ordination, or ceremonies observed at the admission into the society.
we will now explain rather minutely, and describe as accurately as possible, the various ceremonies performed on the occasion of the promotion of a shyin to the rank of patzin, or professed member. it must be borne in mind that this ordeal through which he has to pass, or ordination, as we may aptly perhaps term it, which he has to receive, does not confer any peculiar character, or give any special spiritual power to the admitted candidate; but it merely initiates him to a more perfect course of life, and makes him the member of a society composed of men aiming at a higher degree of sanctity or perfection. the incumbent must be provided for the ceremony with a dress such as is used in the community; he must be found exempt from certain moral and physical defects that would render him unworthy of being admitted a member of the order; he must pledge himself to a rigorous[273] observance of certain regulations which form the constitutions of the society.
the place where the ceremony is to be performed is a hall measuring at least twelve cubits in length, not including the space occupied by the rahans whose presence is required on the occasion. the assembly of phongyies, or rahans, must include ten or twelve members at least if the ceremony be performed in towns, and four or six if it be in the country. he who presides over the ceremony is called upitze, meaning master or guide; he has an assistant, named cambawa tsaia, whose office it is to read the sacred cambawa, or book of ordination, to present the candidate to the upitze and his assembled brethren, to put to him the requisite questions as prescribed by the ritual, and to give him instructions on certain points, the ignorance of which would prove highly prejudicial to and greatly offensive in a professed member of the order. all the regulations prescribed and the ceremonies observed on the occasion are contained in a book written in pali, the sacred language. this book may be aptly termed the ritual of the buddhists. it is held in great respect, and some copies written on sheets of ivory with gilt edges are truly beautiful, and bespeak the high value buddhists set on the work. the copyists have retained the use of the old square pali letters, instead of employing the circular burmese characters. all the ordinances and prescriptions in this book are supposed to have been promulgated and sanctioned by no less an authority than gaudama himself, the last buddha and the acknowledged originator and founder of the talapoinic order. hence the high respect and profound veneration all buddhists bear to its contents. the candidate, previously to the beginning of the ceremony, must be provided, as aforesaid, with his patta, or mendicant’s pot, and a tsiwaran, the clerical dress or monkish habit. the patta is an open-mouthed pot of a truncated spheroidal form, wherein each member of the[274] brotherhood must receive the alms which every morning he goes to collect in the streets.
the tsiwaran or yellow[55] garment, the only dress becoming a rahan, is composed first of a piece of cloth bound to the loins with a leathern girdle, and falling down to the feet; second, of a cloak of a rectangular form, covering the shoulders and breast and reaching somewhat below the knee; and, third, of another piece of cloth of the same shape, which is folded many times and thrown over the left shoulder, the two ends hanging down before and behind. another article always required for completing the full dress of the rahan is the awana, a sort of fan made of palm leaves, set in light oval-shaped wooden frame, with a serpentine handle, somewhat resembling in appearance the letter s.
the burmese translator of the pali text has interpolated his work with many remarks tending to elucidate the text, and to show the various motives and reasons that have induced gaudama to decree and publish as obligatory the regulations laid down in the sacred cambawa. it must be borne in mind, too, that the omission of some essential parts of the ceremonies annuls de facto the ordination, whilst the non-compliance with others of minor importance, though not invalidating the act of admission into the sacred family, entails sin upon all members of the brotherhood assembled ex officio for the ceremony. the reader must be prepared to observe many points of close resemblance between the ceremonies observed at the reception of a monk, or the ordination of a priest, and those performed in these parts on the solemn occasion of admitting a candidate to the dignity of patzin.
the preparations for the solemnity being completed, and the assembled fathers having occupied their respective[275] seats under the presidence of the upitze, the candidate is introduced into their presence attended by the assistant or reader of the cambawa, and carrying his patta and yellow garments. he is enjoined to repeat distinctly thrice the following sentence to the upitze, kneeling down, and his body bent forward, with his joined hands raised to the forehead: “venerable president, i acknowledge you to be my upitze.” these words having been three times repeated, the assistant, addressing himself to the candidate, says: “dost thou acknowledge this to be thy patta, and these thy sacred vestments?” to which he audibly answers, “yes.”
