Showing posts with label burma or myanmar?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burma or myanmar?. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2026
Monday, December 29, 2025
The trouble in Buddhist Burma now
What created the problem in Burma (the name of which was changed to Myanmar by military dictators like General Than Shwe as the Western media just bought in)?
How to escape Beyond Rangoon - The British Empire was ruthless in dividing and conquering, destroying everything in its wake, leaving behind racism and Orwellian dystopian order that are operating even today as the Theravada nation enters 2026.
- The massive 2025 Myanmar earthquake
- Myanmar forces launch Rohingya genocide
- List of earthquakes in Burma/Myanmar
- George Orwell, author of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Animal Farm, and Burmese Days, and the essay Shooting an Elephant, was born here under the British Raj (when it was part of India before the British partitioned it all over the place, after sacking the richest country in the world through the East India Company). He saw what was going on here and in England and wrote that into his novels.
- Rangoon (Yangon) was replaced by Naypyidaw
- Scam factories, human trafficking call centers operate
- The Buddhist monastic Saffron Revolution was shown in the documentary Burma VJ
- The overthrow of Democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi's father U Aung Ko was fictionalized and shown in the 1995 American movie Beyond Rangoon (with Patricia Arquette)
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Golden Temple: Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma
Bagan (Pagan) and Shwedagon Pagoda: The Cosmic Geometry of Burma’s Buddhist Temples | SLICE
At their core lies an intricate sacred geometry inspired by the cosmos, the elements, and the human form — a fusion of spirituality and design that transcends time.
In Burma (Myanmar), this connection reaches its zenith. The Shwedagon Pagoda, gilded with nearly 60 tons of gold, rises as a beacon of faith (saddha, confidence in the Buddha) and devotion, shimmering under the sun.
Its spire points to the heavens (sagga), yet its base remains firmly rooted in the earth (Bhumi) — a symbol of the link between the divine and humanity.
Meanwhile, the plains of Bagan (formerly Pagan), with their breathtaking expanse of over 2,000 ancient temples, monuments, and stupas, showcase an unparalleled architectural legacy.
These temples, born of devotion and ambition, reflect a civilization’s desire to immortalize its beliefs in stone and art.
This profound bond between humanity and the cosmos, visible in Asia’s sacred structures, invites us to marvel not only at the beauty of these monuments but also at the resilience and creativity of the civilizations that built them.
From the serene plains of Bagan to the golden splendor of Shwedagon, these sacred spaces stand as timeless testaments to the spiritual quest for harmony with the universe.
Documentary: Sacred Spaces – Asian Temples: Humans, Nature, and Gods
directed by Véronique Legendre. Production: ZED, ARTE FRANCE, CuriosityStream.
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Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.
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In French: slicefr. Facebook: slicedocs. Instagram: slicedocs. #documentary #slice #fulldocumentary #freedocumentary #myanmar #bagan #shwedagon #plains #buddism #buddha #gold #temple #pagoda #religion #asia #amazing #heritage #prayer #pray #nature #god #geometry #relics
- SLICE in Burma, Dec. 12, 2024; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Monday, March 31, 2025
Myanmar Earthquake: destruction, deaths
Earthquake in Myanmar (Burma) with massive destruction in Thailand, China, people trapped
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| Where is the fallen Lady Aung San Suu Kyi? |
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| What has become of Burmese Pa Auk Sayadaw? |
For support and donations and information on how to contribute to the relief efforts, please refer to local and international aid organizations.
Watch this video to learn more about the Myanmar earthquake and help spread awareness about the challenges faced by those in disaster-stricken areas.
#MyanmarEarthquake #Myanmar2025 #Earthquake #NaturalDisaster #DevastatingEarthquake #DisasterRelief #Aid #Awareness #MyanmarAid #EarthquakeRelief #DisasterArea #NaturalDisasterAid #MyanmarAwareness #RescueOperations #DisasterSurvivorAid #EarthquakeSupport
Burma's Golden Rock Pagoda defies gravity
What kind of miracle hair could explain this?
The marvel of Golden Rock's survival
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| Entrance to the site protected by lion creatures |
The rock and its pagoda sit at the top of Mt. Kyaiktiyo.
