Burma RJ Handbook

Part Two - Culture
B u d d h i s m
“— a Burman’s ideas of this world are dominated by his
religion. His religion says to him ‘consider your own soul,
that is the main thing’. His religion says to him ‘the aim of
every man should be happiness’. These are the fundamental
parts of his belief; these he learns from childhood:
they are born in him.”
H FIELDING HALL The Soul of a People. 1898
To understand a little of Buddhism is a key to an understanding
of Burma. Wherever one turns in lowland Burma
one is surrounded by the the activities, ancient and modern,
of this all pervasive faith. From the 3,000 ‘lost’ temples
still standing at Pagan to the 10,000 ‘living’ monks of
Mandalay, Buddhism is an active religion playing a part in
each day of each Buddhist Burmese’s life.
Buddhism is one of the great world religions extending
f rom parts of Russia in the west to Japan in the east, Sri
Lanka in the south and Korea to the north. Originally the
religion extended over a far greater area including
Afghanistan, the Indian sub-continent and parts of modern
Indonesia. Unlike Judaicism, Christianity and Islam,
Buddhism is not a monotheistic religion. Unlike Hinduism
it does not teach that salvation can be attained through the
i n t e rcession of any one god belonging to a pantheon.
Buddhism is quite unlike the other world faiths.
Bodawin — the Life and Teachings of the Buddha
Whether in the paintings and sculpture contained in the
temples at Pagan or woodcarvings of later periods, the bo-
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