by ferry. To do this, go to Pansodan Boat Jetty. As you walk in the station, you’ll be directed towards the left side and into an office area, where you will be required to purchase your tickets with US dollars (or kyat if you don’t have them). The cost is $2 (or 2000 kyat) per person per way, and you might as well buy for the round trip. Make sure you bring a copy of  your passport when purchasing the ticket. The most you’ll have to wait for a ferry is a few minutes. When one pulls in it will be impossible to miss, as you’ll see a mass exodus of humanity on and off the wooden dock. Once on the boat, you can go to the upper deck, where you have a better view, and sit on one of the small plastic chairs for about 100 kyat. You’ll reach Dalla in ten minutes, but in many ways the ride feels more like 30 years or 300 miles. You’re now at the edge of the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, where the landscape has flattened out and the villages are more rural and poor. 

A Burmese man looks out on his boat across Yangon River, with Dalla stretching across the far shore

Shwe Lan Excerpt: The Sagaing Hills

The Meditator Guidebook to Burma is in its final stages! As the guide gets closer to publication, we will begin to share excerpts of what yogis may expect... some sneak previews of what is to come. Here is an excerpt from the first three paragraphs of the chapter on the Sagaing Hills:
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It’s difficult to overstate the majesty and wonder of the Sagaing Hills, and for the yogi intent on Burmese Buddhist practice, there are few—if any—places in the country that can compare. For many who have never been to Burma but have heard about the country from the lips of Dhamma friends or in books by Burmese Sayadaws from another era, Sagaing can come as the closest approximation of the mental images that had taken shape. “Ah… this is Burma,” more than one meditator has been known to remark after some days in the Sagaing Hills. Local residents would concur, as evidenced by a bilingual sign greeting your arrival that reads “Welcome to the Abode of the Holy Recluses.” Or as one local Sayadaw has noted, “there are two things were always needed in order to come to Sagaing: water and good sila.” And indeed, with an estimated 700 monasteries and 200 nunneries—many of them consisting of just a couple of buildings on a quiet hillside— and well over 6,000 in robes, it is a living, breathing Buddhist community almost unparalleled in the modern world. A walk through the peaceful hills will take you on winding forest paths and past countless caves, kutis, monasteries, pagodas, shrines, dhamma halls, monuments, and other sites that bring a sense of ease and calm to the eyes of a yogi. Almost the moment you exchange the dusty lanes of the downtown area for the rarefied air of the Hills, the stillness and quiet become readily perceivable.

You couldn’t do wrong if most (or even all) of your time ended up being spent in this region, and some yogis do just that. At the very least, for those coming to the country to develop in Dhamma, the rolling hills that float above Sagaing are not to be missed. While Bagan may be the only other region with more religious buildings, the sites remaining in the Sagaing Hills continue to be used for active Buddhist practice. Many locals make their way to Sagaing during the Full Moon of Tazaungmon (around October or November) when the weather begins to cool, and when they make offerings of monks’ robes and other requisites.

In this section we cover the area around the lowlands of Sagaing town, the meandering paths and slopes of the rambling Sagaing Hills, and Sagaing’s sister city Mingun, another village located in this hill range.

The cushions for four meditators set out inside a Sagaing monastery where they are sitting a self-retreat

Shwe Lan Excerpt: Planning Your Trip

The Meditator Guidebook to Burma is in its final stages! As the guide gets closer to publication, we will begin to share excerpts of what yogis may expect... some sneak previews of what is to come. Here is an excerpt from the introduction of our section on "Planning Your Trip":

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"Burma, I declare! One does not hear much of that part of the world; it's always connected in my mind with rice and rain.” --B.M. Croker, The Road to Mandalay (1917)

The words spoken above are given to a British fictional character after learning that her friend has decided to leave London for Rangoon. Though written almost one hundred years ago, travelers to the Golden Land today often face a similar reaction from their friends and family upon learning of their intended destination (that is, assuming it is not confused with Burundi or Bhutan). However, since the time that the venerable Ledi Sayadaw began a written correspondence with some of the top Western thinkers about Buddhist theory and British chemist Allan Bennet became the first foreigner to take robes in the country, a steady trickle of foreigners have continued to keep Burma on the mind, and certainly in the heart.

