religious influence of the phongyies—respect and veneration paid to them by the laity.

when we speak of the great influence possessed by the religious order of buddhist monks, we do not intend to speak of political influence. it does not appear that in burmah they have ever aimed at any share in the management or direction of the affairs of the country. since the accession of the house of alomphra to the throne, that is to say, during a period of above a hundred years, the history of burmah has been tolerably well known. we do not recollect having ever met with one instance when the phongyies, as a body, have interfered in the affairs of the state. they also seem to remain indifferent to family or domestic affairs. the regulations they are subjected to, and the object which they have in view in entering the religious profession, debar them from concerning themselves in affairs that are foreign to their sacred calling. but in a religious point of view alone, their influence is a mighty one. upon that very order hinges the whole fabric of buddhism. from it, as from a source, flows the life that maintains and invigorates religious belief in the masses that profess that creed. we may view the members of the order as religious, and as instructors of the people at large, and principally of youth. in that double capacity they exercise a great control and retain a strong hold over the mind of the people.

there is in man a natural disposition and inclination to admire individuals who, actuated by religious feelings, are induced to leave the world and separate from society in order to devote themselves more freely to the practice of religious duties. the more society is corrupted, the more its members value those persons who have the moral courage to[304] estrange themselves from the centre of vice, that they may preserve themselves from contamination. in fact, religious are esteemed in proportion to the extent of the contempt they have for this world. the phongyies occupy precisely this position in the eyes of their co-religionists. their order stands in bold relief over the society they belong to. their dress, their mode of life, their voluntary denial of all gratification of sensual appetites, centre upon them the admiring eyes of all. they are looked upon as the imitators and followers of buddha; they hold ostensibly before ordinary believers the pattern of that perfection they have been taught so fondly to revere. the phongyies are as living mementoes, reminding the people of all that is most sacred and perfect in practical religion. no one will deny that the view of a body of religious existing in a community, keeping an intercourse with its members, must ever have a powerful tendency to foster religious feelings in the mind of a half-civilised people as the burmese are. it is in this manner that the phongyies command the respect and veneration of the people, and exercise a considerable amount of religious influence over the masses.

but in the capacity of instructors of the people, the members of the order act as yet more directly and actively upon the people. in burmah there are no schools but those kept by the religious. the monasteries are as so many little seminaries where male children receive elementary instruction. the knowledge that is imparted to them by their masters is not secular, but purely religious. it is a point upon which the undivided attention of a keen observer must be centred in order to understand the full meaning of the following remarks. we do not mean to say that the instructor has always present to his mind, as a professor, the direct teaching of religious tenets; but the fact is that no information is conveyed to the pupils except that which comes from religious books. no other books are ever used in schools.

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as soon as boys are able to read, religious books are put into their hands. during all the time they remain at school they go over books that have a direct reference to religion. without even being aware of it, they imbibe religious notions, and become acquainted with some parts of the religious creed, particularly with what relates to gaudama’s preceding and last existence. when they grow up to manhood, if they happen to read, they have, as a general practice, no other books but such as have a reference to religion. when people assemble together, either in the dzeats on the occasion of festival days, or at home on other public occasions, particularly in the days following the death of some relatives, one or several elders read some passage of their scriptures, and thereby supply topics for conversation of a religious turn. this state of things originates almost entirely in the early education received in the monasteries at the hands of their masters, the phongyies. it powerfully contributes to popularise and foster religious notions, whilst it indirectly heightens and brightens in the eyes of the people the position of the religious.

moreover, the early intercourse between the youth and their masters tends to bring into closer contact and union both the religious and the laity. it draws nearer the ties that bind together these two fractions of the buddhist society. the relation thus established between the teachers and the taught is further strengthened by the fact that the greatest number of the male portion of the community become affiliated, during a longer or shorter period, to the society, and subjected to its rules and regulations; they are cast in the mould of religious, and retain during the remainder of their life some of the features that have been at an early period stamped on their young minds. their memory remains loaded with all that they learned by heart during the days they spent in the monasteries as students or members of the society.

