Theravada Buddhism 2.2

Chapter (2)

Beliefs Mixed into Theravada

Myanmar is a country that accepts and believes in the teachings of Theravada Buddhism. The Theravada teachings show the practical path that humans should and can attain. They do not show imaginative concepts that are impossible and unattainable. The Lord Buddha also did not teach imaginative doctrines.

The Burmese people have also read literature that was imaginatively conceived and created, which is not part of the Buddha’s teachings. There are also those who accept and believe in them. These literary works were, for the most part, brought over from India.

The Burmese people have had contact with India since the early ages. They acquired much technology from the Indians. Throughout the lineage of Burmese kings, contact with India was never broken. The Burmese have been Burmanizing Indian culture.

During the reign of King Bodawpaya, he sent envoys to India and had them bring back literature that did not yet exist in Myanmar. The acquired literature was then translated into the Burmese language. Through such means, Indian ethics, arts, and beliefs spread to the Burmese.

In the past, the Burmese accepted things with the attitude that “If it’s a text from India, it must be correct.” They separated the imaginative beliefs from India into a category called “worldly knowledge” and believed in them. The miscellaneous beliefs brought over from India to Myanmar number in the thousands.

Belief in the Gandhārī Arts

Among the beliefs that came from India, the belief called the Gandhārī path, which arose from hoping for a strange and wondrous kind of life, is also included.

The term “Gandhārī arts” refers to the arts that emerged from the Gandhāra region of India. In another sense, it refers to the arts formulated by a hermit named Gandhāra. The Gandhārī path is divided into:

• The Lesser Gandhārī path,
• The Greater Gandhārī path.

The Lesser Gandhārī path refers to sorcerers, witchcraft practitioners, and practitioners of the lower path who are skilled in charms, incantations, spells, hexes, and amulets, based on spirits such as the 40 great demons, 99 witches, Kumbhaṇḍas, Yakkhas, and Gandharvas.

The Greater Gandhārī path refers to the arts that are performed with higher spirits, starting from the goddess Saraswati, the 21 Devis, the 5 great spirit kings, the four guardian spirits of the world, and the Bodetaw Indra. It aligns with the right-hand Tantric school.

The main requirement of the Gandhārī path is to achieve the state of a vijjā (adept). It is believed that upon reaching the state of a vijjā, various supernatural powers (siddhi) are accomplished. Their literature indicates 10 types of siddhi.

• Cintāmayasiddhi = The ability to make whatever one imagines come to pass.
• Udakasiddhi = The ability to walk on the surface of water.
• Pathavīsiddhi = The ability to move through the earth; the ability to magically shorten distances.
• Dhanasiddhi = The ability to obtain gold, silver, and gems as desired.
• Āyusiddhi = The ability to live a long life and remain youthful.
• Ākāsasiddhi = The ability to travel through the sky.
• Ārogyasiddhi = Freedom from sickness and disease.
• Kāyasiddhi = Invulnerability to swords, spears, and guns.
• Piyasiddhi = Being loved by all beings.
• Iddhisiddhi = The ability to create various things through psychic power.

Since the aforementioned siddhis are extremely tempting lures for humans, they eagerly anticipate achieving the state of a vijjā. As anticipated, they search for and practice the path to becoming a vijjā. The path to becoming a vijjā is found in their literature.

It is said that those who become vijjās achieve this by practicing the following four types:

• Padā-vijjā = One who performs rituals with solidified mercury.
• Osa-vijjā = One who has achieved siddhi through medicine.
• Thaṃ-vijjā = One who performs rituals with alchemically perfected iron.
• Iṃ-vijjā = One who has achieved siddhi through charms, mantras, etc.

The aforementioned four types are called the four types of vijjā. The Burmese also call a vijjā a Zawgyi. The original term for Zawgyi is Yogi. Yogi was altered and came to be called Gyaw-gyi, then Zawgyi.

The Zawgyi is a figure familiar to the people of Myanmar. A figure dressed in reddish-brown clothes tailored in the style of a Punjabi suit, holding a staff called a medicinal staff, can be seen throughout Myanmar. This type of figure is also called a htwat-yat-pauk (perfected one). There are two types of htwat-yat-pauk figures: the one who perfects after death, and the one who perfects while living.

