The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-06-17
BAPTIST WILL
 TALK ON BURMESE. RELIGIOUS RITES
Mats Form Important Part of Belief In That
 Far Country.

Spiritism. that place Of it which l deals with animistic beliefs and prac tices in India, is to occupy a certain share of attention at the thirteenth annual session of the Northern Bap- tist convention in Buffalo. N. r., on
 June 2329. The spooks, however, are not of the ordinary seance or even
 the ou1ja board variety, for they are
 woven into a mural design which DOT
 trays some of the religious beliefs of
 the people of Burma.
 The Burmese don't refer to the
 spooks as spirits" To them the
 legions of disembodied ones are
 known as S@nats," and the high orders
 Of .'nats'' include a membership of
 3f. There are degrees and degrees in
 the nat world, and the powers ac-
 credited by the Burman to the var ious mats cover a wide range. For instance, the mats have four worlds each with a king nat, and Thagya Min Nat is listed as the king of 'em all.
 So powerful is the influence of the mats on the minds of the Burmese that at the extremity of each village is a "nat-sin' or shrine to propitiate the evilly-inclined mats and to court the favor of the benevolent, mats
 Ta1ismen of various sorts are hung at the doors, on the bullock carts of those who travel on land, and on the boats of the river men, all for the same end.
 That the government recognizes the depth of feeling on the part of l the Burmans on the subject of spooks | is indicated by the fact that the oath l taken in law courts and on legal occasions, according to Sir R. C. 1 Temple, F. R. G. S., makes specific reference to the mats. The person I taking such oath calls down upon ] himself all sorts of dire happenings 1 at the hands of the mats if he devil l ates from the truth And all this is 1 declared by persons who have spent 1 much time and study in Burma to be 1 one of the best proofs that the Bur | man, though officially credited with l being Buddhist in religion, has really l corrupted and interwoven into Budd- hism his Burman aninistic be,1ers.
 | The scenes which are to be shown
 at Buffalo are being painted by Mark
 Hamilton Hayne, and represent the
 great Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Ran |i goon, one of the big native religious centers. The main shrine of Shwe Dagon, according to legend, is built over four hairs of Buddha, and its
 gold dome rises 365 feet to a peak
 which is incrusted with precious JeH0lS InS the
 ancient Egyptian pyramids, has nc known entrance to the interior. The huge outer gates are guarded b5 l | e1aborately carved griffons, which arr decorated with gold, and the Ions entranceway 10 the area from whicf the shrine itself rises, consists O. marble stairways, which, most of tn, time are lined with beggars and witt bazaars for the sale of goods in tended as offerings
 s1 This feature of the exhibit is o especial interest to Northern Bap E l tists, as Burma was first occupied a missionary field by Adoniram Jud | son, a Baptist missionary, in 1S1 T and Baptists have continued tn s work. Marked expansion is p1anne s in Burma, in the way of industria S and elementary schools, colleges, an hospitals, the extent of this wor l being dependent upon raising tn s balance of the s1oo,ooo,o 900 Ne7 World Movement fund