though the phongyies or talapoins are not remarkable[306] for their zeal in delivering instructions or sermons to the people, they discharge occasionally that duty on the eve of and during festival days, and on all occasions when considerable offerings are brought to them in their monasteries. sometimes, too, they are requested to go to certain places prepared for that purpose, to deliver instructions and receive offerings tendered to them by some pious laymen. the preaching never consists in expounding the text of the religious books, and developing certain points of the law; it is a mere rehearsal and repetition of the precepts of the law or of regular formulas in praise of gaudama, and an enumeration of the merits to be gained by those who bestow alms on them. these and similar circumstances much contribute to keep up the position of the religious, and aid them in retaining a powerful religious hold over their respective communities. we repeat it as our deliberate opinion, that upon the religious association under consideration principally rests, as on a strong basis, the great fabric of buddhism. were such an institution to give way and crumble to the dust, the vital energies of that false creed would soon be weakened and completely paralysed. buddhism would yield before the first attack that would be skilfully and vigorously directed against it.

in burmah the phongyies are highly respected by every member of the community. when they appear in public, walking in the streets, they are the objects of the greatest attention. the people withdraw before them to leave a free passage. women are seen squatting on both sides of the way, through respect for the venerated personages. when visited in their dwellings, even by persons of the highest rank, the etiquette is that every visitor should prostrate himself three times before the head of the monastery, uttering the following formula:—“to the end of obtaining the remission of all the faults i have committed through my senses, my speech, and my heart, i make a first, second, and third prostration in honour of the three precious things—phra, his law, and the assembly[307] of the perfect. meanwhile, i earnestly wish to be preserved from the three calamities, the four states of punishment, and the five enemies.” to which the recluse answers:—“for his merit and reward, may he who makes such prostrations be freed from the four states of punishment, the three calamities, the five sorts of enemies, and from all evil whatsoever. may he obtain the object of all his wishes, walk steadily in the path of perfection, enjoy the advantages resulting therefrom, and finally obtain the state of neibban.” on the visitor withdrawing from his presence, the three prostrations must be repeated; he then stands up, falls back to a distance of ten feet, as it would be highly unbecoming to turn the back suddenly on the holy man, wheels round on the right, and goes out. this usage is doubtless very ancient, and is at the same time looked upon as a very important one. in the life of gaudama we have seen it mentioned on all occasions when visitors went to pay their respects to him. princes and nobles observed the ceremony with the utmost punctuality.

the best proof of the high veneration the people entertain for the talapoins is the truly surprising liberality with which they gladly minister to all their wants. they impose upon themselves great sacrifices, incur enormous expenses, place themselves joyfully in narrow circumstances, that they might have the means to build monasteries with the best and most substantial materials, and adorn them with all the luxury the country can afford.[61][308] gold is often profusely used for gilding the posts, ceiling, and other parts of the interior, as well as several trunks or chests for storing up manuscripts. two or three roofs superposed upon each other (a privilege exclusively reserved to royal palaces, pagodas, and kiaongs) indicate to the stranger that the building is a monastery. the recluse’s house is well supplied with the various articles of furniture becoming the pious inmates. the individual who builds at his own expense such a house, assumes the much-envied title of kiaong-taga, or supporter of a monastery. this title is for ever coupled with his name: it is used as a mark of respect by all persons conversing with him, and it appears in all papers or documents which he may have to sign. the best, finest, and most substantial articles, if allowed by the regulations as fit for the use of the talapoins, are generously and abundantly afforded by benevolent persons. when the king is religiously inclined, the best and most costly presents he receives are deposited in the monasteries, to adorn the place or hall where the principal idol is.

government does not interfere or give any assistance in building pagodas or kiaongs; nor does it provide for the support of the pious rahans; but the liberality of the people amply suffices for all contingencies of the kind. when a man has made some profit by trading, or any other[309] way, he will almost infallibly bestow the best portion of his lucre in building a kiaong, or feeding the inmates of a religious house for a few months, or in giving general alms to all the recluses of the town. such liberality, which is by no means uncommon, has its root, we believe, in a strong religious sentiment, and also in the insecurity—nay, the danger—of holding property to a large amount.

