Episode 12: COVID-19 in Myanmar: Monastic Edition
How is the coronavirus pandemic impacting monastics in Myanmar? This is precisely the question we set out to answer in the current episode of Insight Myanmar Podcast. The show that follows is a very special “Monastic Edition” of our COVID-19 in Myanmar series.
There is something special about the words of committed bhikkhus. Leaving behind the fetters of lay society in order to devote themselves to the contemplative life, monastics are often able to present a novel or fresh outlook on the “daily grind” that may be invisible to us lay folk, when we can’t see the forest for the trees. Mired as many of us are in our lay entanglements—the need to care for family members, look after our homes, and secure an income—the freedom that monastics have from these day-to-day necessities permits them a broader perspective through which to understand the present situation.
There is no question that the average householder’s life has been highly disrupted. Many of us are forced to work from home (if we still have a job), schools are closed, and we have to be extra careful just to go to the supermarket, let alone take a short vacation; and after all this insanity is over, who knows what a “new normal” will look like? Amid all this upheaval in the lay world, meditators may be curious to know if a similar degree of havoc is being wrought on the monastic’s life.
This is an interesting question, because most monks already adhere pretty carefully to a kind of “shelter-at-home” regime as a part of their normal monastic discipline, and have far less need to travel; barber shop, movie theater and restaurant closures have no impact on their lives. But although daily monastic discipline and the meditative practice of observing the Mind vary little now compared with before the time of coronavirus, in some ways things have changed. A range of discomforts, anxieties, and inconveniences now affect monastics’ lives today in ways that were not present before.
Different as the five bhikkhus we interview are in their background and monastic obligations, some commonalities run through their talks. Like many lay people, they were caught unawares when the pandemic exploded, and had to make sudden and profound decisions on where they would choose to be locked down for what might be many months to come. While all wanted to be in Myanmar, that was far from easy to manage—one was in America at the time, another did not have the appropriate visa, a third was scheduled to lead a meditation retreat abroad, and a fourth could not find any monastery that would accept him as a foreigner. Fortunately, in the end, four of the five were able to remain in the Golden Land.
Being monastics committed to leading a life dedicated to understanding impermanence, several approached this crisis by relying on the depth of their learned Dhamma wisdom, particularly the insight that instability is everywhere. While there is nothing new about this Truth, its relevance is now apparent to many more of us. However, this uncertainty doesn’t mean our lives need be full of anxiety; all five of these monastics are making use of their time to purse their own meditation practice with greater diligence, and they encourage others to do the same.
The first monastic we hear from is the Canadian U Viveka, who ordained in the Shwe Oo Min tradition under Sayadaw U Tejaniya. He describes being happily locked down at Dhamma Vibhajja, and following his teacher’s guidance, is continuing meditation practice as normal. U Viveka had planned to go abroad to conduct a meditation retreat, where he would also get to see his parents, but ultimately chose not to when he realized how serious the pandemic was. He describes binging on news in the early days of the crisis, which caused a growing terror to lurk within. Once he began to observe the nature of this anxiety, he realized that at its core was a fear of death. Reflecting further, he realized that death is a certainty which no one can avoid, and because this great terror was an inevitability, it would either come now or later. This insight had a profound effect on U Viveka, as his fear of death lessened with this greater insight and understanding.
Next is the Czech monk, Ashin Sarana, who was invited to teach meditation in California and Florida at the time the coronavirus hit. Many of his Burmese students on these courses were medical doctors, some of whom had a peripheral role in the response to COVID-19, so naturally, strict health protocols were put into place on these courses, even before they were widespread elsewhere. U Sarana then had quite the adventure returning to his home monastery back in Yangon, as he arrived when the country was already locked down and did not permit foreigners to enter. After much convoluted difficulty—which he relates with great humor—he was eventually allowed to stay, but only after being required to spend two weeks at a monastery serving as a quarantine center. U Sarana found that he very much appreciated the opportunity to live his own life, as it were—without all the usual responsibilities, choosing when and what to do, making good use of the enforced isolation—that he voluntarily added on an additional two-week quarantine before returning to his normal teaching duties. He now oversees several foreign practitioners who are staying at his monastery and using the pandemic as a time to go deeper into meditation.
Then we check in with Pabhassaro Bhikkhu, a Polish monk who left Mahasi monastery in Yangon as the pandemic struck, and was accepted at a rural monastery north of the city where he could hunker down, and which he was pleased to discover offered the perfect conditions for practice. But just as he was about to enter into an extended self-retreat there, he learned he did not have the proper visa and would not be permitted to apply for a new one, as many government functions had shut down. So he had to leave that idyllic monastic site and go instead to Thailand. Although he was disappointed at needing to leave the monastery, Pabhassaro Bhikkhu uses this story as a jumping off point to describe the inherent instability and unreliability of life, a core Buddhist tenant. Where he initially believed his practice would be spent in formal sitting and walking meditation, he now opened to the reality of the moment and saw that his actual practice was in dealing with these unexpected, unwanted happenstances while keeping the balance of his mind. Similarly, he encourages lay meditators going through their own instability as a result of the pandemic to use it as an opportunity to deepen their practice and understand of the truth of impermanence.
Fourth is Ashin Dhammasadho, a German monk who was taking his final exams at the International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University (ITBMU) when the pandemic hit. He wrote an extended essay describing his ensuing plight, which became one of the most-read pieces on our blog, and since has been translated into Burmese and published in Myanmar Now! Because U Dhammosadha was entering into a period of self-retreat, he did not have time for a full interview, but graciously read aloud from this essay before shutting off his phone entirely and settling into meditation. In his essay, he describes how he was far more afraid of the unsanitary conditions of Burmese hospitals than the virus itself, and greatly feared the damage it would inflict on the Golden Land if it began to spread in earnest. U Dhammosadha later moved from ITBMU to Mahasi Monastery, and as that too began to shut down and expel foreigners, he was unable to find another place that would accept him until an elderly Sayadaw from Hmawbi agreed to host him, and he still resides there today.
Finally we wrap up our program with Bhante Mokkhita, a German monk who runs the Muditā Foundation. This is a charitable organization that supports two monastic schools with attached clinics and eco-farms in the Sagaing Hills and Inle Lake, largely serving orphans and ethnic minorities such as Karen and Kachin. He describes how many here live a hand-to-mouth existence, and how the lack of work opportunities caused by the lockdown has resulted in dire consequences for many; this led to his organization conducting a fundraiser to feed about 100 local families. At the same time, Bhante Mokkhita has also seen some surprising, positive consequences from the pandemic as well: first, that it strengthened the ties between the foreign volunteers and local villagers, and second, that it opened up possibilities for distance education for their many students. Overall, he finds a profound Dhamma wisdom running through the local villagers, who see dying as a natural part of life, that either comes sooner, or later. This acceptance of death is essentially an understanding of dukkha. If you would like to hear a follow-up interview with Bhikkhu Mokkhita conducted in May 2021, in which he describes how the monastic school was illegally burned and taken over by the military following the coup, listen here.
Now a request for support: The initial funds that allowed us to set up this Insight Myanmar podcast came unexpectedly, and we did our best to stretch them as far as possible. Unfortunately, that generous startup donation could not have predicted the pressing need to meet the interest and concern many meditators have expressed about the situation at Burmese monasteries and meditation centers during this exploding health crisis. Most all podcast contributors work entirely as volunteers, and those few receiving remuneration are meditators who have offered 50% or more discount for their professional services. Nonetheless, there is still no real way to produce an episode for less than several hundred dollars. So: if you would like to these podcasts to continue, please consider making a donation!
Thank you for your support. Stay safe and be well!
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