Showing posts with label Full Moon Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Full Moon Day. Show all posts

Friday, 19 September 2014

Full Moon Sunday at Kun Lay Monastery




Full Moon Days are always a special event in Burma, but they are especially sacred at Kun Lay Monastery. This short clip takes the yogi on a virtual Dhamma tour of three minutes on such a day, showing the many activities taking place around the monastery grounds. Whether young or old, male or female, monastic or lay, there are a variety of roles that happen within the space of a day.



Two nuns from Sagaing discuss Dhamma with resident monks at Maha Gandayone Monastery in Amarapura, as large rice buckets dry out after lunch

“People would have a fine time meeting friends at the monastery. ‘Apart from being a happy outing, a day at the monastery is satisfying in many ways, social, cultural and spiritual.’ I heard my grandmother used to say, never failed for all time. I concluded my diary the day at the monastery by the end of a perfect day.” Junior Win

“[My grandfather] usually had an interesting time discussing Buddhist scriptures with other retired gentlemen, who, like him, had found a useful vacation in the study of the scriptures in their retirements. Sometimes the discussions were spirited and they would often take their arguments to the head monk for decision. [My grandmother] would have a fine time meeting friends and she had an opportunity to do deeds of merit like sweeping the grounds. Children happily helped with chores and were taught the sacred duty of keeping the monastery grounds clean… Late in the afternoon we would come home, the end of a perfect day.” Khin Myo Chit (grandmother of Junior Win), Colorful Myanmar

Thursday, 18 September 2014

Children playing at Kun Lay Monastery




Kun Lay Monastery is located in a very traditional and conservative village in a place where little has changed in the passing years, and even decades. At no time is this more evident than on full moon days. While full moon days have an important significance in the Buddha's life and within Buddhist societies, the day is honored with more devotion at Kun Lay than can be seen in many other places in modern Myanmar today. 

On this day, villagers from all over the surrounding region come to the monastery. In this short video, one can see the role of the children. According to Sayadaw U Kumara, the Rector of Sitagu Academy in Sagaing, children are given free reign at monasteries from a young age, allowing them freedom to explore and grounds on their own terms. U Kumara also notes that this allows powerful positive associations between monks and meditation to form with playtime and fun. When the child begins to age, gradually they will be introduced to simple suttas, Jataka Tales of the Buddha, basic Pali, and introductory meditation techniques. But the basis of future spiritual development begins with, simply, having fun!

For the children shown in this video, they are still young enough that monastery visits are still firmly associated with fun and pleasant times. As this video is being shot, interestingly, the childrens' mothers are meditating together with the monks in the Dhamma Hall, after having finished their daily cooking tasks.