when a talapoin is addressed by a layman, the latter assumes the title of disciple; and the former calls him simply taga, or supporter. the attitude of the layman in the presence of the phongyie is indicative of the veneration he entertains towards his person. he squats down, and he never addresses the yellow-dressed individual without joining his hands in token of respect, and raising them up with a little motion indicative of intended prostration. as there is in burmah a court language, so there is a language, or rather a certain number of expressions, reserved to designate things used by talapoins, as well as most of the actions they perform in common with other men, such as eating, walking, sleeping, shaving, &c. the very turn of the commonest sentence is indicative of respect when speaking to a rahan. he is called phra, the most honourable term the language can afford. his person is sacred, and no one would dare to offer him the least insult or violence. the influence of the talapoin upon the people is considerable, in proportion to the great respect borne to his sacred character. so extraordinary has it been on certain occasions, that phongyies have been seen rescuing forcibly from the hands of the police culprits on their way to the place of execution. no resistance, then, could be made by the policemen without exposing themselves to the danger of committing a sacrilege, by lifting their hands against them when such an occurrence takes place. the liberated wretches are then forthwith led to the next monastery. their heads having been shaved, they are attired in the yellow garb, and their persons become at once sacred and inviolable.

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the veneration paid to talapoins during their lifetime accompanies them after their death. their state is considered as one of peculiar sanctity. it is supposed that their very bodies too partake of the holiness inherent in their sacred profession. hence their mortal remains are honoured to an extent scarcely to be imagined. as soon as a distinguished member of the brotherhood has given up the ghost, his body is opened, the viscera extracted and buried in some decent place without any particular ceremony, and the corpse embalmed in a very simple manner by putting ashes, bran, and other desiccative substances into the abdominal cavity. it is then swathed with bands of linen, wrapped round it many times, and a thick coat of varnish laid upon the whole. on this fresh varnish gold leaves are sometimes placed, so that the whole body is gilded over from head to feet. when the people are poor and cannot afford to buy gold for the above purpose, a piece of yellow cloth is considered as the most suitable substitute. the body, thus attired, is laid in a very massive coffin, made, not with planks, but of a single piece of timber hollowed in the middle for receiving the earthly frame of the deceased. a splendid cenotaph, raised in the centre of a large building erected for the purpose, is prepared to support a large chest wherein the coffin is deposited. the chest is often gilt inside and out, and decorated with flowers made of different polished substances of various colours. pictures, such as native artists contrive to make, are disposed round the cenotaph. they represent ordinarily religious subjects. in this stately situation the body remains exposed for several days, nay several months, until preparations are completed for the grand day of the obsequies. during that period festivals are often celebrated about it, bands of music play, and people resort in crowds to the spot for the purpose of making offerings to defray the expense to be incurred for the funeral ceremony. when the appointed day for burning the corpse at last arrives, the whole population of[311] the town will be seen flocking in their finest dresses to witness the display of fireworks which takes place on the occasion of burning the corpse. a funeral pile of a square form is erected on the most elevated spot. its height is about fifteen feet, and it ends with a small room made for receiving the coffin. the corpse having been hoisted up and laid in the place destined for its reception, fire is set to the pile in a rather uncommon way. an immense rocket, placed at a distance of about forty yards, is directed towards the pile by means of a fixed rope guiding it thereto. sometimes the rocket is placed on a huge cart, and pushed in the direction of the pile. in its erratic and uncertain course it happens occasionally that it deviates from its course, and plunges into the ranks of the crowd, wounding and killing those it meets. as soon as it comes in contact with the pile, the latter immediately takes fire by means of combustibles heaped for that purpose, and the whole is soon consumed. the few remaining pieces of bones are religiously collected, and buried in the vicinity of some pagoda. here ends the profound veneration, amounting almost to worship, which buddhists pay to their recluses during their life and after their demise.