From the British occupation to World War II strategic planning to the Cold War Era to very recent history, the country has for the most part been overlooked by the greater world. Neighboring countries always seemed to have bigger crises, greater global relevance, and perhaps a more accessible understanding. But this is now all quickly changing, a factor that has immediate and long-term implications for yogis now using this book to making their own preparations for travel. A country once forgotten in time for all but a select group is now receiving regular visits by top world diplomats, celebrities, billionaires, and investors. Its transition and gradual opening are being watched with awe and commentary as one phase continues to the next. And its tourist numbers are off the charts, changing landscapes overnight. As one author recently noted, “the numbers are still climbing. In the Lonely Planet based economy, places are changing.”

Indeed, “places are changing,” this much is indisputable. But what kind of change? For the generation of yogis, meditators, dhamma students, and Buddhists who are the living beneficiaries of Ledi Sayadaw’s works, and to those who wish to follow the example set by Allan Bennet in his ordination, what will these new changes look like? In other words, for that audience for whom the book is meant, how will these changes alter plans and extended stays? And how will the country’s greater openness and access to opportunity affect its age-old traditions and customs?

The way forward is not yet clear (as this following Planning Your Trip chapter will certainly illustrate), although perhaps we can turn to a pundit who was present during a preceding period of transition. Following their taking of Upper Burma in 1885, England deposed the Burmese king and sent him to exile, moved the capital 693 miles south, opened new ports to bring both international trade as well as entire new immigrant populations, revitalized new industries, developed infrastructure that still stands today, instituted a new educational and administrative system, and brought overwhelming changes into a previously closed country in the fields of technology, food, weaponry, and transportation, among others. A little more than a decade after such drastic transformations were underway, Harold Fielding pondered this very same question, and questioned aloud how the local traditions and religion might be able to withstand the modern pull.

Here is his answer: “But a community that has lived through twenty-four centuries of change, and is now of the strength and vitality that the Buddhist monkhood is, can have nothing to fear from any such change…. the pattern and ensample of purity and righteousness will always remain.”

While the early 21st century experiment has yet to be played out, we can see how the late 19th century experience ended up. What may be different now as opposed to then are the many fertile seeds of dhamma practice that have been sprouting in many diverse corners of the world. As meditators and Buddhists begin to stream into Myanmar in higher numbers to take a retreat or pursue a life of inner calm, outside interest in the practice will continue to increase, and respect for the traditions may give way to greater sustainability. And perhaps in ten years time a contemporary writer can comment on how Burma is holding up her traditions then, which a guidebook 120 years from now can pick up and quote from, and our future reader can evaluate how the Buddhist practice of the people has continued to adjust and adapt to an ever-changing world. For now, in this chapter, we do our best to advise you on the ever-changing current conditions, and how to best prepare for them prior to arrival.

Monks on an Alms Round in a small Burmese town

Shwe Lan Excerpt: Monywa

The Meditator Guidebook to Burma is in its final stages! As the guide gets closer to publication, we will begin to share excerpts of what yogis may expect... some sneak previews of what is to come. here is one paragraph taken from the Introduction to Monywa section:
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With a sign welcoming you that proclaims “Capital of the Northwest, Monywa Must do Better Than Other Towns,” it’s not surprising that Monywa is not high on the list for the tourist or backpacker. However for the yogi, it’s a different story. Not only are there very unique sites in the city itself, but also there are many opportunities for side excursions in the countryside just outside of Monywa. David Lambert captures the special quality to be found in this area in his essay Chindwin, writing, “beyond the conventional radar, this is the heart of yogi tourism, where foreign meditators, carrying tourist cash dollars, come to explore the heartland of their spiritual souls. For some this is the area ‘where it all began.’ ” Some yogis choose to stay in town for some time in order to take in all the sites and have adequate time throughout, while others will include Monywa as one brief stop of many on their yatra and just take in any outlying sites that are not too far off their route.