It is believed that the one who perfects after death passes away and then becomes perfected. It is believed that the one who perfects while living does not die but transforms into an invisible body and continues to live for many years, practicing the Dhamma.

In Myanmar, there have been those who have gone on to become htwat-yat-pauk. However, it has not been heard that they have become perfected while living. In fact, all of them have had to die just like most other people.

This state of being a vijjā, a zawgyi, a perfected master with siddhi, and so on, is not a type of existence that is actually possible in the human world. It is only a type of existence conceived by a contrived and fantastical imagination. There are those who work with the hope that they might obtain this fantastical state of being. There are also those who are content and pleased with it. These individuals are like people searching for a treasure chest from a dream.

Belief in Astrology

Among the beliefs mixed with Theravada Buddhism, belief in astrology is also included. Belief in astrology had already reached Myanmar by the Sri Ksetra period. These astrological texts were brought by Brahmin priests from India, and from them, the Burmese inherited them.

During the reigns of the Burmese kings, there were many who practiced astrology. Among those who practiced astrology, Theravada monks were also included. Although the monks did not make a living by telling fortunes, they studied the art of astrology as a worldly skill to be known.

The Lord Buddha forbade the practice of telling fortunes. However, some monks ignored the Vinaya teachings and sought their livelihood by telling fortunes. During the reign of King Dhammazedi, action had to be taken to not keep astrologer monks within the Sāsana (the Buddhist order).

The astrological texts emerged between 1500 and 1000 BC, before the Buddha appeared. They are texts that were composed while the Aryan people were living in the upper Sarasvati River region. Originally, there were three types of Vedic texts. Later, there came to be four. The four types of Vedas are as follows:

• Rigveda: A text that shows how calamities and disasters may occur by observing eclipses of the sun, moon, and the constellations.
• Yajurveda: A text that describes methods of worshipping the planets and stars and performing rituals (yadayā) to be free from present and future dangers.
• Samaveda: A text that predicts good and bad fortune by dividing the path of the sun and moon into 12 zodiac signs, observing which planet is stationary in which sign, and then analyzing it by degrees, minutes, and further subdivisions.
• Atharvaveda: A text that received its name because it was composed by the sage Atharva. It describes rituals such as lighting fires and chanting mantras for the destruction of others.

The Buddhist Piṭaka and Pali dictionaries state that the three types of Vedas were composed by ten sages, starting with the sage Aṭṭhaka. The Vedic texts composed by the sages were, for the most part, merely records of psychological afflictions, written based on the beliefs of the people of ancient times.

The Burmese refer to the Indian texts they have accepted as worldly texts. Most of them are texts composed by sages. Many authors of these texts, such as Vākya, Vagga, Harita, and Vyāsa, are found to be sages.

In later times, the number of texts written by sages became so numerous that their names could no longer be listed. They came to be referred to as the works of the “eighty thousand teacher-sages,” without attribution, and whatever they saw fit was written.

Among the works of the sages, texts on grammar, prosody, and so on, are beneficial. However, the majority of the texts are works that the sages studied and composed as a way to find something to do when they had nothing else to do.

One should not think that by saying this, one is insulting the texts of the sages. When one studies the life story of the sages, one will understand this statement. One should study this story a little.

In the customs of the Hindus of ancient India, the code of conduct called “Āśrama” was also included. Āśrama refers to the duties to be performed according to one’s age in life. Age is divided into four parts:

• First age: One must seek and acquire all kinds of knowledge.
• Second age: One must establish a household, seek a livelihood, and accumulate wealth.
• Third age: One must entrust one’s business to one’s children and go forth into the forest with one’s wife. (This refers to the time when one’s hair turns white, skin wrinkles, or one has grandchildren.)
• Fourth age: One must abandon even the wife who came with one and continue to practice as a hermit, alone.

According to ancient Indian custom, when one became old, one had to don the robes of a hermit and live alone in the forest. The presence of many sages in the Jātaka stories of the Piṭaka are characters drawn from that custom.

