Kathina under a Military Dictatorship
Our local team leader shares the following submission:
October and November mark three main Buddhist festivals in Myanmar. The first festival is the Lighting Festival, which bears cultural similarities to Thanksgiving as it is celebrated in America. For us who are Burmese Buddhists, this holiday involves paying respects to elders, parents, teachers, benefactors—such as employers—and gathering family members.
According to our Buddhist tradition, the Lord Buddha descended from the Tavatimsa Realm, the second celestial heaven, to the human world after offering the Abhidhamma course to his mother, who was reborn as a celestial being (Deva) in the third celestial realm, along with thousands of other celestial beings and Brahmic beings (Brahmas) from ten thousand universes. When Buddha descended in unparalleled and magnificent glory, surrounded by thousands of Devas and Brahmas on the evening of a Thadingyut Full Moon Day (October's full moon), people welcomed him with thousands of lights. In honor and memory of this special event in the Buddha's lifetime, people have traditionally celebrated the Lighting Festival by paying respects to their parents in a similar manner as the Lord Buddha did. They also offer snacks or clothes as tokens of gratitude to grandparents, elder relatives, teachers, and employers who have played an important role in their lives. In modern times, people celebrate by lighting candles and LED lights, setting off firecrackers, and sending up hot air balloons into the sky, among other festivities.
Another significant event on October's full moon day involves a longstanding monastic tradition that began during the Buddha's lifetime. On this full moon day, the monks gather at the end of Vassa, the Buddhist Lent—a three-month-long rain retreat—and invite each other to forgive any mistakes they may have made. This event is called "Pavāranā (invitation)," and laypeople offer gifts to honor the monks as they emerge from the ordination hall after performing this act of mutual forgiveness. In some townships in Myanmar, monks from different parts of the town, regardless of their monasteries or sects, gather in a large ordination hall at one monastery to perform this Pavāranā Karma. Lay devotees from various parts of the town join in, decorating tree-like wooden frames with offering items, placing them on trucks, and driving around the town before ultimately delivering them to the monastery where the monks have gathered. These floats are often accompanied by Thangyat clubs that perform traditional folk verse as they make their way around the town. After the monks complete the Pavāranā Karma and exit the ordination hall, people prepare lucky draws and distribute the items won by each monk. In more recent times, people have also begun offering modern appliances like electric fans, air coolers, and water coolers.
In November, another special monastic event takes place on its full moon day—the Tasaungtaing Festival and the Kathina ceremony. The full moon day of November marks the deadline for the event known as "Kathina," which begins on the full moon day of October and lasts one month. The term "Kathina" is a Pali word that means firmness, stability, and durability in the present context, as it signifies the privileges given to monks that are firm and stable for an extended time. However, it also has other meanings. According to Wisdom Library, it refers to "a wooden frame used by Bhikkhus (monks) in sewing their robes," a definition that is also found in Sutta Central. This type of embroidery frame is still used in India and many Asian countries. Another common definition across different sources refers to "the cotton cloth which was annually supplied by the laity to the bhikkhus for the purpose of making robes." Thus, the meanings of firmness and a physical frame are interconnected in this context.
The Kathina ceremony involves a lay sponsor donating a cloth or robe to a specific monastery, solely based on the sponsor's intention to offer it to the Sangha (the community of monks residing in that monastery), without any request or suggestion from a monk. In an ordination hall (Sima), the Sangha—comprising at least five monks—selects and bestows the cloth or robe to a specific monk in need, making it his individual property. The recipient, along with the other monks, works to convert the cloth into the Kathina robe, "spreading the robe" to rejoice in their collective effort. Ultimately, all members of the Sangha present in the Sima rejoice together.
In 2024, the Pavāranā festival took place on October 17th, and the Kathina season began on the same day, running until November 15th. However, this year, we have seen fewer sponsors and monks unable to gather on a large scale due to various ongoing issues in the country—primarily economic crises, political instability, and safety concerns. Laypeople and monastics alike are fearful of being forcibly conscripted by the junta following a recent report by Khit Thit Media on September 25th. The report stated that some monks in Yenanchaung Township, Magway Region, were forcibly disrobed and conscripted by the junta's forces and pro-junta militias called Pyusawhtees! The monks were asked to show their monastic identification cards, which are only issued to those who have completed three or four Vassa retreats. Those who could not provide their IDs were disrobed and taken away for conscription. Although the State's Ministry of Religious Affairs has announced that they can issue monastic IDs to 18-year-old novices and new monks through recommendations from respective village and township Sangha Nāyaka Councils, the announcement does not specify the number of Vassa retreats required for monks to obtain these IDs.
The difficulty of organizing such events has been compounded by the challenges of living under a military regime, with the current situation in Myanmar making it increasingly hard for people to come forward and offer support. Last year, we organized a Sky-drop Kathina event for 18 monasteries in the Yetagun Mountains, east of Mandalay, where forest-dwelling monks reside. In peaceful times before the coup, many monasteries received Kathina robe invitations within one or two weeks after the Thadingyut Full Moon Day (i.e., before early November). This year, however, we have noticed that 10-20 monasteries in Sagaing have not received invitations from lay sponsors. We hope to promote this campaign among international donors from October 23rd (the 6th waning day of Thadingyut) until November 8th (the 8th waxing day of Tasaungmone). Our goal is to collect donations by the second week of November (by November 12th) so that we can organize the Sky-drop Kathina event on the Full Moon Day of November (November 15th) and provide support to all monasteries that have not received a Kathina invitation.
With the experience of arranging last year's Congregational Sky-drop Kathina Donation Event, we intend to offer each monastery a single robe (one from the full set of three monastic robes) along with other requisites such as blankets, monastic sweaters, hats, towels, and traditional Myanmar medicine. Additionally, we plan to provide each monastery with some Nava Karma of 100,000 kyats (approximately $25), which will be handled by lay attendants on behalf of the monks, as the monks themselves do not touch money. And to foster a deeper connection between donors and recipients, we will arrange lucky draws featuring the sponsors' names, and we will ask each monastery to draw one so that the sponsor can feel a personal connection to the beneficiary monastery.
The estimated budget for providing each monk is 344,000 kyats ($80), which includes:
1. Japan Martin (100% cotton) robe - 120,000 kyats
2. Double-layered blanket - 25,000 kyats
3. Large towel (saffron/orange) - 9,000 kyats
4. French carpet (single) - 20,000 kyats
5. Monastic wrap - 15,000 kyats
6. Monastic sweater - 15,000 kyats
7. Monastic hat - 10,000 kyats
8. Traditional medicine (e.g., for cough) - 30,000 kyats
9. Nava Karma for any purpose - 100,000 kyats
Total cost per monastery: 344,000 kyats ($80)
To all of our supporters who practice meditation and walk on the path of Dhamma, we kindly ask you to consider supporting this campaign. By contributing to the Kathina ceremony, you will not only be supporting the needs of the monastic community but also engaging in one of the most meritorious acts in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha himself praised the offering of Kathina robes as one of the highest forms of generosity, bringing great blessings and benefit to all those involved. We hope you will join us in this noble effort, allowing your practice of compassion and generosity to flourish.