- Why is Burma called Myanmar now? The military dictators decided to restore the original name the British could not pronounce (\mee-yan-maa\), which is actually the same as Burma, but it signifies acknowledgement of the illegitimate authoritarian government that took the country by force and savagely repressed the Saffron Revolution and the once-beloved Aung San Suu Kyi, the legitimate heir to power and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
- Buddhism in Burma or Myanmar (Theravada)
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| Covered in more gold leaf |
According to legend, the rock itself is precariously perched on a strand of the historical Buddha's hair [1]. The balancing rock is apparently defying gravity, as it perpetually appears to be on the verge of sliding off and rolling down the hill.
Another legend claims that a Theravada Buddhist monk impressed a celestial king (deva raja) with his asceticism and the celestial king used his supernatural powers to carry the rock to its current position, specifically choosing the rock for its resemblance to the monk's head.
It is the third most important Theravada Buddhist pilgrimage site in Burma after Shwedagon ("Great Golden" Pagoda (of Dagon) in Rangoon (Yangon) and Mahamuni ("Great Sage") Pagoda [2, 3, 4, 5].
Etymology
In the local Mon language, the word kyaik (ကျာ်) means "pagoda" and yo (ယဵု) means "to carry on the hermit's head." The word ithi (ဣသိ in Mon from the Pali ရိသိ, risi, Sanskrit rishi or "seer") means spiritual "hermit." Thus, Kyaik-htiyo means "pagoda upon a hermit's head" [6, 7].
Legend
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| The marvel has been going on for long time |
The king had inherited supernatural powers from his father, Zawgyi (a proficient alchemist or more likely a weizza or "wizard"), and his mother, a naga (reptilian) dragon princess. They found the rock at the bottom of the sea, where nagas generally are said to dwell. With the help of the Thagyamin, the king of Tawadeintha (Pali Tavatimsa or the "Space World of the Thirty-Three"), a sensual heaven in Buddhist cosmology, found the perfect place at Kyaiktiyo to locate the golden rock and build a pagoda. There the strand was enshrined.
- This accords with the ancient legend found in Buddhist texts of the Buddha offering some strands of his hair to traveling businessmen from what is now Burma as a token when they requested it after he impressed them with his spiritual outlook and noble demeanor, which became the basis for the massive construction of Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the most impressive Buddhist sites in the world, said to have been built around the original stupa or "burial mound" reliquary for the hair.
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| Theravada monks gather at the pagoda |
The boat used to transport the rock turned into a stone. This is also honored by Buddhist pilgrims at a location about 980 feet (300 m) from the Golden Rock.
The place is known as the Kyaukthanban Pagoda or stupa (lit. "stone boat stupa") [2, 7, 8]. Legends also mention that Buddhists undertaking the sacred pilgrimage by trekking from the Kinpun Base Camp three times consecutively in a year are blessed with wealth and recognition [9].
Geography
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| Miracle Golden Rock, 2007 |
- Golden Rock, Myanmar [Amazing Places 4K]; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
The Trouble in Buddhist Burma (doc)
Pfc. Sandoval, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Inside a Military Dictatorship (Myanmar documentary) | Real Stories
Finally in power after more than 20 years of house arrest, the grave human rights violations by the country against the Muslim minority of the Rohingya [who long ago sided with the British and were defeated, leading to hatred by many in the country who regarded them as foreigners from neighboring Bangladesh and traitors who fought against the Burmese] nevertheless continue across the country.
- [When finally in power and asked about the Rohingya, Aung San Suu Kyi spoke like a politician or a person in denial about the military's atrocities with regard to the Rohingya ethnic minority. She fell from grace in the eyes of the West and presumably the rest of the world, while still loved by the Burmese people who are barred from having her rise to lead the country because the military dictators behind the scenes and now in front again have made laws the forbid it.]
Myanmar provides the setting for a seemingly absurd political power game. Filmmaker Karen Stokkendal Poulsen pointed her camera at the former peace icon and the retired generals to provide a captivating investigative exploration of the opposing coexistence of a woman and the military.
The story of a political miracle which, unfortunately, ceased to be one.
Twitter: realstoriesdocs,
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Instagram: @realstoriesdocs. Content licensed from [First Hand Films]. Any queries, please contact: owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com
Friday, July 21, 2023
George Orwell: Warning to Humankind (doc)
George Orwell: A Warning to Mankind (documentary)
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Friday, March 17, 2023
The forgotten Irish Buddhist monk (video)
L. Cox, B. Bocking, TNTS, 8/13/20; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The Rainy Season Research Series is courtesy of the Transnational Network of Theravada Studies (TNTS) and hosted by Shan State Buddhist University (SSBU) and King’s College London. Webpage: theravadastudies.org.
