Dr. Tin Win - The Pure and Open Teachings of the Buddha

“If you really know Myanmar, you must have visited Bagan. Only by knowing Bagan well can you truly examine yourself and your heart, whether you are truly Myanmar or not, and whether you are truly a Myanmar citizen who loves Myanmar. I have often heard that you can discover yourself. Yes, every region of our country is a place that has been recorded in history. But Bagan is especially recorded. That is why people say that you must have visited Bagan. Bagan is not the only place that has been recorded in Myanmar history. Foreign scholars and art lovers have also recorded Bagan in a special way. They have compiled books and books. When it comes to Bagan art, whether it is architecture, masonry, painting, sculpture, etc., it is not only different from each other, but also more beautiful than the other. Local and international scholars have submitted letters. It is too valuable to be casually said that even if one is lost, it will not matter. That is why each work of art, big or small, from the great buildings of Bagan, has a unique value.

The author received his PhD in Soviet Russia. During the Soviet era, Russia was a country where secularism flourished. However, the author's friends, Hungarian students, once told him that the Russian professor who was teaching them about secularism was already a Buddhist. Because the students used the same method in their country, and they had to take turns presenting about Buddhism. They had to present about Buddhism first, and then present their views and shortcomings of Buddhism. When they answered the oral question, the professor would close his eyes, smile, and nod his head while listening. When he was about to criticize Buddhism, he would say, "Okay, you've answered it perfectly, there's no need to talk about it later," and dismiss the class. The author, who is a Buddhist, was delighted to hear what his friends were saying.

Another time, I was even more excited when I read a book about Bagan in Myanmar written by a Russian. The book is called “A Museum City with Five Thousand Pagoda on the Banks of the Ayeyarwady River.” The author says that Bagan is different from other ancient civilizations. Because it is not just one, nor is it forty or fifty. Even though there were five thousand, the surviving works are not the same. The works do not represent the same era. As the eras change, the works also change, but in Bagan, there is a single group. He writes that Bagan should be called a museum city because it has such a diverse and beautiful collection of ancient buildings and works of art.

The older I get, the more I feel that a city like Bagan and the art of Bagan are so powerful and so great that we are still proud of them. I went up. I think it is good to be grateful for what they have, but in fact, my ancestors are so great that I can’t help but praise them. It is a blessing to be born in such a place. Being blessed, being happy, and being proud is not enough to fulfill my responsibilities. The idea that we need to take special care of this place and understand this place has been around for a long time. Is it only when we are lucky that we can do good work? It is easy to blame myself for thinking that we are in our own country, and if we are worried about the cost of medicine, we have spent too much on such unimportant things. The lucky moment was when the author turned 69 and made the decision to go to Bagan.

And so, I began my exploration of Bagan with a group of young people who were close friends. I started my journey to Bagan on January 24, 2008.

The author has been to Bagan many times. But he has not gone on a systematic study tour under the supervision of good teachers. When seeking knowledge, if the opportunity is good, it is best to continue to seek knowledge regardless of age. In addition to increasing knowledge, it is also a source of happiness. Knowing what you do not know is a sign of enlightenment. One thing to be careful about. The knowledge you learn should be full of content that can increase merit. It is necessary to study one thing after another so that you do not have time to talk about useless and meaningless words that pollute the mind. As you get older, you will find better ways to study than before. The people I have taught have modern and progressive views. The young people in our study group also help me, who am enthusiastic about my pursuit of knowledge, even in my old age. The older I get, the luckier I am. The young people (including my daughter) who are not jealous of the elderly's desire for knowledge, do not do anything to prevent or oppose me, who has only been 69 for two months when I started my journey. They do not say anything to make me miserable. They encourage me to learn everything I want to know, and they promise to help me learn everything I want to know, and they study with me in Bagan. They accompany me to every place I want to go. They are also young and old, and they are good at reading and studying, so it is not possible for young people like me to be helpful because they are old. They worry about details such as health problems, wrong places, etc. In addition, due to the nervous weakness that most elderly people have, they do not envy me and send me back to explain the location and information again. They also check and remind me if I am taking my medication correctly. At that time, like most older people do, I still use various excuses to avoid taking my medication.

Even though we were faced with the situation of being an elderly person, our team started at 7:30 a.m. every day and went to all the places worth visiting in the ancient site to study them.

The ancient city of Bagan, which is still beautiful with its religious buildings such as pagodas, caves, temples, and other religious buildings such as wells and ponds near the temples, can capture the three senses of the writer. While visiting and studying the caves, the statues, paintings, and sculptures on the walls of the caves are so beautiful that I can't help but say in my heart, "How beautiful!". The children can't take their eyes off the works of art and say, "Grandpa, you can do it too." The daughter also cried tears of joy when she saw her mother. She can feel the high level of architecture, the beauty of the sculptures, and the fine craftsmanship. If I had to express how I felt, I couldn't find the right words. The fact that the Burmese language is not perfect is because it cannot fully express the high cultural tradition that has existed since our ancestors. I want to say that the cultural works are so advanced that they cannot be measured in words. It is not like being able to create something like this is just a matter of knowledge and skill.

I believe that the artists' faith in religion, their dedication, and their deep respect for religion, their ability to immerse themselves in the religious art they create with great concentration, and their pure mind, which does not desire any material, privilege, or material possessions, other than the desire to make the art they create more alive, influenced their artistic creations.

Forgetting the issue of material value and the pride of knowledge, the sincere devotion of the great artists who offer their offerings to the Buddha with the single mind of establishing the five thousand religions can be estimated to be very noble. With what kind of mental strength and artistic power did they create such beautiful, perfect, and admirable works of art? With what kind of intelligence and mental power did they create such diverse and unique architectural and artistic works? They also said in their words, carefully looking at and offering all that remains of the cultural heritage.

The group of writers usually stop studying when the rain has stopped. While they are busy returning, the writer calls out if there is anyone left. After a while, the person whose name was called will come and leave, saying, "I'm here, I'm just playing here."