The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-03-21


They have spotted the whole country with
nagodas: they are to be found in every
town aud Village and on almost every
iii. There are menasteries everywhere
ana the country has more religious mon
oments, perhaps, than any other OF its
Size In the world. A census taken some
years ago showed that there are more
than LOCO monasteries. and that Burma
had on the average one for every %
houses. At that time there were so.0M
men in the monasteries. or-more than ?
per cent OF the whole population.
The Monks of Burma
1t must be remembered however. that
the personnel OF. the monastery is con-
stantlv changing Men come In and go
cut Boys put on the yellow robes of
The priesthood and lay It aside in order
10 marry. According TO the faith as
taught here, every Buddhist man or boy
must be a monk before his soul can be
bern Until then he is beast, and. If
ne dies Is sure TO be reborn In some
filthy body in his next transmfgration
When boy enters a monastery he lays
aside his good clothes and puts on
single sheet of rough yellow cotton. Hts
head Is now shaved. and he goes forth
to beg. No matter what his circumstances
nay have been, while he is in the mon
astery he must live upon the gifts of the
POt PFC anu ilt SptS lOTtn daily with HIS
begging bowl and takes what is offered.
He does this. no matter how high he
rises nor how long he stays
The usual time for entering the monas-
terry is at the approach of manhood. The
Youth are admitted on probation. and
they first act as servants or chelahs for
the monks. having about the same place
as Kim had with the old abbot in Rud-
yard kipling's delightful novel of Indian
life. Once. admitted. the boys are sup
posed to devote themselves to holy llv-
ing, thinking and doing. They are
taught the principles of Buddhist faith
and are urged to spend their lives going
about doing good. Some of them take
the priesthood as a profession and others
stay hut a short time. for they can come
and go at will,
Life In the Mountains
I have visited some of the monasteries
during my stay in Burma. The life in
them is by no means exciting The
monks are awakened at daybreak by
wooden bell, and are supposed to be at
their prayers as early as $50 in the
morning. As soon as he rises. every
monk washes his hands and face and
rinses his mouth He then smoothes out
the robe in which he has slept overnight
and goes into prayers. After that he
takes up his duties about the monastic
tSldbiiSnI1eHts lie MAY sweep lliS HOOIs
of the temple or water the garden or
do odd jobs OF various kinds. The work
of the Institution is divided and each
man has his own job.
After a short while the monks all meet
together and start out to beg. Headed
by the chief priest, they walk in COM
pany through the main streets of the
town with their begging bowls in their
hands. Fhey do not ask aims nor call
at the houses. but merely walk along
single file In the middle of each street,
having their eyes fixed on the ground
Each priest holds his begging bowl In
front of him. and the people come and
pour In their offerings. The priests do
not give thanks, believing that they con-
fer favor in allowing the people to
give. The begging procession lasts for
an hour or so. When 1t is completed
the monks go back to the monastery
where they lay part of their gifts be-
fore the statues of Buddha and spread
the rest out for breakfast. I hear 1t
whispered however, that most of the
monasteries have a hot breakfast as
we'll The monks eat another meal about
noon and a dinner toward evening. Those
I have seen look fat and healthy and
none appears any the worse for the
fasting and wear of his religious pro-
fession.