Saturday 6 May 2017

Discipline at Burmese Monasteries

There are at least two ways that a visitor may be able to glean some insight into how serious and disciplined a monastic school is only moments after entering. 

The first is, are there leaves or dirt on the walkways? At monasteries with good discipline, the morning usually begins with sweeping of the grounds. 

The second question is, what care do monks and nuns take with their shoes when entering buildings? This immediately indicates what they are taught and encouraged by their teachers. 

The following three photos illustrate this. The first is of the monastic school Sasana Won Saung in Hmawbi, the second of Setkya Ditthi Nunnery in the Sagaing Hills. The third is from outside of Mandalay but for our purposes shall be nameless, and shows a mixed (monk/nun lay/monastic) school in which that discipline is clearly not followed.





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