upon this the translator remarks that, on a certain day, a rahan that had been ordained without being supplied with either patta or tsiwaran went out quite naked, and received in the palms of his joined hands the food offered to him. so extraordinary, one would have said so unedifying, a proceeding having been mentioned to gaudama, he ordered that henceforward no rahan should ever be ordained unless he had been previously interrogated regarding the patta and the vestments. any disobedience to this injunction would entail sin on the assembled fathers.
the assistant having desired the candidate to withdraw from the assembly to a distance of twelve cubits, and the latter having complied with his request, he turns towards the assembled fathers and addresses them as follows: “venerable upitze, and you brethren herein congregated, listen to my words. the candidate who now stands in a humble posture before you solicits from the upitze the favour of being honoured with the dignity of patzin. if it appears to you that everything is properly arranged and disposed for this purpose, i will duly admonish him. o candidate, be attentive unto my words, and beware lest on this solemn occasion thou utterest an untruth or concealest aught from our knowledge. learn that there are certain incapacities and defects which render a person[276] unfit for admittance into our order. moreover, when before this assembly thou shalt be interrogated respecting such defects, thou art to answer truly, and declare what incapacities thou mayest labour under. now this is not the time to remain silent and decline thy head; every member of the assembly has a right to interrogate thee at his pleasure, and it is thy bounden duty to return an answer to all his interrogations.”
“candidate, art thou affected with any of the following complaints: the leprosy, or any such odious maladies? hast thou the scrofula or other similar complaints? dost thou suffer from asthma or coughs? art thou afflicted with those complaints that arise from a corrupted blood? art thou affected by madness or the other ills caused by giants, witches, or evil spirits of the forests and mountains?” to each separate interrogation he answers: “from such complaints and bodily disorders i am free.” “art thou a man?” “i am.” “art thou a true and legitimate son?” “i am.” “art thou involved in debts?” “i am not.” “the bounden man and underling of some great man?” “no, i am not.” “have thy parents given consent to thy ordination?” “they have given it.” “hast thou reached the age of twenty years?” “i have attained it.”[56] “are thy vestments and sacred patta prepared?” “they are.” “candidate, what is thy name?” “my name is wago,” meaning, metaphorically, a vile and unworthy being. “what is the name of thy master?” “his name is upitze.”
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the assistant, having finished the examination, turns his face towards the assembled fathers, and thus proceeds: “venerable upitze, and ye assembled brethren, be pleased to listen to my words. i have duly admonished this candidate, who seeks from you to be admitted into our order. does the present moment appear to you a meet and proper time that he should come forward? if so, i shall order him to come nearer.” then turning to the candidate, he bids him come close to the assembly and ask their consent to his ordination. the order is instantly complied with by the candidate, who, having left behind him the distance of twelve cubits that separated him from the fathers, squats on his heels, the body bending forward and the hands raised to his forehead, and says: “i beg, o fathers of this assembly, to be admitted to the profession of rahan. have pity on me; take me from the state of layman, which is one of sin and imperfection, and advance me to that of rahan, a state of virtue and perfection.” these words must be repeated three times.
the assistant then resumes his discourse as follows: “o ye fathers here assembled, hear my words. this candidate, humbly prostrated before you, begs of the upitze to be admitted into our holy profession; it seems that he is free from all defects, corporal infirmities, as well as mental incapacities, that would otherwise debar him from entering our holy state; he is likewise provided with the patta and sacred vestments; moreover, he has asked, in the name of the upitze, permission of the assembly to be admitted among the rahans. now let the assembly complete his ordination. to whomsoever this seems good, let him keep silence: whosoever thinks otherwise, let him declare that this candidate is unworthy of being admitted.” and these words he repeats three times. afterwards he proceeds: “since, then, none of the fathers object, but all are silent, it is a sign that the assembly has consented; so, therefore, be it done. let therefore this candidate pass out of the state of sin and imperfection into the perfect[278] state of rahan, and thus, by the consent of the upitze and of all the fathers, let him be ordained.”
and he further says: “the fathers must note down under what shade, on what day, at what hour, and in what season the ordination has been performed.”
this being done, the reader of the sacred cambawa adds: “let the candidate attend to the following duties, which it is incumbent on him to perform, and to the faults hereafter enumerated, which he must carefully avoid.
