Myanmar invests a significant proportion of its resources in search of inner peace. The unifying feature of the country is is Buddhist religion... covering some 80% of the population... Muslims and Christians are the minority religions.
Moving around the country, the eye-catching buildings are the temples and pagodas... often painted white with gold leaf trim. Isolated stupas fill in the gaps between the main centres. Less obvious, but still numerous are the monasteries and convents where religious professionals practise their meditation.
What proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is allocated to religious pursuits? There are no numbers available to accurately assess the size of the investment. Because the religious buildings are the only bright and colourful constructions on the landscape, it is tempting to guess at a high figure... say 10%. Perhaps a more realistic figure is 3-5%... still a significant amount.
The age-old question is whether a nation that is underdeveloped in other dimensions... can afford to invest 3-5% of its efforts into religion. It would seem that Buddhism is well suited to a community with inadequate resources. It is a religion that practises the art of asking and giving... of avoiding consumption of personal resources... of taking care of nature and each other. The day of a monk starts with his walking the street with his begging bowls to collect food from the citizens. Twenty percent of each generation of men develop this habit during their period of monkhood... lessons that permeate through the whole of society. Myanmar provides no social security benefits for its poor or disabled. However, anyone can (and does) turn up at a monastery and receive food at no cost.
Interestingly, monks are not allowed to engage in any activity other than the study of Buddhist teaching and the practice of meditation. They learn reading and writing to a high level of skill. Myanmar residents are some of the world's most ardent readers. Second hand book stalls are plentiful in the marketplace. There is an active market in collectable ancient books. The monasteries revere its monks who have written new books on Buddhist teachings. However, most respect is reserved for monks who show a high degree of inner peace... difficult to measure... but you know it when you see it.
People seem much more concerned about religion than they are with politics. There is some irony that a nation focussed on inner peace has been ruled by a military dictatorship for so long. The political arts are not highly prized by Myanmarians... they don't like arguments... they don't like ambition... they don't like bullies... which means they don't like politicians. They like families... good manners... self sacrifice... everything that Buddha teaches. As a result, Myanmar's national government is treated with more patience than we are prepared to give Tony Abbott.
But like religions all over the world, there are criticisms that can be levelled against the Buddhist clergy.
A large number of young men are taken away from productive work and instructed to be idle... during their most productive years. The educational effort is not focused on better management of worldly resources... Myanmar could use is monasteries to produce the world's best technicians... managers.... engineers... administrators. Instead, they have chosen to produce the world's best meditators!
We took a boat cruising down the Irrawady River from Mandalay to Pagan... a magnificent river running through rich agricultural land. Dotted along its banks, we saw the temples and pagodas. Joye was reading from a travel book that quoted a phrase from George Orwell... he said that Stupas stood out like 'corpustules' on the Burmese landscape. I wish she hadn't come across that phrase... because it is a caricature of the negative side of Buddhism influence. You look at the resources used to duplicate the one brand icon... and think of the alternative benefits that could be achieved with similar effort. How many bridges could be built with all the resources employed to construct Mandalay's pagodas... how much curbing and guttering... how many hospitals... how many schools? More importantly, how many factories producing international goods could be constructed... how many good paying jobs could be delivered?
You will have noted that these criticisms come from westerner's eyes. Myanmarians could defend their priorities by asking why it is important to live longer and consume more if you have no inner peace... if you are being tormented by unresolved mental conflicts that stop you experiencing full happiness. Why not choose a shorter happier life and advance your progress towards 'nirvana'.
Who can argue with that? Us westerners would retort... develop your nation first... provide earthy comforts for your children... then go seeking 'nirvana '
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