Raining Gems in Bagan

The following is a letter written from our local contact person in Bagan.

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Dear friends of Burma,

A team of our local volunteers have recently worked on the data collection of the list of the monasteries and nunneries in the Bagan region which are facing the shortage of alms-food. We previously informed you through our emails and letters including the case studies that the tourism decline in Bagan has been mainly impacting the monastics there.

There is a popular saying in Myanmar, “ပုဂံပြည် ‌ရွှေမိုး၊ ငွေမိုးရွာ”. It has a deep meaning and different interpretations from Theravadin Buddhism. This basically comes from the oral stories which Myanmar people say from generations to generations. It literally means “Gold rain and silver rain in Bagan Kingdom” (in other words, “Gems rain in Bagan”). From a perspective which many people commonly accept, view and traditionally say, there’s no denying that Buddhism shined brightly in Bagan Kingdom. A lot of Myanmar people usually say it when the country is under the dark days, to inspire each other or in the sense of nostalgia.

Right now, Myanmar people are saying it again in nostalgically that the situations are terrible in the country. As the country’s people are in many crises, Buddhism is also under crisis as well. The people these days are more and more in economic crisis and hence, they are hard to support the monastics, too. As for the people in other regions, it is unsafe to travel and come to Bagan to donate to the monks there.

For these reasons, we seriously call for the international donors’ help for our monastics who are our spiritual guides for the Noble Path. Any funds you give will be allocated honestly and directly to those monks and nuns who are not receiving proper alms. We all thank you for reading our request.