The Role of Monkhood in Contemporary Myanmar Society By Sylwia Gil, Specialist on South East Asia and Theravada Buddhism, Warsaw, Poland, September 2008, (on behalf of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung) Introduction Recent events in Myanmar, particularly the “Saffron Revolution” in 2007 and cyclone Nargis in 2008 placed Myanmar monks in the focus of the international community. Not for the first time in history, the Myanmar ë~åÖÜ~ 1 took a leading role in times of emergency, and was able to mobilise rapidly their forces in order to help and represent the people of Myanmar. In 1988 they went to the streets with other citizens to call for democratic and economic reforms in the country. Similarly, in 2007, monks participated in the nation-wide protests against rising fuel and commodity prices. 2 The visible and silent support of the monks provided encouragement and moral guidance for the predominantly Buddhist na­tion. Facing the post-Nargis devastation and indecisiveness related to access of interna­tional humanitarian aid, Myanmar monks be­came the only organised group able to re­spond promptly with aid for traumatised vic­tims, providing them with shelter and distrib­uting basic commodities in their communities. The saffron revolution did not succeed. How­ever, for some analysts it was not the end but rather the beginning of a new chapter in Myan­mar’s contemporary history, marking the emer­gence of a new potential social and political force, nourishing hopes of the opposition and 1 p~åÖÜ~=J= community of monks K= 2 It is difficult to estimate the proportion of monks who participated in the protest. According to Gov­ernment only 2%, in opinion of my interlocutors, monks from Yangon- 60%. About 2% were strictly against, due to religious conviction, or strong relations with the government. Both estimations seem to be not adequate, to get it more precisely one should know the approximate number of adult novices and monks, as sangha includes novices children as well the number of temporary monks. The media’s estimation is up to 30 thousand in Yangon. for all who expect general changes in Myanmar. Monks, particularly the younger generation, became more aware of their strength and re­sponsibility for the country. In Myanmar most independent activity is suppressed or under strict control of the state. The monkhood, in contrast, enjoys a high level of immunity and freedom, for instance, with regard to freedom of movement (within the country and abroad) 3 or various social activities, mostly in the local area. The recent events showed that their role in the society is not limited to the preservation of religion and rituals. Although there is a developed ë~åÖÜ~ admini­stration, the dependence of an ordinary monk on the administrative hierarchy is minimal. The Sangha j~Ü~å~ó~â~ State Committee, the highest administrative body of the Burmese ë~åÖÜ~, is regarded by the new generation of monks rather as a care-taker of the govern­ment’s religious activities and maintenance of its ëí~íìë= èìç, than as the body of moral au­thority for ordinary monks. Most of the mem­bers of the Committee are elderly, traditional monks enjoying high privileges and material welfare. They have no real power on commu­nity matters, because this lies in hands of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The Myanmar ë~åÖÜ~ is not homogenous and the scope of monks’ activities is complex. As a monk is perceived as a renouncer of the world, the question arises to what extent he should be engaged in the social and political life of the country? The purpose of this work is to intro­duce the reader to Myanmar Buddhist society and to give some ideas about the role of the monks in contemporary Myanmar. 3 Regarding monks’ opportunities, monastic connec­tions in the whole country and abroad as well finan­cial situation comaparativly better than any average Myanmar layman. 1