The Sages’ Pastime Scriptures

Since the sages had to live alone in the great forest without companions, it was bound to be boring. They also had no occupation. They had nothing to do. Therefore, the sages had to find things that interested them to pass the time. They had to find substitutes for their senses to find relief.

Some sages controlled their minds with practices such as mindfulness of the in-breath and out-breath. They attained mental tranquility and found peace.

This practice later entered into Hinduism. The practice called “Yoga” in Hinduism is a discipline based on mindfulness of the in-breath and out-breath.

Some sages noted eclipses of the sun, moon, and so on, and compared them with events in the human world. When they coincided with events in the human world, they made records, saying that if this sign appears, that is what tends to happen.

Some sages studied roots and leaves for illnesses. They recorded what they found. Some sages applied mathematics to record the good and bad fortunes of human life. Some sages sought out and created objects of worship. They created and wrote down hymns and mantras. They kept records.

In this way, by engaging in various activities with interest, many codes of conduct and practices emerged. Many objects of belief appeared. That is why it must be said that the texts written by the sages were written as a way to find something to do when they had nothing else to do.

The texts written by the sages were, for the most part, not arts and sciences studied in a scientific manner. They were writings that were recorded by taking ordinary coincidences as a basis and believing them to be established facts, so one should not believe in them with unwavering conviction.

For example, one should look at predictions based on solar and lunar eclipses. In ancient times, the eclipsing of the sun and moon was made into a major issue, and predictions were made that were considered extremely frightening. In truth, in the universe where the sun, moon, and earth group exists, this will continue to happen every year. There is nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be alarmed about; it is a natural occurrence. The predictions of ancient times have become meaningless.

The practice of telling fortunes through astrology is also just one of the many imaginative records among the psychological records of the sages. Astrology is a practice that attempts to explain the destiny of human life by playing with the four mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

In ancient India, the Brahmins were the leaders of religion. They took responsibility for and carried out religious duties. Brahmins who were skilled in religion served as royal teachers and chief priests.

Brahmins who were not employed by the king, however, had to make a living as astrologers or with other skills.

Astrologers have brought the entire life of a human being under the dominion of astrological numbers. They have even approached and utilized the letters of the alphabet that people use by associating them with planetary spirits.

It is said that letters such as Ka and Kha are owned by planets like the Moon. When and by whom were the sounds of the alphabet distributed and claimed by the planetary spirits? A question for which no one seems to be able to provide an answer.

People consult astrologers and perform remedial rituals (yadayā) with the obsessive assumption that the art of astrology can alter their good and bad fortune. Whether the yadayā is successful or not is unknown, but what is tangible is the loss of money.

People believe in a whole host of miscellaneous things to be avoided and observed, such as auspicious and inauspicious days (Rājayoga, Byatitsu), unlucky periods (Vāramittu), compatible marriage partners, friends, enemies, elemental compatibilities, auspicious directions for fortune, for spirits, for travel, days for bathing, days for washing hair, auspicious days for doctors, and auspicious days for travel.

People worry that their lives and experiences will be affected. This worry has weakened people’s innate intellectual capacity. When they hear that something might adversely affect their lives, they dare not do anything. They can no longer reason whether it is logical or not.

Because of the saying “It is not good to travel by water on a Friday,” water travel and shipping businesses are delayed. Because of the saying “Monday is never done in one go,” people tend to postpone things.

In Myanmar, the sayings, poems, and texts created by astrologers that reinforce these psychological afflictions are too numerous to read, too endless to recite.

Some people in Myanmar have also come to believe in a fear of the number 13. They believe that the number 13 is a number that does not bring good fortune and are reluctant to accept it.

This fear is a concept that arose from a story in the biography of Christ. It was first a belief accepted by Christians. It has nothing to do with Buddhism. Now it has spread to the East as well. People are terrified of it out of confusion and hearsay. They are unable to see the truth that a number is just a symbol that indicates a quantity.

When a people’s beliefs are intensely superstitious, it becomes a hindrance to progress. It becomes an obstacle to human freedom.

A nation, a country, if it is obsessed with psychological beliefs, will lead to the decline of the people and the decay of the country.

Remnants of Nāga Worship Beliefs

The practice of Nāga worship no longer exists in Myanmar today. It completely disappeared during the purification of worship during the reign of King Anawrahta.