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| Researchers and authors Laurence Cox, Brian Bocking, and Alicia Turner |
Laurence Cox and Brian Bocking on the "Forgotten and remembered: U Dhammaloka the Irish Buddhist monk"
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| The Irish Buddhist: Faced Down the British Empire |
Speakers: Prof. Laurence Cox (National University of Ireland Maynooth) and Prof. Brian Bocking (University College Cork).
Abstract: This talk introduces one of the first Western Buddhist monks, his remarkable life (including his dramatic adventures in Burma and his travels with the Saopha of Kengtung). How and why he was forgotten – and what this tells us about memory, lineage, and the history in Buddhism.
Why does remembering U Dhammaloka ["U," pronounced \oo\, is just an honorific applied to any monk, the Burmese way of saying "venerable sir" or "mister"] make a difference?
- Who was he? Ven. U Dhammaloka was born in Booterstown, County Dublin, in 1856 and given the name Laurence Carroll. He reportedly used at least five names, including Laurence Carroll, Laurence O'Rourke, and William Colvin. On occasion he used the nom de plume "Captain Daylight." He was Irish, a Dubliner, lived in the 1850s, and emigrated to the United States, possibly via Liverpool. He then worked his way across the USA as a migrant worker before finding work on a trans-Pacific ocean-liner. Leaving the ship in Japan, he made his way to Rangoon, Burma, arriving in the late 1870s or early 1880s, before the Third Anglo-Burmese War, which marked the final conquest of Burma by the British [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. More
Sunday, January 1, 2023
Knowing and Seeing: Pa Auk Forest Monastery
Bhante Subhuti, live from Pa Auk, Burma, 10/27/15; Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| The Buddha launched a forest tradition of wandering ascetics letting go and awakening. |
Knowing and Seeing: Pa Auk Forest Monastery
(American Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Subhuti) Life at Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Mawlamyine, Burma is enlightening. This film was originally made for my brother in 2005 from a silent 55-minute video shot by a group from England in 2003.
If it seems at all longwinded or for people with long attention spans, have a look at the original.
As I was recording the audio commentary, "Um, this is the clinic," a friend told me to add background sound for atmosphere. There later came a script with a "narrator's voice." I was doing the best I could do to sound professional and detached.It is all to give a glimpse of this remarkable place, where people really come and become enlightened.
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Militant MONKS in Myanmar (video)
AJ; Trevor Noah (Daily Show '15); Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
An Unholy Alliance: Monks and the Military in Myanmar
(Al Jazeera English, March 18, 2019) With almost 90 percent of Myanmar/Burma's population being devoted Theravada Buddhists, the religion [like neighboring Thailand] has been at the heart of the nation's very identity for centuries. |
| Sometimes monks gotta do "stuff" (CIA). |
The monks there are connected to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the systematic persecution and genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state.
Al Jazeera's unprecedented access to the Ma Ba Tha monastery and its leaders offers a glimpse into how their ultra-nationalist agenda is becoming the blueprint for the political structure of the country.
Is the joining of forces between monks and the dictatorial generals threatening Myanmar's young and fragile parliamentary democracy that incorporates Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi?
Monday, September 14, 2020
Monks and Muslim hatred in Myanmar (video)
TheGuardian.com (doc); Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
In Myanmar (Burma), different groups of Theravada Buddhist monks are battling with how to deal with the country’s minority Muslim (Rohingya) population. While some Buddhist monks advocate peace, others, such as the extremist Ma Ba Tha* or Patriotic Association of Myanmar, are stoking up racist hatred and violence. The Guardian visited Myanmar to investigate how the monks’ actions are threatening to destabilize the country’s new parliamentary democracy under discredited Aung San Suu Kyi.
The battle for Myanmar’s Buddhist spirit
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| The international Buddhist flag of unity |
Friday, August 28, 2020
The meat eating monks of Myanmar (video)
Host Sonny Side, Producer Lady Goo Goo, Shizuka Anderson (Best Ever Food Review Show, March 25, 2020); Ellen Page; Sayalay Aloka, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Donated diet of Myanmar monks
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| Monks rise up to overthrow military dictator. |
MANDALAY, Burma - Myanmar is a war-torn country under little known military dictator General Than Shwe, now hiding with his junta and billions of dollars of embezzled funds from resource-rich and utterly impoverished Burma, which Gen. Shwe renamed Myanmar after putting Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest after she won democratic elections.
