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| Festival IN Myanmar ## Wahsou (Waso) : July |
| Lenten Season |
Waso, the fourth month of the Myanmar calendar, marks
the beginning of the lenten season. It is a time for sobriety, self-denial and
religious contemplation. The fresh moat air of the early morning is filled with
the tinkling of brass triangular gongs that summons lay folk to come and
contribute what they can towards the communal offering of alms food for the
monasteries.
How can anything go wrong on a day like this? The day
began with the tinkling of doo-wei-wei from the brass triangular gong
and the rich sing-song voice announcing: "Hear ye, bawun-taw, good
friends, our companions-in-doing meritorious deeds, please wake up, do wake up
and prepare alms food for the reverend sangha... bestir yourselves, good
friends."
The announcement is couched in poetic prose wreathed
with familiar pali words like ba-wun-taw (good people) thrown in for elegance
and style. So, with the tinkling of the brass triangular gong in your
ears, you roll in your bed from one side to the other murmuring, "So; it's
time to go down to the kitchen. Praise be to Buddha!" You listen to the
lingering notes of the brass gong and unlatch your drowsy eyes, still sluggish
with the last remnants of slumber.
After the usual ritual of writhing and stretching, you
drag yourself down to the kitchen and begin to do the chores. It is still in
semi-darkness, but not all gloomy, for the air is filled with the promise of
the coming day. It is lovely to be woken up by the tinkling of the brass gong
and the sing-song chanting of the neik-ban-saws.
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How aptly are the organizers of these benevolent
activities called Neik-ban-saws, ushers-in-to-heaven. They are members of the
voluntary service groups called wut-thins, which play an important part in die
life of the community. Such wiit-thin activities are still very much alive in
small towns though rarely seen now-a-days in Yangon. In Mandalay, where old
customs and traditions are still revered,, wut-thins operate in grand style.
Members of these wut-thins wear all-white suits. They go round in procession
collecting alms for monasteries. Some carry silver bowls to receive coins, and
for receiving food, there are large three-legged lacquer trays with sets of
small bowls inside. They are beautiful things with reddomed covers. Each tray
is suspended from cords attached to a yoke. With the tray hanging in the
middle, two men shoulder the yoke at each end. The yoke is often painted red
and splashed with gold and glass mosiac flowers. The huge brass triangular gong
suspended on a pole is carried by two men, one at the rear striking in tune to
the chanting while moving in step with the procession. No easy task, this.
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Sometimes, the procession is attended by music troupes
of drums, cymbals and flute. Even as the blinking stars fade away and the dawn
steals over the horizon, lights shine through the window panes and people come
out with offerings. The air is filled with music interposed with recitations
and the tinkling of the brass gong.
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People bless the neik-ban-saws, who make things easy
for people to do meritorious deeds that would open the gates of celestial
regions. They see that monks are supplied with their needs during the lenten
season when they are not allowed to-stay over-night outside the monastery
precmcts. |
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Waso is the time when people do meritorious deeds and
practise contemplation and self-denial. People make it a point of fasting and
observing special precepts one day in the week. Even habitual drinkers take a
vow of abstinence, for the season, at least. It is good in a way for people to
be reminded of the need for self discipline.
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However, the lenten season is not as dull as it
sounds. Even as the senior citizens are making preparations for offerings to
the monasteries, die young people busy themselves with organizing music
troupes. On the full moon day people flock to the monastery with offerings;
and, of course, there will be music troupes in attendance. There will be
playful teasing songs that run something like this: |
Mother is a scold
Off to Wazo Pwe we go.
Oh my love, fell a kokko tree,
And cut it quick,
Make a cart...
But, no...'t will take too long:
Why worry, love,
There's Ma Boke Sone,
Her ample hip for us to ride
To ride merrily,
Merrily, merrily all the way.
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Marriages are taboo during the lent. This has nothing
whatsoever to do with any religious concept. Monsoon season is a busy time for
the farmer and it is more convenient to celebrate weddings after the harvest is
safely home. But, some impatient lovers often rush off to wedlock before the
lent begins. |
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The full moon of Waso month is the anniversary of the
Buddha's First Sermon, at Isipatana, a sylvan woodland of Migadhaya or Deer
Park. It is meet that the Buddha should deliver his first discourse in the wide
open spaces where the deer can wander free and safe. It was where peace reigned
and where the running deer and the chasing tiger stopped in their tracks to
nestle close to each other as they listened to the voice of the compassionate
Buddha. |
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The Buddha's first sermon was heard 25 centuries ago.
The Four Noble Truths, namely, Suffering, the Origin of Suffering, Ceasing of
Suffering, and the Path that leads to the Ceasing of Suffering. The Light
of the Four Noble Truths still guides the way of enlightenment to those who are
groping in the dark. |
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One unique thing about the Sutta or discourse, first
heard in the wide open spaces, is that it does not bind men in dogmas and
beliefs. Man is free to believe and act accordingly. There is no one to punish
or reward man. He reaps the harvest of what he has sown, and none but he
is the doer of his own deeds. |
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The Path laid down by the Buddha is not hidden in a
labyrinth of terms and phraseology. It is the simple middle way between the two
extremes of devotion to pleasures of the senses and the practice of self
mortification. It is the Noble Eightfold Path, to wit, Righ View, Right
Resolution, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Means of Living, Right Exertion,
Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. |
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To have Right View is put filst and foremost, because it is
the key to the attainment of Wisdom. The minds of worldlings are often
mastered by wrong ideas..The worldlings are driven by their own desires that
result in Suffering. Only Right View can help mem see this truth and attain
wisdom that will quench the desires as dust is by rain showers. |
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Perhaps many may not be able to grasp the Truth the Buddha
teaches, but whatever little effort they put in contemplation and meditation
gives mem strength to face life. With the Dhamma (the Buddha's teachings)
enshrined in the heart, one can spread goodwill and loving kindness all around.
The worldlings may have their feet deep in me mire of desires, but their hands
may reach out or rather strive to reach out for the blossoms of enlightened
wisdom. |
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Blossoms of the Dhamma! That reminds one that this season is
also a season of flowers. There comes the sound of music that leads young
people who will roam the woodlands to gather flowers. The flowers gathered in
joy and love will be offered to decorate the shrines and pagodas. As young
people bow down before the stupas and the Buddha images, serenity comes even to
the most boisterous and mischievous of the gang as they recite the
prayer: |
"May we, in future-one of these days,
Don the Blossoms of the Dhamma."
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More Info:
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Religious
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12 Months' Festivals
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References
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Travel & Tour
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