Spiritual Harvest: Sowing Seeds of Support in Mandalay
We are pleased to share how we allocated a generous donation from meditators in the United States who are committed to supporting Burmese monasteries. Their heartfelt contributions enabled us to visit and provide essential resources to several monastic institutions in Mandalay. This donation reflects a shared dedication to preserving and nurturing the spiritual and educational endeavors of these revered communities. Here’s an account of our journey and the impact of these meaningful gifts, told by our team leader.
Before deciding where best to go, I conducted a comprehensive needs assessment in the Mandalay area. This assessment involved visiting various monasteries and understanding their unique requirements and challenges. I evaluated the number of monastic candidates, their current resources, and the extent of external support they were receiving. This thorough analysis allowed me to identify the most critical needs and allocate our donations effectively.
We visited a Buddhist monastery that has 3 campuses: one in the southernmost is the Pariyatti school (for Buddhist education for monks, novices and nuns), another in the middle is the Patipatti (meditation center) and the rest is the University of Global Peace (the university campus for higher Buddhist education for monks and some diploma, degree and postgraduate courses for the lay-people as well).
We donated to the University of Global Peace in the last round in November and we donated to the Pariyatti Monastery this time. There are 237 monks and novices in the Pariyatti campus only. Since we calculated the intended number of rice sacks based on the number of the monastic candidates who were traveling to Yangon and took the monastic examinations there, we witnessed that there was a huge need for rice for the whole population of the monastery there as well.
One of the Taik-oat Sayadaw (head monks) told us that all the monks cannot go alms-round just in the Yan Kin village at the western feet of the hill and they were asked to go alms-round to the other villages such as Ye-kyi and Lain Pin in the south east and Hnan Gyi and Ye-htwat in the north east of the hill, as well as they go to the urban areas of Patheingyi in the north and north-western feet of the hill, and they go to Mandalay Hill.
We truly realized this situation because we saw a couple of monks and novices who were taking a Dyna ‘line-car’ bus to the nearest city Mandalay, hanging the alms bowl on the shoulder. The bus is full of the monks and novices and we learned that these kinds of Dyna ‘line-car’ buses used to run regularly by a Buddhist charity organization but there are lesser buses these days because of the rocketing price of fuel in Myanmar.
We then visited a second monastery that is nation-widely known, truly it is a big reputed monastic school where 142 monks and novices are studying Buddhist Pariyatti (monastic) education, and located in an undeveloped outskirt where mostly the poor families live. Although it is not famous among the lay-people, it is famous among the novices and monks because it annually produces the outstanding novices who pass the Samane-kyaw (Samanera) examinations with distinctions. The young Abbot, in his forties, told us that the monastery has just received the meal sponsors a few days a month though it received almost every days before the pandemic.
We hope our donation served as a ray of light during this otherwise challenging period for the monasteries. In these times of uncertainty and hardship, every bit of support can make a significant difference. We believe that our contributions, no matter how small, can provide relief and hope to those dedicated to spiritual and educational pursuits. Let this act of giving inspire others to extend their hands and hearts to those in need.