Ellen Page introduces us to Asia's "Hitler" General Than Shwe of Burma
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| I sold out to be in Parliament. |
(See Beyond Rangoon for the Hollywood version and Burma VJ for documentary footage shot during the subsequent "Saffron Revolution," as monks stood up in protest to bring down the corrupt government only to be met with extreme military violence and fake democratic reforms ushered in by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and best-fake president ever, B.S. Obama).
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| The Irish monk a century ago |
Although the country is very Buddhist, like neighboring Mahayana China, monks may eat most donated things -- even slaughtered animals -- so long as they neither "see, hear, or suspect" that such animals have been killed to feed them. (They do not seem to concern themselves too much with this rule from the Monastic Disciplinary Code or Vinaya, and the locals do not seem to know the rule at all).
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| InsightMyanmar's Western view on Buddhism |
To find out what that "mystery dish" the monks eat in the morning is, Sonny becomes a novice or samanera (a "little shaman," a wandering ascetic in training), a temporarily-ordained monastic, to find out. He gains rare insight into the Theravada monkhood, living conditions in the developing world, Asian customs, and the vulgar "street" food of poor countries. He ordained at AUNG MYAY THAR ZAN MONASTERY, Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda Road, Pathein Gyi Township, Mandalay.
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| There are no full nuns in Burma only sayalays.. |
At A MYE KAUNG RESTAURANT, 30th Street, between 66th and 67th Street, they dared him to sample stir-fried chicken butts (anus, entrails, offal, intestines, fecal matter tainted flesh) with chopped up veggies and heavy garlic mash. Smoking hot pan of low-grade cooking oil and ginger, garlic, chili, onion, chicken butts (anus tips), carrot, bell pepper, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken powder, and salt coated in sweet thick soy sauce and scallion and stirred.
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| Little has changed in ancient parts of Asia. |
He also got drunk and tore into grilled sparrows (little city birds) and doves (white pigeons) marinated in pungent garlic, ginger, paprika, and rice wine, then burned to a charcoal crisp headless.
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🥒ABOUT BEFRS: Sonny is from the U.S. currently calling Vietnam home. He’s been living in Asia for 10 years and started making food and travel videos to document his experiences. He travels [like murdered Anthony Bourdain] to different parts of the world, hunting down and documenting unique foods in each country.
If you spot any factual food errors in these videos, please feel free to politely let them know in the comments. Sonny is a huge fan of trying different, interesting foods in each country. This show is from a Western point of view, but more importantly, Sonny's point of view. It is never meant to offend any person or culture.
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Friday, July 24, 2020
Nirvana in Theravada Perspective
Ven. Dhammapiya via Lichtenberg (holybooks.com), Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
Nibbana in Theravada Perspective is an analytical text, a critical study of the Buddhist concept of nirvana (Pali nibbana) by Dr. Dhammapiya.
Nirvana literally means “blowing out” — referring to the blowing out of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. Theravada and other Buddhist traditions do not view nirvana solely as a state outside of the world. For it is a state to be attained here and now:
“The final state of nibbana is [absolute peace] not absolute cessation. As a matter of fact, the concept of nibbana has nothing to do with the view of annihilation technically, since nibbana practically exists as the unconditioned ultimate reality. One can reach the state of nibbana by means of practice because it exists unconditionally in the transcendental state.”
- Nibbana in Theravada Perspective (PDF, 216 pages)
Friday, June 12, 2020
Buddhist Meditation Huts (American Monk)
American Monk Bhante Subhūti (photos), 5/27/20; captions and editing by Wisdom Quarterly
A kuṭi (/coo-tee/) is a small hut or lodging that meditators and monastics live in. It is one of the basic Four Requisites: robes, food, lodging, and medicine. Such lodgings come in various sizes and quality levels. Here I have prepared a small photo showcase to do what words cannot. Nuns and monks reflect on the utilitarian purpose of one's lodging (senāsana). This is a small sample of the daily morning monastic chant:
This daily reflection should make it not matter where we stay or the quality of the dwelling. However, some of us get spoiled sometimes. Wherever we stay, we should be happy. I've stayed at many of the places shown here. Kuti #123 in Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Burma is where I lived from 2001-2005.