two chief motives induce the sectaries of buddha to be so liberal towards the talapoins, and to pay them so high a respect; viz., the great merits and abundant rewards they expect to derive from the plentiful alms they bestow upon them, and the profound admiration they entertain for their sacred character, austere manners, and purely religious mode of life. the first motive originates from interested views; the second has its root in that regard men naturally have for persons who distinguish themselves from others by a more absolute self-denial, a greater restraint and control of their passions, a renouncement of permitted pleasures and sensual gratifications from religious motives. according to the fundamental dogma of buddhism, any offering made to, or indeed any action done for the benefit of, a fellow-man is deserving of reward[312] during future existences, such as digging a well, building a resting-place, a bridge, &c.; but far more abundant are the merits resulting from presenting a talapoin with one or several articles necessary to his daily use, as they increase proportionately to the dignity of the person to whom the things are offered. we may judge from the following instance of the plentiful harvest of merits which a supporter of phongyies is promised to reap hereafter: he who shall make an offering of a mendicant’s pot or thabeit shall receive as his reward cups and other utensils set with jewels; he shall be exempted from misfortunes and calamities, disquietude and trouble; he shall get without labour all that is necessary for his food, dress, and lodging; pleasure and happiness shall be his lot; his soul shall be in a state of steadiness and tranquillity, and his passion for the sex shall be considerably weakened. the offering of other objects secures to the donor wealth, dignity, high rank, pleasure, and an admittance into the fortunate countries or seats of the nats, where all the things are to be met with and enjoyed that are calculated to confer on man the greatest sum of happiness. the people believe unhesitatingly all that is said to them in this respect, and they gladly strip themselves of many valuable things in order to obtain and enjoy, during coming existences, the riches and pleasures promised to them by their rahans. the insecurity of property under tyrannical rulers may operate to a certain extent in determining people to part with their riches, and consecrate them to religious purposes, rather than see themselves violently deprived of them by the odious rapacity of the vile instruments of the avarice, tyranny, and cruelty of their heartless princes and governors.

it can scarcely be a matter of wonder that buddhists so much honour and respect a talapoin, when we consider that, in their opinion, he is a true follower of buddha, who strives to imitate his great prototype in the practice of the highest virtues, particularly in his incomparable mortification[313] and self-denial, that he might secure the ascendancy of the spiritual principle over the material one, weaken passions which are the real causes of the disorder that reigns in our soul, and finally disengage her from their baneful influences, and from that of matter in general. he is exceedingly reserved and abstemious regarding food, the use of creatures, and the enjoyment of pleasures, in order to secure to reason the noblest faculty of an intelligent being, a perfect control over the senses. he is indeed in the right way leading to neibban, the summit of perfection. in the opinion of a buddhist, nobody can be compared to a true and fervent rahan in sterling worth and merit. his moral dignity and elevation cast into the shade the dazzling splendour that surrounds loyalty. he is a pious recluse, a holy personage, a true member of the holy thanga, and deserving, therefore, of the highest admiration and respect.

as a consequence of the profound veneration in which talapoins are publicly held, they are exempted from contributing to public charges, tribute, corvées, and military service. it is an immense favour, particularly among the nations of eastern asia, where the rulers look upon their subjects as mere slaves and tools under their command for executing the absolute orders of their capricious fancy. under the present ruler of burmah, the fathers and mothers of phongyies are benefited by the fact of their sons being in a monastery. they are exempted from paying taxes, and are treated with some attention by the officials who wish to ingratiate themselves in the favour of his most buddhist majesty. they have often the honorary affixes joined to their names.

in concluding this notice, we will briefly sketch the actual situation of the talapoinic order in those parts where we have had the opportunity of observing it, and will allude to the causes that have operated in seducing it into vices, abuses, and imperfections which are lowering[314] it greatly in the opinion of all foreigners and of a few well-informed natives.

