Praying to U Shin Gyi

Ghost 1: "I prayed to you everyday, so when I drowned, why didn't you save me?!"

Ghost 2: "I was demoted, and became a lesser god. So I can’t help you anymore."

U Shin Gyi is a figure from Burmese mythology, a nat who is venerated particularly in the Ayeyarwady delta region as a guardian spirit of waterways. In life, he was known as a musician from Kasin village in Bago, who played the Burmese harp. His story is marked by an expedition to Meinmahla Island where his harp-playing captured the attention of two female nat sisters. The sisters would not allow his boat to depart until they were appeased. U Shin Gyi sacrificed his life by drowning to propitiate the spirits and, as a result, became a nat himself. Every March, a nat festival is held in his honor.

In the cartoon shared, JMP seems to use U Shin Gyi's story to comment on misplaced faith and the impermanence of spiritual or supernatural protection. The first ghost laments praying to U Shin Gyi daily, yet not being saved from drowning. The second ghost, representing U Shin Gyi with a harp, responds that he has become a lesser god and cannot offer help. This depiction of U Shin Gyi highlights a dichotomy between the reliance on external beings for protection and the Buddhist teachings, which emphasize the importance of one's own good deeds and purified mind.

JMP’s work subtly critiques the Burmese tendency to rely on nat spirits for intervention, reflecting a deviation from the Buddhist path where personal merit and mindfulness are paramount. The portrayal of U Shin Gyi, once a revered guardian now unable to offer aid due to his diminished status, serves as a metaphor for the futility of depending on such beings for salvation. The cartoon suggests that despite cultural beliefs in these spirits, their ability to protect or intervene is not guaranteed, and that perhaps this reliance is misplaced when these beings themselves are subject to change and loss of power.

This piece resonates with the Buddhist teaching on impermanence, suggesting that true protection and safety cannot be found through supernatural means but must be cultivated within oneself through ethical living and mental purification as taught by the Buddha. It's a poignant reminder of the potential fragility and impermanence of relying on the supernatural, calling into question the spiritual security that such practices are supposed to provide, rather than the harder work of purifying one's own heart.