Monywa is far from a small town with a population of nearly 200,000 people. It is located 136 northwest of Mandalay, situated on the Chindwin River, and so is a major hub for merchants and traders. Prior to the British arrival, Monywa was little more than a village, although the central Chindwin Valley area had given birth to the then-popular Sudhamma monastic movement, in which monks stressed the importance of textual study. Monywa’s own rise to prominence can be traced to when the town was named the Headquarters of the Lower Chindwin District by the British in 1886. It was this same year that the young monk U Nyanadhaja decided to venture into the Ledi Forest, where he would continue his scholarly work in the quiet that the vast wilderness provided, and remain for the following 13 years.

Maha Ledi Sayadaw Monastery in Monywa

Shwe Lan Excerpt: Shan State

The Meditator Guidebook to Burma is in its final stages! As the guide gets closer to publication, we will begin to share excerpts of what yogis may expect... some sneak previews of what is to come. here is one paragraph taken from the Introduction to the Shan State section:
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Life in Shan can be a welcoming change from the Bamar regions: the weather is cooler, the food tastier, the population sparser, the scenery more hilly and less arid, and even the tea is fresher and the air more refreshing. This last comment is confirmed as far back ago as 1899 by the British writer M.M. Shoemaker in Quaint Corners of Ancient Empires, where he wrote that “the air here is full of freshness, every breath being charged with life and health—a wonderful change from the languid, heavy atmosphere of Rangoon.” And this is not just one chance comment: 20 years later, Boxwallah recorded in The Leopard’s Leap that upon entering the Shan states, “the air was filled with the fresh scent of wild cherry, wild apple, almond, peach, and many a flowering shrub.” The Shan regions were indeed well-known by the British who lived here, and it was alternatively called the “Switzerland of the East” and an “Asian Arcady,” the latter term after the fabled region in the central Peloponnesus of ancient Greece. As Philip Fogarty, the British Resident for the Shan States declared, “I live in an earthly paradise!” Noted British authors W. Somerset Maugham and Leslie Milne wrote books about their own unique experience in the Shan states in the early 20th century, and as one recent author noted, “from Taunggyi to Maymyo, in cosy bungalows and gracious mansions, the British officials discovered a world of crisp mountain air, dazzling sunshine and blossoming trees.”

A remote cave in Shan State, not far from Pindaya, one of many sites to be covered in "Shwe Lan"

The Tigers of Sagaing

The view just outside the fortified structure described below

Historically, Burmese ascetics have regarded the Sagaing Hills as an ideal spot to practice dhamma. This is because for many centuries it was a lush jungle-laden series of rolling hills, allowing the monks (for in past years nuns and lay people did not engage in such practices to the same extent) to concentrate fully on the practice and development of insight. To this day, there are as-yet uncounted caves, pagodas, monasteries, kutis, and other sites showing the living Buddhist practice community that Sagaing has been over the years.

In recent years, much of this tropical forest region has been peeled away by expanding roads and communities, pushing the ascetic's practice deeper into the hills. Areas that one could only reach by trekking are now accessible (some entirely) by vehicle.

The entrance to the fortified building that protected monks against tiger attacks

However, as recently as a generation ago, nature still held sway. In fact, monks were under constant threat by tiger attacks during their alms rounds.  These pictures show a structure that was built as a means of protecting the monks from such tiger incursions.  The building was situated between eight very small monasteries, allowing easy access to all. The walls were built to be considerably thick and the structure was further fortified by sealed rooms that are unlike what one would find at any other Burmese monastery. When tigers were known to be in the area, monks from all eight monasteries would retire at night to sleep in this bunker together, returning to their own grounds during the day for practice.

It is also worth noting that the monk featured below mentioned that his own teacher was once personally attacked by a tiger on his alms walk, and the claws ripped into his abdomen. Fortunately, he survived the attack, and left with scars to show it.

The ceiling of the upper story chamber today, so loose that it is no longer safe for anyone to enter

An entrance on the upper story of the fortified building