ENERGY BOX
When Utilitarian Becomes an Art Form - 2009 but timeless
(click an image to enlarge)
A small figure in a maroon robe and a shaved head walks down the village street in morning sunlight. The boy carries his cereal-sized shiny black bowl close to him. Approaching a woman in front of her doorway, he averts his eyes but puts out his bowl toward her, closer to her. He doesn’t appear to personally know her, but he seems confident she will give him something.
She scrapes a plate of food items - mostly rice - into the bowl, and murmurs a few words. He still doesn’t meet her eyes but does smile, almost a childish giggle, and goes off down the street. He must collect more food and hurry back to the monastery before noon - no eating after the noon hour.
The boy’s begging bowl is not lavish like the two on display. These are antique and for us, beauteous works of art. They come apart, then nest back together - made of wood, then lacquered and decorated with incising or painted designs. These large begging bowls were used for ceremonial purposes but we aren’t sure exactly how. I have been to Burma, visited many pagodas but have not been inside a monastery - that would be a personal place.
Begging in Burma is a reciprocal agreement - the monk (or monk-in-training) receives food or in some cases money, and he bestows a blessing to the giver. These two ceremonial bowls are old but in fine condition; was food ever put inside? Do they still carry blessings. I look deeper, and I look again.
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Visit http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/burma_vj for the Sundance Film Festival 2009 award winning film "Burma VJ"
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Human rights advocacy group, Democratic Voice of Burma, DVB, at http://english.dvb.no/ say "Family of Aung San's Assassin Threatens Biographer (author and political prisoner, Than Win Hlaing) With Legal Action" - article.
Video interview with Aung San. 
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Something About Burma, no One Talks About...from May, 2008
The disaster drags on in Burma - one day moves into the next. One death after another, now from exposure, disease and malnutrition. On this side of the world, we see image after image of misery from Asia. But there is something no one is talking about.
Burma is a very religious country; Burma's entire culture is built around Buddhism. This is its raison d'etre - a primary reason for going there, seeing the country and meeting the people. Its beauty is intrinsically tied to its primary religion.
From the riots and protests of civil unrest last August and September in Burma, we learned something about "superstition" in Burma. When I was there 20 years ago, I didn't particularly notice these superstitions. The people were fearful of their government, as they are now, but when they showed you their country, their eyes would light up and glow like the gold layers on the Shwedagon pagoda - grandest of all pagodas. It was religion…and faith. You buy a very thin fragile layer of gold leaf for a small amount of money and you put it on a statue (or a pagoda). And you make a prayer, and because the gold is real, your prayer becomes real. It's a common religious concept worldwide. Not really a superstition, but more a way of actualizing your belief.
The junta generals claim they are very superstitious; they have been able to turn one superstition into an advantage for them and a financial crisis for the country. They took a certain numbered currency bill (like a 5 dollar bill) out of circulation and hoarded it, while saying it had an unlucky number printed on it. A convenient superstition.
Last fall during the political unrest, the Buddhist monks revolted - unheard of and out of character for them. They became "refusniks," like dissidents of another generation. They were angry about how their country was being ruled so they refused to pray for the health and prosperity of their government, something that is the traditional work of the religious community.
Other than being the backbone of the country, one of the monks' primary duties - their job - is to shower blessings on their government, no matter who is in charge. During the political revolt, the government wasn't getting it - they were not respecting the wishes of the population, so the junta and its generals were not getting their blessings. The priests turned their bowels upside down.
Buddhists monks of Burma are mendicants - they take a vow of poverty, and they walk around their village or their city, asking for food. Their bowls are facing up, expectant of a gift of respect and love from their followers - food, the gift of life. And in return, the giver receive a blessing. It's only fair.
When the notoriety of those political revolts lost their media screech, when people calmed down to some degree, the press stopped telling us if the monks started again accepting their gifts of rice, and if they started to pray again for their government leaders. We just don't know.
Now with the ravages of the cyclone, what has happened to the priests and nuns? Most of them are young people who do a short duration service to their community by praying for everyone. Similar to joining the Peace Corps or Habitat for Humanity, they put in an amount of time giving back to their community.
Now no bowls are turned upward…or perhaps all bowls are up. Everyone is hungry and prayers go unanswered. We know the junta generals are looking out for themselves - so they have enough to eat, but surely the prayers must have stopped coming. These prayers are part of Burma's infrastructure; it is their custom, an essential experience for all Burmese. But Burma's infrastructure has been destroyed. Are the priests starving? No one is giving anybody anything. There is nothing to give.
This is a very interesting consideration. When philanthropy is essential to the makeup of an entire country, what happens when it disappears? Is it shallow to say these desperate times are "interesting?" Perhaps…so let's look deeper. The Burmese people are worth it.
Note the photo: They are waiting at the side of the road...see: "Survivors Wait for Food." The New York Times, May 26, 2008.
