In Myanmar, the night comes suddenly, by 18-00 it is already completely dark. Watching the sunset in Shwedagon is a pleasure. Golden pagodas in the rays of the setting sun begin to shine so brightly that it hurts the eyes. Then sunlight disappears, at first it becomes gray, but then hundreds of lanterns turn on and illuminate the structures of the ancient temple from all sides.
Then the Shwedagon is transformed into a completely mystical place.
Many believing Buddhists move to Victory Square and begin to sing prayer tunes in unison. In ancient times, on this square, warriors asked the higher forces for victory in battles. Now people come here to ask for approval from heaven before any important undertakings in life. Those who are not busy with evening prayer go to the main stupa and light candles and lamps placed around it in several rows.
Time spent in the Shwedagon is noticeably rejuvenating. Buddhists are very tolerant towards foreigners and representatives of other religious views. On the territory of the temple, you can go into any room, practice meditation together with believers, take pictures, ask questions. The Burmese are calm about everything, and in general, they are very friendly.
Well, maybe it's time to start thinking about dinner. Goodbye golden Shwedagon.
Eating in Myanmar for a tourist is not such a simple process as, for example, in Thailand, Vietnam or the Philippines. There are not many decent establishments from the point of view of a European. Mostly locals eat right on the streets. In almost all busy areas there are small tables, next to which people sit and eat something.
Fire for cooking is sometimes bred directly on the pavement, sometimes in barbecues or metal basins - it is very unusual to see this. Such a Burmese lunch costs 1-2 dollars, but of course we did not dare to make such experiments - which is good for a Burmese, but for Russian dysentery, however. As a result, we found some inspiring minimal and sufficient credibility eatery. The choice is small, the food is simple, acceptable, but somehow inexpressive. Not that tasteless, it looks like an ordinary Asian one, but alas, it is far from Chinese or Vietnamese culinary masterpieces (we are true admirers of Asian cuisine). Cards are not accepted anywhere, cash only. It is convenient to count money: 1 dollar = 1000 Burmese kyats.
In the morning we continue to explore the city and the remaining sights. First, to the temple with the reclining Buddha, although it is more correct to say “leaning” (reclining) Buddha. It is located in the temple of Chautadzhi (Chaukhtatky). The fifty-five-meter statue of the reclining Buddha represents him at the moment of preparation for earthly death, when he reached nirvana, but it looks like he is watching a talk show on TV. The most high point statues 15 meters.
The Buddha has a suspiciously glamorous look - painted in bright red toenails and toenails, expressive make-up (this is exactly what the Buddha looks like in the series shown on Burmese television), but down with the delusion, the Buddha was not a metrosexual.
It's just that in Buddhism there are 36 bodily signs of the Buddha and 80 small signs of the body of the Buddha. Any sculpture of the Buddha must be created with these features in mind. Hence - thin long eyebrows, large eyes with straight long eyelashes, lips "red as a peach", long graceful fingers - these are all the signs of the Buddha embodied in the sculpture.
And one more feature of the statue - 108 sacred symbols of Buddhism are applied on the soles of the feet.
These pictograms were found in the footprints of the Buddha, left by him, in particular, on the banks of the Namada River in India (of course, not in such a geometric form, these are only symbols). Imitations of the footprints of the Buddha, which can be seen in some temples and pagodas, are necessarily ornamented with these symbols, and in some cases they are inlaid precious stones, which testifies to the highest holiness of these relics.
Although, all the same signs of the Buddha in different times understood differently. This is how Buddha was seen by his creators in the past. A very brutal man, he looks like a giant alien cannibal robot from the planet Cybertron.
