Just a teaser of what's to come: The Reclining Buddha
For those of you following me on social media, you may have seen some of my posts and check-ins lately with the hashtag #pauling. Let me explain: Paul is a (fantastic) member of our (fantastic) newbie group of teachers here at YIS. He has been teaching internationally for over 20 years and has lived all over the world. "Home" for Paul is Northern Ireland & Ireland. We have latched onto him, and any time we hang out with Paul, we call it "pauling" because he is so fantastic. Hopefully that makes sense to some of you. (Inside jokes are not always easy to explain.)
Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to have lunch and a day of culture with my friend Paul. We ate at a delicious lunch spot and then decided to try to find something nearby to do. After a quick search, we discovered that we were close to something called the Reclining Buddha, which is housed in a Buddhist temple called a pagoda (pah-go-duh). There was also another pagoda right across the street from it, so we decided this would be a good place to do some exploring. We walked from the restaurant for about half a mile through a very quiet neighborhood that felt more like the rural country than a neighborhood in a big city. The roads were very windy and it was probably not the most direct route, but we eventually came to the backside of the pagoda.
Since we were in search of something cultural, I made sure to dress very conservatively that day because a lot of places around here have very specific rules about attire (especially for women):
Attire requirements: Basically, cover your shoulders and knees...
...and remove all footwear. (Considering how squeamish I used to be about
my feet touching things, this has been quite the adventure so far!)
As soon as we entered the pagoda, we were both very pleased with our choice. The statue of the Reclining Buddha is absolutely stunning. It is 65 meters long and about 16 meters high, and is incredibly ornate. I learned Buddhists believe in karma, so many wealthy people donate gold and jewels to temples and other religious monuments in order to do good deeds with their money. Around the pagoda, there were many other relics and works of art, along with inscriptions in many different languages to explain the teachings of Buddha.
These were statues of very important monks. Sometimes their remains are
buried with these types of statues, but there was no information (in English)
about whether or not this is the case.
They were incredibly lifelike (almost a little TOO lifelike!), and in front of each statue
there was a small box with relics of that monk. The inscriptions were all in Burmese, so
we couldn't read much about them, but they were very cool.
This was at the entrance to the area with the statues of important monks.
More statues - perhaps some of the guardians of the temple.
Teaching of Buddhas:
"Not to do evil,
To cultivate merit,
To purify one's mind."
A mini-Buddha!
"Ever loyal" - we were told that the woman is the protector of the pagoda.
Another smaller prayer room where others could enter. Interestingly, the woman
was the only statue that had an English transcription.
From what I understand, the Myanmar people are very connected to astrology. They follow a lunar calendar and have animals associated with each day of the week. There is also some sort of connection to planets and energies, but I am still learning about those beliefs. I do know that there are eight days in their week, with Wednesdays being divided into a.m. and p.m. The Wednesday a.m. and p.m. animal is the elephant - one with tusks and one without. There are specific qualities and characteristics associated with being born on a certain day of the week, much like the Western zodiac signs. In the pagodas and other religious temples here in Myanmar, you will find an area with the animals I described. Each place has a slightly different aesthetic and setup, but it's always in the same circular shape and in the same order. You can go to your day of the week and pour water on the statue in order to pay a sort of homage to your day of the week. We learned previously that you pour one cup of water for each year that you have been alive. I've also heard that you pour another one for the coming year. At this stop, I did the extra pour, just to be safe. It was a very hot and humid day, but as we were pouring water on our respective Buddha statues, Paul and I both experienced this strange cooling sensation. It was interesting, to say the least.
The eight days and their animal statues.
I was born on a Friday, which is the day of the Guinea Pig.
Paying my respects to Friday.
#pauling on Thursday
And now, the highlight and my FAVORITE part of this stop: The Reclining Buddha. There was a small stairwell that you could climb and take a picture of the entire statue. There wasn't a bad angle in the whole shed, but this was definitely the best view!
The Reclining Buddha.
