Episode #25, Voices: Burmese Theravada in a Catholic Land, Part 1
Reference the Philippines, and for non-Filipinos, it might spur typical connotations like jeepneys, adobo, halo halo, pristine beaches, or a love of basketball. Or perhaps for those more historically inclined, the weight of the Spanish, American or Japanese occupations, MacArthur promising “I shall return,” the Marcos regime, or more recently, the controversial Duterte. One thing that may well not come readily to mind is vipassana meditation, or Buddhist practice of any kind, for that matter. Interestingly, aside from an influx of Chinese Buddhist immigrants with a Mahayana background, this heavily Catholic island nation seems to be the only region in all of Southeast Asia that has had hardly any touches with the Dhamma over the course of the last two thousand five hundred plus years.
So why would a podcast based on Buddhist practice, with a specific focus on Myanmar, dedicate a series of episodes to the Philippines vis-a-vis the Golden Land? The answer: although it has had scant historical relationship with Buddhism and Buddhist monasticism, this reality is slowly changing, and many Filipinos are becoming more open and receptive to the teachings of the Buddha. It is this story which this series will begin to tell.
We first hear from Tony Fernando. The brother of a business associate based in Yangon, Tony yearned to be a monk and dedicate himself to the practice of loving kindness meditation, ultimately fulfilling his dream by ordaining several times at Chan Myay Myaing Monastery. In his professional life, in addition to being a cellist, he is also a psychiatrist at the University of Auckland, and is today one of the leading sleep researchers in the world. He’s now completing his PhD by bringing his two worlds together, seeking to introduce compassion into the field of sleep study; he has also begun a mindfulness training program at the Mount Eden Correctional Facility.
The second guest is Imee Contreras, who has dedicated herself to bringing Dhamma to her native country in fundamental ways. She is founder of Mindfulness Asia, the co-founder of the Philippine Insight Meditation Community, has brought mindfulness programs to incarcerated women and sexually abused women and children. Additionally, she has also taught in the US at Spirit Rock and UCLA.
These two guests relate powerful stories that inform the contemporary spread of Dhamma into new areas of our world. Our speakers are a living testament to the fact that, while the Buddha’s teachings may have had little impact on this island nation up to now, that is certainly no longer the case.