Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Buddhist Tenets
Buddha taught that the world is primarily characterised by dukkha (suffering), anicca
(impermanence) and anatta (insubstantiality), and that even our happiest moments in life
are only temporary, empty and unsatisfactory.
The ultrapragmatic Buddhist perception of cause and effect - kamma in Pali, karma in
Sanskrit, kan in Burmese - holds that birth inevitably leads to sickness, old age and
death, hence every life is insecure and subject to dukkha . Through rebirth, the cycle of
thanthaya ( samsara in Pali) repeats itself endlessly as long as ignorance and craving re-
main.
Only by reaching a state of complete wisdom and nondesire can one attain true happi-
ness. To achieve wisdom and eliminate craving, one must turn inward and master one's
own mind through meditation, most commonly known in Myanmar as bhavana or
kammahtan .
Devout Buddhists in Myanmar adhere to five lay precepts, or moral rules ( thila in
Burmese, sila in Pali), which require abstinence from killing, stealing, unchastity (usu-
ally interpreted among laypeople as adultery), lying and intoxicating substances.
In spite of Buddhism's profound truths, the most common Myanmar approach is to try
for a better future life by feeding monks, donating to temples and performing regular
worship at the local paya (Buddhist monument) - these activities are commonly known
as 'merit making'. For the average person everything revolves around the merit ( kutho,
from the Pali kusala, meaning 'wholesome') one is able to accumulate through such
deeds.
THE ROHINGYA
Even in a nation synonymous with ethnic strife, the Rohingya stand out as perhaps
Myanmar's most besieged and beleaguered group. They are, in United Nations'
parlance, among the 'most persecuted minorities in the world'. However, to Myan-
mar's lawmakers, the general public and even the prodemocracy avant-garde, the
Rohingya don't even exist.
Myanmar's officialdom are loathe to use the term 'Rohingya'. Instead, this con-
tingent of 800,000 destitute Muslims are considered invaders from neighboring
Bangladesh, who also reject them. Myanmar officials routinely describe them as
pests, though they constitute as much as 20 percent of the population of coastal
Rakhine State.
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