Before Anawrahta, Nāga worship flourished in Myanmar. If one looks at the early Burmese chronicles, symbols of Nāga worship can be found.

In the Burmese chronicles, it is said that the mother of King Pyusawhti was a Nāga princess. Queen Besandi of King Duttabaung was also said to be the daughter of a Nāga king. One should understand that these people were members of a Nāga-worshipping community.

Nāga worship was at its peak during the reign of King Nyaung-U Sawrahan. This king had a large Nāga image made in his cucumber field. He promoted the worship of the Nāga, saying that it was superior to humans.

When the reign of King Anawrahta arrived, Nāga worship disappeared. In India, however, Nāga worship still exists today. The custom of Nāga worship also came from India.

The founders of Nāga worship were the Dravidian people of India. They established the great Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BC. These people worshipped trees, forests, and mountains.

Furthermore, they created images of the snake, claiming that this creature was the lord of the earth, and worshipped them. The snake is called Nāga. From that time on, Nāga worship flourished. In India, the followers of the Nāga religion were a powerful force.

The followers of the Nāga religion also took pride in being of the Nāga race and called themselves the “Nāga race.” The ruler who governed the Nāga race was called the Nāga king.

This is just like how spirit worshippers call themselves spirit race (spirit sons and daughters). One can understand that in ancient literature, terms like spirit son, spirit daughter, Nāga king, and Nāga queen were names used to praise the religion they worshipped.

Later, the doctrine of Nāga worship spread to Southeast Asia, wherever the Dravidian people reached.

Although Nāga worship has disappeared in Myanmar, concepts related to the Nāga are still believed. It is said that the Nāga changes the direction of its head four times a year.

The Nāga’s head turns to the west during the months of Tabaung, Tagu, and Kason. It turns to the north during Nayon, Waso, and Wagaung. It turns to the east during Tawthalin, Thadingyut, and Tazaungmon. It is said that it turns to the south during Nadaw, Pyatho, and Tabodwe.

One must not enter the Nāga’s mouth. One must not go against the Nāga’s scales. If one does, one is liable to encounter bad luck. Only by going along the Nāga’s belly will one be lucky and encounter happiness and prosperity. With this concept, people often wait for the Nāga to be facing the right way when changing residences or traveling.

Now, those with modern thinking no longer accept this concept. Government employees cannot wait for the Nāga to be facing the right way when they are transferred. Believing in the direction of the Nāga is not feasible. They have to move without delay.

However, rural folk who still accept the old beliefs continue to stand firm, supported by the old, worn-out saying, “Do not try to deceive the spirits and the Nāga.”

Belief in Omens, Portents, etc.

In Myanmar, belief in omens and portents is also very common. The things that have been made into objects of belief are also numerous. If one looks at the texts on omens and portents, it seems that every movement of things in the natural world has been incorporated into them. Countless scenarios for prediction have been created.

Great figures and lay scholars such as the Maung Htaung Sāsanabaing and Maha Dhamma Thingyan have also written texts like the Neikbeittaka Withzani and spread these psychological afflictions.

Thus, the mental disposition of the people has become afflicted with the disease of being obsessed with omens and reading portents.

These beliefs in omens and portents are also, for the most part, beliefs that have spread from India. They are known to be a tradition of texts authored by the Brahmins.

Among the practices of the Hindu doctrine, there is a practice called “Shanti.” This practice is the act of performing remedial rituals to ensure freedom from danger when one encounters a bad omen or portent.

A fire that suddenly goes out in a lamp lit in the house, a gecko making a sound, a gecko chirping, having a bad dream, an owl landing on the house, an unlucky bird call, a wild animal entering the village—such events are considered bad omens and portents.

At such times, Brahmin priests are invited, and after donating offerings to them, they must recite Tantric and Mantric verses. It is believed that only by such recitation will dangers be averted. This is the belief of the Hindu Brahmins.

Here, the Burmese people use the terms for omens and portents interchangeably. In Burmese dictionaries, the terms atīt and nimit are defined as follows:

Atīt is defined as: “A sign that can make known an event that will happen in a future time; a preceding event or sign of something that will happen in the future, etc.”