the first and principal cause that has brought the society into disrepute and opened the door to numberless abuses is the total absence of discernment in the selection of the individuals that seek for an admittance therein. every applicant is indiscriminately received as a member of the brotherhood. no previous examination takes place for ascertaining the dispositions, capacity, and science of the postulant. no inquiry is ever made regarding the motives that may have induced him to forsake the world and take so important a step. his vocation is exposed to no trial. he has but to present himself and he is sure to be immediately received, provided he consent to conform exteriorly to the usual practices of his brethren. no account is taken of his former conduct. the very fact of his applying to be admitted into the society of the perfect atones amply for all past irregularities. the only respectability inherent in the modern talapoins is that derived from the sacred yellow dress he wears. it may aptly be said of him that he is monk by the fact of his wearing the canonical dress. the houses of the order are, in many instances, filled with worthless individuals totally unfit for the profession, who have been induced by the basest motives to enter into them, chiefly by laziness, idleness, and the hope of spending quietly their time beyond the reach of want, and without being obliged to work for their livelihood. in confirmation of this, i will mention the following instance. during the second year of my stay in burmah, i had with me, in the capacity of servant, an old stupid native. on a certain day he gravely told me that he intended to leave my service and become a phongyie. i laughed at first at what i considered to be very presumptuous and impertinent language. the old man, however, kept his word. having left my house a few days after our conversation on the subject of his new vocation, i heard no more of him till it happened a few months after that i met him in[315] a monastery, attired in the full dress of a phongyie, and so proud of his new position that he hardly condescended to put himself on a footing of equality with his former master.

ignorance prevails to an extent scarcely to be imagined among the generality of the phongyies. i have met with a great number of laymen who were incomparably better informed, and far superior in knowledge to them. their mind is of the narrowest compass. though bound by their profession to study with particular care the various tenets of their creed and all that relates to buddhism, they are sadly deficient in this respect. they have no ardour for study. while they read some book, they do it without attention or effort to make themselves fully acquainted with the contents. there is no vigour in their intellect, no comprehensiveness in their mind, no order or connection in their ideas. their reading is of a desultory nature, and the notions stored up in their memory are at once incoherent, imperfect, and too often very limited. they possess no general or correct views of buddhism. i never met with one who could embrace the whole system in his mind and give a tolerably accurate account of it. the only faculty that they cultivate with great care is memory. it is surprising to hear them repeating by heart the contents of a book they have studied. as the number of books is very limited in countries where the art of printing has not been introduced, the pupils of the monasteries are compelled to commit to memory the greatest portion of the books they study. he who has lived in burmah must have often heard, to his great surprise, laymen repeating, during sometimes a whole hour, formulas in pali, or religious stories in burmese, which they had learned in the school, or when they had put on the monkish habit.

phongyies are fond of exhibiting their knowledge of the pali language, by repeating from memory, and without stammering or stumbling, long formulas and sentences; but i have convinced myself that very few among them[316] understood even imperfectly a small part of what they recited. those who enjoy popularly a reputation for uncommon knowledge affect to speak very little, show a great reserve, despising as ignorant the person that approaches their abodes or holds conversation with them. but silence, which in a learned man is a sign of modesty, is too often with them a cloak to cover their ignorance, and a cunning device for disguising pride under the garb of humility. the latter virtue, though much recommended in the wini, is not a favourite one with the talapoins. it is indeed impossible that they could ever understand or practise it, since they are unacquainted with the two great ways that lead to it, viz., a profound knowledge of god and a thorough knowledge of self. talapoins, who are distinguished among their brethren for their great austerity of manners and more perfect observance of their regulations, are the most unpleasing beings the writer has ever met with.

they are cold, reserved, speaking with affected conciseness: their language is sententious, seasoned with an uncommon dose of pretension. sentences falling from their lips are half finished, and involved in a mysterious obscurity, calculated to fill with awe and admiration their numerous hearers; a certain haughtiness and contempt of others always shows itself through their affected simplicity and humble deportment. vanity and selfishness, latent in their hearts, force themselves on the attention of an acute observer. in their manners they are occasionally so affected by a ridiculous reserve that one might be tempted to think that their brain is not quite sound. talapoins, in general, entertain a very high idea of their own excellence; and the great respect paid to them by the people contributes not a little to foster it, and make them believe that nobody on earth can ever be compared to them. to such a height has their pride reached that they believe it would be derogatory to their dignity to return civility for civility, or thanks for the alms people bestow on them.