This is what the original statue of Gautama looked like when the British found it in the jungle. At first, they mistook it for a mountain (it was forgotten for more than a hundred years and it was covered with earth and plants). But as a result of the earthquake, the “real man” disappeared and a new, improved version was built to replace him. The Buddha also has long earlobes, although protruding ears are not included in the list of thirty-two signs (laksana). Why? Others may assume that in childhood he did not obey his grandmother and she spent with him educational process using auricles and urine. But no, that's not true. Initially, the Buddha was depicted with normal ears. Later images - with long ears - came from those peoples whose culture was to pull back and disfigure their ears, supposedly for beauty (Mongoloids, Burmese and Siamese). unnatural big ears are, as it were, a symbol of omniscience and wisdom and were supposed to mean and resemble the power of the One who knows everything and hears everything, and from whose gracious love and care for all creatures, nothing can escape. An alternative view is that as a prince, Gautama had to wear heavy earrings that pulled out his ears. When he renounced the world to become an ascetic, he rejected heavy earrings, but it was too late and his ears were already unnaturally long.
In all the temples it is very beautiful, there are many flowers, fruits brought as an offering, incense is smoldering.
Opposite the “reclining Buddha” there is a sitting Buddha (this is a monument, who will plant it? - one of the gentlemen of fortune would be surprised), located in the temple of Nga Tha Ji Paya.
Everything that concerns the image of the Buddha is extremely standardized, in fact, as well as in orthodox icon painting. That is, if someone creates a sculpture of the Buddha, then he must stick to the canon. This also applies to the position of the body - only four positions were considered suitable for the image of the Buddha: sitting, standing, moving and lying down. In the sitting position, there were three other positions in which the legs could be positioned:
- "hero pose" with legs folded, one on top of the other;
- "diamond pose" with the legs crossed in such a way that each foot rests on the opposite thigh, the feet look up
- Western way - a person sits on a chair, both legs hang down.
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There are also Buddha images for each day of the week:
1. Sunday, image standing with his right hand placed on top of his thigh
2. Monday, a statue that stops the fight and overcomes diseases
3. Tuesday, reclining pose
4. Wednesday morning, Buddha holding an alms bowl;
5: Wednesday, night - solitude in the forest; Buddha accepts a beehive from a monkey and a pot of water from an elephant - Pallaika
6. Thursday Meditating Buddha
7. Friday, sculpture with arms crossed on the chest with a thoughtful look, introspection position
8. Saturday, a figure covered by the Naga Serpent King.
There are always a lot of people in all temples - some are sitting in a deep introspective trance, some are praying.
But everyone follows the path in one way or another. When people asked the Buddha why and what he taught, the Buddha replied, “I teach because you, like all beings, seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. I teach how things really are." "Buddha" means awakened. The meaning of this awakening is to get rid of ignorance about the nature of your mind and the causes of suffering. The teachings of Buddhism say that the nature of the mind is the same in all living beings. Therefore, each of them can awaken (in other words, achieve Enlightenment) and become a Buddha.
As I comprehended the basic Buddhist truths, I suddenly realized that I was full of spiritual food and would not refuse ordinary, carnal. A great place to satisfy the needs of the stomach is a small lake in the center of the city. Around it, a couple of dozen restaurants hospitably await hungry tourists.
The lake is very beautiful, but it is better to come here in September to enjoy the blooming lotuses. By the new year, the flowering season is almost over, red buds can be counted on the fingers.
There is a floating restaurant here. The entrance fee includes the buffet and the show, so it's best to come here in the evening.
We find a small place with Thai cuisine, have a snack, take a photo with the hares as a keepsake and continue to explore the city.
It remains to see the Sule Pagoda and perhaps Buddhism is already enough. It is located in the center of the city (In 1880 the British used the pagoda as the center of their urban planning of Yangon) five minutes from the hotel where we stayed.
They say that it was also built 2500 years ago and the hair of the Buddha is immured in it. According to the Buddhist canon describing life and last days Buddha, after his cremation, fragments of his physical remains, now called relics, were divided into eight parts and distributed among neighboring states that had adopted Buddhism by that time. According to tradition, there are 3 types of relics: - physical (hair, bone, tooth); - utilitarian (objects that the Buddha used during his lifetime, for example, a begging bowl), and memorial - statues and stupa prints.
Sule is an interesting place, but after Shwedagon it looks pretty simple.
We did not find anything more remarkable in Yangon. Maybe we missed something, but it's time to move on.
Forever yours
Valery and Gleb.