Nimit is defined as: “A symbol or sign that can make known in advance what will be good, bad, what will happen, what will be destroyed, etc.”

If one studies these definitions, their meanings are found to be similar. In truth, atīt and nimit should have a distinction. They were used separately only because there is a distinction. In the author’s opinion, atīt refers to an irrational concept. Nimit, however, is based on both rational and irrational aspects.

To clarify, you may have seen or heard of texts called dream interpretation guides. Various kinds of predictive statements are made, such as “if you dream this, that will happen.”

Almost everyone dreams. They have good dreams. They also have bad dreams. A good dream is a good omen. A bad dream is a bad omen.

Predictions are made about good and bad outcomes by looking at whether the omen is good or bad. Such predictions of omens are merely irrational statements. It is not possible that they will be correct even if they predict the result of a dream.

In the Burmese chronicles, stories about the results of dreams are found. These are likely records based on the obsessive beliefs of ancient times. Here, one should not argue by citing the sixteen dreams of King Kosala. The Lord Buddha was explaining the natural course of human behavior through the lens of King Kosala’s dreams.

If one reads the Burmese chronicles, it is a custom to show omens every time a Burmese king passes away. These omens were likely ones that were observed and written down after the king’s death. Some may also be the creations of the chroniclers.

The chroniclers state that when King Anawrahta was about to pass away, bees swarmed the royal audience hall, and so on. The chroniclers who could record such a minor event as bees swarming were unable to write about where the body of the great King Anawrahta ended up.

A nimit, however, can be rational and true. It can also be an irrational nimit. The Buddha-to-be saw the four signs: an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an ascetic.

Because of these signs, he was struck with a sense of urgency and renounced the world. He became a Buddha. This nimit is rational. It produced a true result. This year, the rains are good, and the crops are plentiful. The rain is a good nimit that the crops would be plentiful.

A child is intelligent. He is diligent. To read the nimit that this child will be a good student is rational. It can be correct. These are natural signs and portents.

Furthermore, there are many predictions of portents that are unnatural and irrational. For example, predictions based on the portent of an earthquake. Lyrical verses predicting what will happen if an earthquake strikes on a Sunday, and so on, have been composed. These predictions are ones made by the citizens of a country where earthquakes strike only occasionally. For a country like Japan, where earthquakes are constantly happening, they are of no use at all.

In the texts predicting omens and portents, there are numerous kinds, such as portents of clouds, portents of comets, portents of bird calls, portents of mice gnawing, portents of termite mounds appearing, portents of bees swarming, portents of birds nesting, portents of solar halos, and portents of lunar halos.

These concepts, obsessed with omens and portents, are also beliefs that endanger the mental freedom and physical development of human beings. The Lord Buddha also rejected these omens and portents and preached against them.

Belief in Chanting Mantras

The chanting of hymns and mantras is a practice that is fashionable today. There are more than ten magazines and journals that give prominence to hymns and mantras. Under the banner of Buddhism, they give prominence to stories about Bodetaws, Medaws, and powerful hymns and mantras. They write that by chanting mantras, one’s business and wealth will increase, and one’s sickness and ailments will be cured. They even write that cancer can be cured. One might see them write that even AIDS will be cured next.

The chanting of hymns and mantras is a custom of the Hindu Brahmins. When Brahmins are about to undertake a task, they must recite a type of mantra called the Gayatri about ten times.

At sunrise and sunset, they must also recite the mantra. It is said that if one recites it a thousand times, all demerit will be cleansed and disappear.

When Hindu Brahmins recite hymns and mantras, they must place the syllable “Om” at the beginning and recite. This syllable is a recitation that combines the three letters A, U, and M. The letter ‘A’ refers to the god Vishnu. The letter ‘U’ refers to the god Shiva. The letter ‘M’ refers to the god Brahma. In order to include the three great gods at the same time, when they are combined and recited, it becomes “Om.” It is pronounced as “Aum.” In the Sanskrit language, it is written as “Oṃ.”

These hymns and mantras that begin with “Om” were taken and used by the followers of the Mahayana Tantra school. This recitation of “Om” also spread to Myanmar. When the Burmese recite hymns and mantras, they begin with “Om” and recite. In truth, the “Om” mantra has absolutely no connection with Buddhism.