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the most striking feature in the character of the talapoins is their incomparable idleness. we may say that, in this respect, they resemble their countrymen, who are very prone to that vice. two causes of a very different nature seem, in our opinion, to act together on the people of these countries to produce such a result. the first is a physical one; the heat of the climate, coupled with a perpetual uniformity in the temperature, producing a general relaxation in the whole system, which is never combated or counteracted by an opposite action or influence. the second cause is a moral one, the tyranny of the despotic governments ruling over the populations of eastern asia. property is everywhere insecure. he who is suspected of being rich is exposed to numberless vexations on the part of the vile satellites of tyranny, who soon find out some apparent pretext for confiscating a part or the whole of his property, or depriving him of life, should he dare to offer resistance. in such a state of things every one is satisfied with the things of first necessity. want forms the strongest tie that binds together individuals and races, and at the same time holds out the most powerful incentive to exertion. the people of these parts have but few wants, and therefore they lack inducement to labour for acquiring anything beyond what is strictly necessary. emulation, ambition, the desire of growing rich, which are the main springs that move man to exertion, disappear and leave him in an abject and servile indolence, which soon becomes his habitual state, and the grave wherein is entombed all his moral energy.

like their countrymen, phongyies are exposed to the influence of the above causes, but their mode of life is a third additional reason why they are more indolent than others. they have not to trouble or exert themselves for the articles required for their subsistence and maintenance; these are abundantly supplied to them by their co-religionists. they are bound, it is true, to read, study, and meditate; but their ignorance and laziness incapacitate[318] them for such intellectual exercises. they remain during the best part of the day sitting in a cross-legged position, or reclining, or sleeping, or at least attempting to do so. they occasionally resume the vertical position to get rid of ennui, one of their deadliest enemies, and by repeated stretchings of arms and legs, and successive yawnings, try to free themselves from that domestic foe. the teaching of their scholars occupies a few of them for a short time in the morning and in the evening. they are often relieved from their mortal ennui by visitors as idle as themselves, who resort to their dwellings to kill time in their company.

to keep up respectability before the public, the rahans assume an air of dignity and reserve. they avoid all that could lead them into dissipation. exterior continence is generally observed, and though there are occasional trespasses, it would be unfair to lay on them generally the charge of incontinence. their life so far may be considered as exemplary. though partly divested of that open-heartedness which is a peculiar characteristic of their countrymen, they are tolerably kind and affable with strangers. they, however, cannot relinquish in their conversation with them a certain air of superiority, inspired by the admiration of self and the high opinion they entertain of their exalted profession and sacred character. they are unwilling to see them sitting unceremoniously close to themselves; and when this cannot be avoided, they seek for an opportunity of removing to another place a little more elevated than that occupied by the visitor, as it would be highly unbecoming that laymen should ever presume to sit on a level with a recluse. such a step would imply a sort of equality between them both, which is never to be dreamt of. their smooth and quiet countenance, their meek deportment, are, as it were, slightly fretted with a certain roughness and rudeness peculiar to individuals leading a retired life, and estranging themselves, to a certain extent, from the place of society.

in the foregoing pages we have endeavoured to give a[319] faithful account of the great religious order existing in countries where genuine buddhism is the prevailing creed. we have been obliged, for the sake of truth, to mention many abuses that have slowly crept into it; but we never entertained the slightest intention of casting a malignant contempt or a sneering ridicule upon its members. most sincerely we pity those unfortunate victims of error and superstition who are wasting their time and energies in the fruitless pursuit of an imaginary felicity. no language can adequately express the ardour and intensity of our desires, sighs, and prayers to hasten the coming of the day when the thick mist and dark cloud that encompass their souls shall be dissipated, and the sun of righteousness shall shed into them his vivifying beams. however deplorable their intellectual blindness may be, we always felt that they have a right to be fairly and impartially dealt with. the religious order they belong to is, after all, the greatest in its extent and diffusion, the most extraordinary and perfect in its fabric and constituent parts, and the wisest in its rules and prescriptions, that has ever existed either in ancient or modern times without the pale of christianity.