According to an English translation nearby, the feet have 108 inscriptions that represent the three worlds: Okasaloka (the inanimate world), Sattaloka (the animate world), and Sankharaloka (the world of the conditioned). According to an inscription near the statue, "The essence here is that the Buddha is greater than all three worlds."
View from the floor, near the head. Everything was so ornate.
Pictures don't really do this place justice. It was such an incredible stop. Like I mentioned before, it was quite hot and humid yesterday, so Paul and I stopped at a little cafe on the way across the street to the other pagoda. Cafe 20 was very hip and modern inside, and they have a very tasty milkshake! Apparently they have an upstairs rooftop as well, which I am sure has a stunning view (especially at night).
Short break from the heat.
We crossed the street and made our way to the entrance of the Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda. It had an electronic welcome sign that informed us that the pagoda was built in 1901. That's relatively recent in this part of the world!
The entrance to Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda.
The pathway up to the Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda.
The guardians from the Heavens, sent to protect the Buddha.
The Sitting Buddha. Absolutely stunning! A note about the hands: One hand faces down, to
connect with the Earth. The other palm faces up, to receive light and energy. This is a
similar practice I have seen in yoga classes over the years. The jewel in the middle of the
forehead is a giant diamond, donated in efforts and traditions of karma.
I tried to get a cool shot sitting in front of the Buddha, but this was
the best I could do.
There were many other ornate works of art and inscriptions around this pagoda as well. A local Myanmar man told me about some of the statues, so the captions are according to what he said because all of the inscriptions were again in Burmese:
Myanmar Santa Claus
Myanmar Harry Potter! (I think I may have misheard him, but the idea makes me really excited.)
The Teaching of the Buddhas (seen in the previous pagoda as well).
Buddha with a long line of followers dressed in red robes. The large bell is held by Naga Snake, believed
to protect Buddhism.
The bell.
Another example of the small prayer rooms scattered around the temple.
Outside the pagoda, Paul and I toured the grounds a bit. There was a monastery that houses many monks from all over Myanmar, as well as other structures where children and female monks study. You can definitely see the British colonial influence in the architecture on these grounds:
The monastery.
Views of the grounds.
This building was the newest on the property. The original building
was destroyed in a monsoon in 2008, but has since been rebuilt in the same style.
A bit of a bamboo forest outside one of the meditation areas.
For the females who study here - apparently a scene of a movie was shot here, but I
didn't quite catch the movie title.
After Paul and I explored the grounds a bit, we went back inside to walk around the Sitting Buddha statue. In this pagoda, the statues for the days of the week are placed around the Sitting Buddha. We stopped again to pay homage to our day of the week, but we did it in a slightly different way this time. We noticed that other local Myanmar people were only pouring a few cups of water before bowing and pausing to pray. I asked one local man why they were doing it this way, and he explained that there is a sort of "short cut" that only requires five pours: One for Buddha, one for his Teacher, one for his followers (the monks), one for your family, and one for your Teacher. I was told that the location of the pour does not matter, but this is how you pay respects in a slightly different way. Paul and I went this route in this particular pagoda, and our arms were much less sore from the pouring (but it was equally authentic and meaningful):
The location of my Friday Guinea PIg statue.
#pauling
After paying homage to our respective days of the week, we walked around the rest of the statue. We glimpsed more views of the surround area, and it was quite beautiful.
Views of the surrounding areas and rooftops - look at all the green!
(And the storm cloud rolling in. After all, it is the wet season, so it rains every single day here.)
There are no glass window coverings in this pagoda, but there are very ornate designs (possibly made of iron?). I like how they look against the views on the outside.
Back inside, we took one last look at the Sitting Buddha. It was quite a stunning day of culture. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, some of the monks came in to sing part of their worship in front of the statue.
One last glance!
Singing monks.
I am still absolutely in love with my new city, and I cannot wait to explore more! There are countless pagodas, along with many other cultural experiences. In the meantime, I'm going to continue loving my job and where I live, and I will start my new adventure as an assistant coach for the high school girl's volleyball teams!
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