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For 365 days, multi!
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“Grandma-grandmother, why do you have such big ears?”
“Because I am Buddha, baby!”
When you travel to Buddhist places for the first time, it is surprising that the Buddha is often depicted with long earlobes pulled back, sometimes even reaching to the shoulders.
Why is Buddha depicted with long earlobes?
I know several versions of such an image:
- The founder of Buddhism, Gautama Siddhartha, came from a royal family, was a prince in his youth and lived in a palace, bathing in luxury, until he left his palace and said goodbye to royal life. In those days and in the area where he grew up, it was the norm for men to show their wealth by inserting heavy jewelry made of precious metals and stones into their ears. As a result, the lobes were greatly elongated.
- The earlobes of the Buddha are drawn by tunnels.
It seems to me that this version is more like the truth than the first. Heavy jewelry, too, of course, can pull off the earlobes, but not to the same extent as tunnels.
Historically, everything also converges: in ancient times, tunnels were given sacred meaning, they were inserted after passing certain initiations. With tunnels in the ears, Bhairava is often depicted - the formidable hypostasis of the god Shiva. - next version. Eastern cultures have always considered large ears an auspicious sign and a sign of wisdom and compassion (in contrast to Western culture, where the head with small ears tightly pressed to the head is considered the most beautiful). Since the Buddha is wise and compassionate, it is quite logical for Eastern artists to depict him with long earlobes.
- Such an image gives Buddhists confidence that the Buddha hears all their cries, knows about the suffering of the mortal world and will not leave them without help.
(- Cheburashka, can you hear me?
— Gena, look at my ears. Well, of course I do!) - Perhaps the Buddha was simply slightly lop-eared, this was reflected in his first images, and all subsequent sculptors-artists considered it necessary to emphasize this feature. This is how the Buddha's ears grew.
- Another version. The ears are so long because the Buddha listens to the vibrations of the universe.
- And finally, the Buddha belonged to an older race and had features characteristic of that race.
But! With long earlobes, not only the Buddha is depicted.
Pictures of Jain Tirthankaras also have long earlobes.
About four years ago, in Gwalior, I was interested in the huge Jain sculptures of the 7th-15th centuries. In the rocks around the ancient fortress stand (and sit) the figures of 24 tirthankars - the great teachers of the religion of Jainism. In the 16th century, Muslim barbarians beat off the faces of most of the sculptures, but the ears, which we are so interested in in this context, were practically not affected, and it can be clearly seen that they hang down to the shoulders.
I then thought that it was not the ears themselves that were hanging down, but some kind of “something” in the ears, and that these tirthankars were generally representatives of ancient civilizations.
Here they are, long-eared beauties
But here is the interpretation I found from my beloved Rajneesh. He, as always, humorously remarks that sometimes a person can, of course, have long ears, but so much ... And so that all 24 tirthankaras at once ... How is this possible? They are not donkeys. Long ears is just a symbol. And how else to show in marble that a person hears the voice of God, hears the truth. When you have quieted your mind, you begin to hear the voice of God. That's the point, says Rajneesh.
The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, came from the royal family of Shakya and spent his youth in the palace, bathed in luxury. His earlobes pulled back under the weight of the earrings he wore. He gave up huge wealth in order to embark on the path of spiritual enlightenment. In Buddhist iconography, the image of Buddha Gautama is regulated in detail. So, in the Tibeto-Mongolian dictionary of Buddhist terms "Source of the Sages" 32 main and 80 secondary signs are given that distinguish him from other people. In particular, on the head of the Enlightened One there is an ushnisha (oval protrusion) - the chakra of connection with the cosmos. Between the fingers of his hands there are membranes, indicating that he is able to exist in water (in Buddhism, water is one of the symbols of other worlds). In canonical images, the Buddha usually appears seated in the lotus position on the symbolic disks of the sun and moon as the ruler of the world. The lotus position means deep contemplation. Right hand Buddha touches the earth, symbolizing enlightenment achieved despite the machinations of the evil demon Mara: when Shakyamuni gained liberation, he called mother earth to witness.
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