You may say to yourself, “being a monk or nun would be groovy in theory, but in practice it’s not for me,” then remember to appreciate your life where you are and get on with it. If you look at their daily life and sigh, “that would be wonderful,” maybe you should book your flight to Myanmar.
“Chit Tae Shan Yoe Ma” is a song by Shan rock star Sai Htee Saing, who, in his time, along with his band, the Wild Ones, is one of Myanmar’s iconic musicians.
Saing started his career by defying the ruling dictatorship of S and ended it kowtowing to the military junta, even singing songs written by the propaganda minister. He was from the Shan ethnic group but sang mainly in Burmese. In “Chit Tae Shan Yoe Ma” Sai Htee Saing, who passed away in 2008, sang longingly about his Shan homeland. Because the ruling Bamar-majority government’s promise of independence for the Shan never came to be and the Shan remain outside the mainstream, songs by Shan singers — especially those sung in Burmese –always come with a tinge of politics.
This six-stringed instrument — the “mi-gyuang” — originated with Burma’s Mon people. Why is it shaped like a crocodile? We at All Around This World don’t usually quote YouTube comments, but we want a comment by Soe San Aung on this crocodile zither video to be true: “Because it was based on a traditional folk story of Mon people,…In the story, a prince went across a river daily with boat to meet his lover. When his father knew that, he wasn’t allowed to go. But he tried to cross the river with his friend crocodile called Nga-moe-rait. His planned to hide in the mouth of a crocodile and cross through the river . His idea became succeed but one day the crocodile forgot to float on water and became swim in the water.He even forgot that he was carrying the prince. So the prince died in his mouth. When the crocodile apologized the king, he forgave and let knew the princess in other river bank. When she knew the news,she became confused and very sad about her lover and she died with her sadness. The people from two kingdom held funeral in the same day and they burned them and let them to go far away. The smokes appeared from the two funerals in each bank of the river combined at the sky and a rainbow was appeared in the sky. The king of the prince very sad and he made an instrument with the shape of crocodile and he listened the song of these instrument whenever he missed his son.” True? Let’s say, true.
This week our online music class traveled to the oh-so-complicated nation of Myanmar. Life has been particularly rough in Burma-Myanmar for the last century or so (why two names for the country? It’s complicated), especially for the last fifty years since the country has been beneath the thumb of one autocratic ruling party or another. Through it all the Burmese people keep hope alive that one day they may attain political freedom, even occasionally rising up in conjunction with the many Theravada Buddhist Monks who maintain a position of some respect in Burmese society.
As we speak, in 2021, Mynanmar is deep in a post-coup struggle, pitting the autocratic military government against the nation’s incredibly resilient people. to honor these people, and the way they find joy in their lives, we turn our eye away from politics and toward Myanmar’s music and culture.
Sai Sai Khan Hlaing is Myanmar’s most popular ethnic Shan hip hop artist/model/novelist/actor.
His great-grandfather, Sao San Tun, was one of the signatories to the February 12, 1949 Panglong agreement that originated the modern state of Myanmar (and also one of the first objects of Myanmar political assassination, on July 19, 1949). Sai Sai grew up in relative privilege, majored in English at Dagon University and earned a graduate degree in English from the University of Foreign Languages. He has since become a celebrity in Myanmar, and a subjecxt of much gossip.
If you want to start your day with a bang, bang a Burmese gong.
In our class this week we enjoyed (sybolically) the “life of a Burmese monk,” sinpried by three delightful 12 year-old Burmese nuns who introduced us to their daily life online. We simulate this schedule in class as a way to connect with the kids of Myanmar and also with the nation’s respect for Buddhist traditions.
What is the daily life of a Burmese monk or nun? Here are some highlights:
1) you wake up at 4 or 5 a.m. in complete darkness
2) you pray
3) you receive “alms,” which are gifts to monks or nuns from the lay population
4) LISTEN FOR THE GONG! At 7 a.m. the gong says it’s breakfast time
5) you care for the temple compound, ideally with a repetitive task, like sweeping, you can do while meditating
6) At 11:30 a.m. eat leftovers from breakfast, which will compose your second and last meal of the day. [some monks only eat once a day]
7) Study or meditate from 1pm to 6pm
8) 7pm: pray
9) 8pm, listen to sermons
10) go to sleep. Dream monkly or nunly dreams.
In class we separate each of these activities with the sound of a gong. While our “gong” is most likely a drum cymbal or pot lid, if you have any chance to access to a Burmese gong that’s anything like the gongs in this video, DO IT. And, as you’ll notice in this video, if you’re a reporter doing a story on huge Burmese gongs and have a chance to use the line, “the craftsmen…are hoping their innovations RESONATE with buyers…” DO IT.
We are revising the AllAroundThisWorld.com site — the information you’re seeking may still be here, but a lot of links are broken and details may be out of date. We are currently using a new (better!) site — ExploreEverywhere.com — to tell you all about our class offerings, our “pen pal” program and how to become one of our teachers, and will eventually be moving all the goodies from here over to there. So, GO TO THE NEW SITE!
