A Beautiful Experience: Reflections from a Dutch Nun
In my podcast discussion with Venerable Vimala, the Dutch practitioner shared her experiences visiting and living in Myanmar as a foreign nun. She talks about the kindness and generosity of the Burmese people, and how the Buddhist teachings of compassion and generosity have taken root in the culture. Venerable Vimala's experiences provide a nuanced and multi-dimensional view of Myanmar, highlighting the positive aspects of the country that may not always be highlighted in media coverage. This discussion is important because it offers a different perspective on Myanmar, one that acknowledges the difficulties and challenges the country has faced but also celebrates the resilience and strength of its people.
“There is so much goodwill to help each other when you’re in need, a togetherness that you don’t find so much anymore in our Western world.”
Venerable Vimala: The one thing that really struck me was the kindness of the Burmese people. One time I went on alms round with the monks. As a nun, I was not allowed to carry a bowl, but I could walk behind the monks. They would go to a nearby village, about a five kilometers walk, all on bare feet and over the gravel. The village was very, very poor. But the people all came out and they were so happy, also to see me, a foreign nun, even though I wasn't really going on alms route. The ones that could speak a little bit English would say something. I found this such a beautiful experience. Women would pick up their children, their little babies, to guide them to give a little spoon of rice in the bowls to make merits. There was just so much joy in that whole process. People were just incredibly kind. Before I came to stay at my monastery, I took a little sightseeing tour, also to the Goenka vipassana center in Yangon, and the place of Saya Thet Gyi across the river, where I stayed overnight. The center was abandoned. But they gave us the key and we could stay there and meditate on our own. There was the lady in the village cooked for us every night while we meditated. We were complete strangers. And it was just so lovely, kind and caring. It really touched me.
Host: I think these stories are important because, especially now, as you hear about the problems Myanmar is going through as a society and politically and how much the economy has collapsed, this story gives us another image of the country. So much of what is told about Myanmar in the media is about it being a failed state or needing all kinds of support, which I think starts to give a kind of stigma to the country that it is just a place always in need. Yet when we hear the stories that you're telling, it starts to reframe the country in a more dynamic and multi-dimensional way, that it's also a Giver, a Provider, and a Teacher. It's also a place with extraordinary generosity! I think it's so important to know those stories and acknowledge them and bring them out, so that it can balance that competing narrative, that it's just a broken place that's always in need of more help. But it's also true that it's this extraordinary Giver in welcoming people to come from all backgrounds and just showering them with support and generosity as you described in some of these anecdotes.
Venerable Vimala: That's really where the Buddhist teachings have taken hold in that country, this lived experience of incredible compassion, generosity, etc. And maybe that's just not all groups. I mean, the military, they seem to be some kind of outside group that are trying to impose their power on other people. I could be completely wrong about that but that's how it felt to me. I also remember when Cyclone Nargis struck. The reports that would come out of Myanmar said that people would just go to take any car they could find and go to the affected areas to help other people, to feed them. Nobody was waiting to say that the government should do something. Everybody was just immediately in action. They're not going to wait for all kinds of official organizations. This feeds so much for the spirits in of Myanmar. There is so much goodwill to help each other when you're in need, a togetherness that you don't find so much anymore in our Western world.
Host: In many cases, the Burmese military stopped them from going to deliver this aid. The best scenario, they probably just sent them back to their homes But in other cases, they stole the goods that they were trying to deliver as aid and donations. And in the worst of all cases, they might have arrested them or made them pay a bribe. I've had it explained to by some Burmese friends that they just don't even have faith that any government will ever actually do good for them. They just want them to not stand in the way of them trying to take care of themselves. And so there really is that kind of supported community spirit.