Paying Respects and Making Offerings

Monk: "The worldly objects of wealth and sense pleasures are something that one should have revulsion for."

Lay supporter: "Thats right, sir."

The latest cartoon from the Burmese artist JMP.

The monk is seen dispensing Buddhist wisdom of the kind heard quite often in Burma, and quite commonly by a Buddhist monastic anywhere in the world. The Buddha's teachings, after all, are primarily about guarding the sense doors and not getting lost in greed and aversion. Taken without context, therefore, this is solid wisdom leading towards liberation, pure and simple.

The brilliance of JMP's work lies in their ability to combine details from the mundane reality with an often biting commentary of the hypocrisy underlying it. To grasp these deeper messages, one must look quite carefully at everything depicted in the cartoon, and analyze it with an understanding of Burmese culture, along with recent events.

In this case, we notice four indicators that the monk in question is not lacking for funds: an air conditioner is behind him, a huge offering is before him, a private room (complete with and computer and bed) is seen in the background, and the monk himself is not slim. In contrast, the woman is thin as a rail and wearing tattered clothing, all the while a beatific expression is upon her face. It is no accident that JMP depicted the lay supporter as a female, as the devotion and dedication of Burmese women is well known to all, and sadly ironic given the meager support shown to nuns. One can also surmise the woman making this donation has none of the comforts the monk enjoys.

Therefore, the presentation shown here portrays a kind of hypocrisy between the devout, good-hearted yet poor woman who is offering a bounty to a rich, well-off monk spouting off religious platitudes. While this basic message might be understood across many religions and cultures as it hints at a universal condition, it is especially relevant in Myanmar.

While there are certainly many thousands of pure-hearted monks and nuns across the country who live according to the ideals they espouse, there are also those who may wear the robes, but continue to chase some degree of wealth, prominence, status, and influence. While this has been known for ages, it has long been considered unseemly for lay practitioners to publicly point to the foibles of monastics. But this revolutionary period has been changing not only the culture, but also the religion, in ways that are still shifting.

So in this particular instance, we see a Burmese artist calling attention to a pressing social and religious issue in a way that has been very rare in past decades. One can only imagine the fury being directed at them from the more conservative and religious sectors of society, which would see this as shamelessly airing dirty laundry, or even stirring controversy.

But if the heart of the Buddha's teachings points at the need for truth in all forms, even when it is uncomfortable, perhaps these kind of commentaries can open a conversation on sensitive areas of the practice which have been swept under the rug for too long.