In Myanmar, the practice of chanting hymns and mantras also spread from India, a fact that cannot be denied. Just as the Hindu Brahmins believe in the power of their hymns and mantras, the Burmese also believe in them. Before Anawrahta, the Ari monks used the power of mantras in various ways. The concept that by chanting a mantra, all demerit can be cleansed and disappear is also the same as the concept of the Hindu Brahmins.

Later, even the verses of the Buddha’s teachings came to be recited with “Om” at the beginning. They did not see or understand that the syllable “Om” has no connection whatsoever with the Buddha’s teachings.

In Myanmar, it is not only hymns and mantras in Pali and Sanskrit that are chanted and recited. Mantras composed in the Burmese language also emerged and were created. As an example, a mantra called the Kāyasiddhi Gāthā (Verse for Physical Perfection) will be shown.

“Om, may my enemies be freed, be scarce, be far away. Om, Shin Moggallāna, guard, O guard against all enemies with your golden right hand.”

With this verse, kick a Eugenia tree 37 times while reciting. After reciting, pluck a flower from that Eugenia tree and wear it. Carry it. It is said to be excellent for physical perfection (kāyasiddhi). The elder Shin Moggallāna could not even protect himself from his enemies; due to his karmic debt, he was beaten by five hundred bandits and entered Parinibbāna. He is no longer present now. And yet, this verse, which gives Shin Moggallāna the duty of a bodyguard and commands him to protect, is merely a nonsensical verse invented by followers of a corrupt sect.

Not long ago, a signboard mantra was also fashionable in Myanmar. That mantra was “Om Maṇi Padme Hūṃ.” This mantra was seen on signs in homes, on vehicles, in shops, and everywhere.

This mantra is a verse used to worship the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara from the Mahayana sect. Its meaning is, “Just as the lord Avalokiteśvara, who is like a ruby gem, was born from a great lotus flower, may the wisdom of enlightenment also arise from the chamber of my heart.”

While this mantra was popular in Myanmar, magazines that wished to purify Theravada wrote refutations, and as a result, its popularity later waned.

When the Burmese recite hymns and mantras, they count the number of repetitions with a string of beads called a rosary, or by counting the rounds. This practice of counting rounds and repetitions with a rosary is also known to be a practice that spread from the Hindu Brahmins.

Solving the Rosary Problem

In ancient times, the Chinese and the people of Peru made knotted beads from string and used them for record-keeping. Later, Brahmins, Hindus, Jains, Christians, and Muslims also used beads made of seeds, bamboo, glass, and stone.

Burmese Buddhists have also used beads, both as ornaments and as religious implements.

Burmese Buddhists have used beads as ornaments extensively since the Pyu era. The use of beads as a religious implement, however, began in a later period. This religious use of the rosary was a practice adopted from the Hindus.

Among the practices of the Hindu doctrine, there is a practice called “Upāsanā.” This practice is the act of reciting mantras that praise the virtues of male and female deities. In reciting and worshipping these virtues, the practice of reciting with a rosary, called “Japa,” is also included. That is why the Hindus call the rosary “Japamālā.”

Japa = reciting, chanting.

Mālā = flower, or a string/strand.

This is its meaning.

The meaning of Japamālā is an object strung together to keep track of the number of repetitions when reciting something. In Hinduism, followers of the Vishnu sect commonly use a 108-bead rosary. The Burmese also frequently use a 108-bead rosary.

It is not known in which era Theravada Buddhists in Myanmar began to use it. According to the evidence from the mural paintings inside the Abe-yadana Temple cave in Pagan, figures that are presumed to be great Hindu sages are seen holding rosaries. The sages appear to be holding rosaries and reciting mantras.

By the Inwa period, however, it appears that Buddhist followers were using rosaries. In the old chronicles, it is found that at the meeting of King Razadarit and Sagyo Thu Myat, 300 nuns accompanied them, each with a rosary.

Theravada Buddhists adopted the use of the rosary from the Hindus. One cannot say that this practice is wrong. Regardless of which doctrine the practice is adopted from, the main thing is that Buddhists use it in a Buddhist way.