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| These are the Wisdom Quarterly vacation meditation kutis, high-priced paradise (SoGoodly). |
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| American Buddhist Monk Ven. Subhuti |
- Paṭisaṅkhā yoniso senāsanaṁ paṭisevāmi,With wise reflection I make use of a dwelling,
- yāvad-eva sītassa paṭighātāya, uṇhassa paṭighātāya,but only to ward off cold, to ward off heat,
- ḍaṁsamakasavātātapasarīṁsapasa
mphassānaṁ paṭighātāya,to ward off contact with gadflies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, and serpents, - yāvad-eva utuparissayavinodanapaṭisallān
ārāmatthaṁ.only to dispel the trouble of the (varying) seasons, so as to delight in meditative seclusion.
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| Ven. Subhuti and his American family. |
This photo was taken much later by the person living there now. It is one of the original huts in the monastic compound, which has grown quite a bit into the surrounding forest. They call them black kutis because they are blackwashed with old engine oil to keep the bugs away.
Does it work? To some extent, but they smell like a car repair shop for a few days every time they are treated. And when the smell goes away, the bugs return. The newer huts have oil moats around the supporting pillars.
Here are a few others from Pa Auk Forest Monastery.
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| This is Kuti#123, a black meditation hut blackwashed with used motor oil. |
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| This is another kuti at Pa-Auk. Note the stilts for the rainy season flooding. |
Here are a few others from Pa Auk Forest Monastery.
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| Rain is a problem in the jungle. Mosquitoes may be worse. Screens are Western luxury. |
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| Inside view, low bed, bucket shower, life-saving electric fan, and Coca Cola soda? |
Here is the inside view. As I was looking through many pictures, I saw a few of my old residences from 2014-2015. This is in the “Beverly Hills Section,” where many senior monks reside. They have teak wood flooring.
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| A beautiful balcony and banister, a hot tin roof, shutters for the rain and wind. |
Here is my kuti from 2014 to 2015. I have also included some of the kutis in Nauyana, where I lived from 2007-2012. The cement box was where I lived. I only spent one night in a kuti that looks this austere.
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| Stone is stronger than wood, so cover it in concrete until there's an earthquake. |
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| A glorious cave kuti, apartment built into the overhang of a solid rock, Nauhana. |
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| Wattle and daub is the British way of saying mud clay, grass, twigs, and branches. |
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| With a Sri Lankan monk on the dirt floor, where creepy crawlies walk right in. |
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| This wattle and daub does not have a thatched roof, but rusting tin for the rain. |
Nauyana kutis are wattle and daub "mud huts," which makes them very cool and natural, easy to fix and feel like an ancient monastic. This is likely the way they were built in the early days of the Buddha.
Here is a kuti I stayed in for about three months in Mudon, which ranks high on my list of places to stay. It was brand new in 2015, modestly sized, but very, very nice.
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| Modern roofing, stilts, sliding windows, shutters |
This is my current kuti. I really want to change kutis, and as such I have tried a few others. But they just don’t feel "right." So I stay on in the kuti I was given last November, 2019. It is quite nice. All the kutis are pretty much the same except for the teachers’ huts. One can guess which ones those are. Here's my kuti outside and inside. The wide angle lens makes it look much larger than it is.
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| Paved driveway -- a footpath for walking meditation over the jungle terrain. |
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| On the inside, with lots of monastic colors. Burma prefers burgundy, carpet, screening, mat. |
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| Aerial view of the expanding Pa-Auk Forest Meditation, Monastery, Mawlamyine. |
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| A street light springs up on the "streets" of the forest hermitage, suburban sprawl. |
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| The teal roofing of kutis stand out in the green jungle canopy. |
Here are some different kutis in Pa-Auk Pyin Oo Lwin.
This is a teacher’s kuti. While they look quite nice, they are not actually luxurious. A hut can be austere. I have stayed in many different places. For example, when I was in Kauai, Hawaii, I lived in a tent for a year.
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| Conditioned air in the meditation hall? That would be salvation, relief, and unlikely. |
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| The roof takes on an Indonesian appearance, a big indigenous house style. |
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| Dirt stairs carved right into the ground, which works until it rains. |
This is a teacher’s kuti. While they look quite nice, they are not actually luxurious. A hut can be austere. I have stayed in many different places. For example, when I was in Kauai, Hawaii, I lived in a tent for a year.
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| A tent can be a monastic residence. In the Buddha's time, they were made of robes. |
It was all-focus and meditation. A tiny living space concentrates the mind or, in any case, can help one remove distractions.
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| This modern "robe tent" is the right color for a monk outdoors. |
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| The rain in Hawaii causes issues. |
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