“1. it is the duty of each member of our brotherhood to beg for his food with labour, and with the exertion of the muscles of his feet; and through the whole course of his life he must gain his subsistence by the labour of his feet. he is allowed to make use of all the things that are offered to him in particular, or to the society in general, that are usually presented in banquets, that are sent by letter, and that are given at the new and full moon and on festivals. o candidate, all these things you may use for your food.” to this he replies, “sir, i understand what you tell me.”
the assistant resumes his instructions: “2. it is a part of the duty of a member of our society to wear, through humility, yellow clothes, made of rags thrown about in the streets or among the tombs. if, however, by his talents and virtue one procures for himself many benefactors, he may receive from them for his habit the following articles, cotton and silk, or cloth of red[57] and yellow wool.” the elect answers, “as i am instructed, so i will do.”
the instructor goes on: “3. every member of the society must dwell in houses built under the shade of lofty trees.[58] but if, owing to your proficiency and zeal in[279] the discharge of your duties, you secure to yourself powerful supporters who are willing to build for you a better habitation, you may dwell in it. the dwellings may be made of bamboo, wood, and bricks, with roofs adorned with turrets or spires of pyramidal or triangular form.” the elect answers: “i will duly attend to these instructions.”
after the usual answer, the instructor proceeds: “4. it is incumbent upon an elect to use, as medicine, the urine of the cow, whereon lime and the juices of lemon or other sour fruits have been poured. he may also avail himself, as medicines, of articles thrown out of bazaars and picked up in corners of streets. he may accept, for medicinal purposes, nutmegs and cloves. the following[280] articles may also be used medicinally—butter, cream, and honey.”
now the assistant instructs the new religious on the four capital offences he must carefully avoid, under penalty of forfeiting the dignity he has just attained to, and solemnly warns him against committing one of them. those sins are fornication, theft, murder, and spiritual pride. the committing of one of these sins by religious after their ordination, in the days of gaudama, induced him to declare those excluded de facto from the society who had been guilty of such offences; and he enjoined that the assistant should immediately after the ceremony solemnly admonish the newly ordained patzin carefully to shun such odious offences.
the assistant, without delay, proceeds as follows: “o elect, being now admitted into our society, it shall be no longer lawful for you to indulge in carnal pleasures, whether with yourself or animals. he who is guilty of such sin can no longer be numbered among the perfect. sooner shall the severed head be joined again to the neck, and life be restored to the breathless body, than a patzin who has committed fornication recover his lost sanctity. beware, therefore, lest you pollute yourself with such a crime.
“again, it is unlawful and forbidden to an elect to take things that belong to another, or even to covet them, although their value should not exceed about six annas (one-fourth of a tical). whoever sins even to that small amount is hereby deprived of his sacred character, and can no more be restored to his pristine state than the branch cut from the tree can retain its luxuriant foliage and shoot forth buds. beware of theft during the whole of your mortal journey.
“again, an elect can never knowingly deprive any living being of life, or wish the death of any one, how troublesome soever he may prove. sooner shall the cleft rock reunite so as to make a whole, than he who kills any[281] being be readmitted into our society. cautiously avoid so heinous a crime.
“again, no member of our brotherhood can ever arrogate to himself extraordinary gifts or supernatural perfections, or, through vainglory, give himself out as a holy man; such, for instance, as to withdraw into solitary places, and, on pretence of enjoying ecstasies like the ariahs, afterwards presume to teach others the way to uncommon spiritual attainments. sooner may the lofty palm-tree that has been cut down become green again, than an elect guilty of such pride be restored to his holy station. take care for yourself that you do not give way to such an excess.” the elect replies as before: “as i am instructed, so i will perform.” here ends the ceremony. the elect joins the body of rahans, and withdraws in their company to his own kiaong.
it has already been mentioned that this ceremony or ordination does not impart any spiritual character inherent in the person of the elect; but it is a mere formality he has to go through, to enter into the family of the perfect. the admitted member is not linked indissolubly to his new state; he is at liberty to leave it when it pleases him, and re-enter secular life. he may, moreover, if inclined, apply for re-admission into the order, but he must go through the same ceremonies that were observed on his first ordination. it is not very common to meet among the burmese rahans men who from their youth have persevered to an old age in their vocation. those form the rare exceptions. they are very much respected, and held in high consideration during their lifetime, and the greatest honours are lavished upon their mortal remains after their demise. they are often designated by the honourable denomination of “pure from their infancy.”