Hindus use it when reciting mantras. Buddhists use it when contemplating and reciting the virtues of the Buddha. In this way, they have become different. Therefore, it is appropriate for Buddhists to use the rosary for the purpose of imbuing themselves with the virtues of the Buddha. It can be viewed in the same way that the piano, though not an instrument invented by the Burmese, is used to play Burmese music.

However, some individuals have developed excessive beliefs regarding the rosary. They have imaginatively created and started using rosaries made of sandalwood, planetary woods, elemental materials, combined flowers, and combined herbs. The power of the rosary has also come to be believed in various ways. For instance, if one soaks the rosary in water and drinks it, a certain disease will be cured.

Some individuals also make a living by telling fraudulent fortunes, holding the end of the rosary string and shaking it north and south as if it were alive. This type of belief has become an extreme because it has become a supernatural belief.

At the present time in Myanmar, rosaries are being included in sculptures and drawings of the imaginary figure called Bo Bo Aung, as well as in images of other figures. The rosary has become this widespread. However, sculpting the image of Shin Sīvali with a rosary is quite inappropriate. The reason is that during the time of Shin Sīvali, the rosary was not yet in common use.

The Act of “Siddhi Tin” (Bestowing Power)

Today in Myanmar, the practice of “Siddhi Tin” is also accepted and believed by a great many people. The term “Siddhi Tin” is a combination of the Pali word siddhi and the Burmese word tin.

Here, if one looks up the meaning of the word siddhi, there is no entry for it in the Abhidhamma Pali dictionary. There are no synonyms either. However, in explaining words that can denote accomplishment, the word siddhi is given the meaning of “completion” or “accomplishment.”

In the Burmese dictionary, siddhi is defined as: “Completion; the act of making an amulet, etc., powerful. To praise. To extol.” Therefore, “Siddhi Tin” refers to the act of making a created object powerful.

The practice of “Siddhi Tin” also refers to the act of reciting with hymns and mantras, just like the Hindu Brahmins. The Burmese call it “reciting a spell” (man-ywet). Various kinds of spell-casting, such as on amulets, water, and oil, have been invented. It is believed that by reciting a spell in this way, the water becomes powerful. The oil gains power. Amulets and the like also become powerful and will accomplish the desired siddhis.

With this kind of belief, people recite and chant hymns and mantras themselves to bestow power. If they cannot do it themselves, they have others who can recite spells do it for them to make the objects powerful.

The hymns and mantras that are said to bestow power are also composed in Sanskrit, Pali, and Burmese. These mantras are merely texts that make requests for one’s desires. An example is as follows:

“With great psychic power, warding off danger, may my lifespan be extended, may it last for the entire age of the world.”

“When I hunger for delicious food of sweet and sour kinds, may it appear with a single wish.”
“In times of need, may all the spirits and the assembly of adepts provide shade and protection.”
“If a great many people come to attack me, may the forces of adepts, starting with the spirits, gather together in unison and protect me, making my form disappear in an instant.”
It is only this kind of bestowing of power with such mantric texts.

In the modern era, as the bestowing of power has become popular, great figures who bestow power have also emerged. These individuals are, for the most part, people who are engaged in sect-like activities.

The great sect figures recite various “Om Aung” verses and bestow power upon rosaries, amulets, elemental spheres, and so on. People, with the certain belief that whatever the famous sect figure recites for them will be as accurate as a computer, turn up their palms and receive it.

In the modern era, there are even people who bestow power upon currency notes. The great figure bestows power upon a one-kyat note and gives it as a present. The person who receives that note is so pleased that they take a 200-kyat note from their wallet and offer it in worship. In reality, the person who bestowed the power has made a profit of 199 kyats. A business with a 199-kyat profit on a one-kyat investment does not exist in any partnership company.

People work with intense greed for their life and their experiences. They search for and devote themselves to objects of worship for their intense desires. They search for and accept things to believe in. They have been unable to attain the right view with their intellect to discern whether something is logical or not.

Theravada Buddhism has rejected such illogical forms of worship and belief. Let us now compare and analyze these illogical thoughts and ideas with the words from the Theravada Buddhist teachings.