Leaving Mao Jue Temple, returning to the lake to watch the sunset. The sun slowly hid on the other side of the mountain, dragging down long golden shadows on the lake surface.

The big trumpet-shaped fish basket on the fisherman's hand is a special local fishing tool. The basket has no bottom and the basket is a tight fishing net. The fisherman inserts the fish basket into the water and circles the fish in the center. Those fish that don't have time to escape will be stuck by the fishing net.

After the sunset, the sunset dyed the entire sky pink, and all this was reflected in the water. The fisherman's boats and fish baskets became the most beautiful embellishment of this lake at this moment.

The next day, I came to the largest monastery in Myanmar, from a 10-year-old novice monk to a 60-year-old abbot, and a great monk, there were about 2,000 monks. Among the Buddhists of various countries, the test system of Burmese monks is the strictest. Those who pass the Vinaya test are called the Vinaya holders.

Those who pass all the Tripitaka are called Tripitaka Master, which is the highest honor for Burmese monks. The monks here mainly study Buddhism and do not need to go out to beg for alms by themselves. Men must become monks once in their life, and the number of monks is not limited, the time can be long or short, at most a few years, at least a few months or even a week or two.

Only in this way can society recognize that they are adults, respected, and enjoy the right to get married after returning to secular life. Of course, they can also convert to Buddhism from then on. However, once a Burmese woman becomes a monk and becomes a nun, she will not be able to return to secular life.

A child wearing a white cassock is equivalent to an intern. He has to go through a period of study and labor. He can only change into a red cassock after passing the exam and officially enters the temple to practice.

When you enter the monastery, you will first pass a small bell tower. After turning in from the bell tower, there will be a large courtyard group. Houses with swaying trees are the dormitory classrooms of monks. It feels like a quiet paradise. Monks are studying Buddhism here and do not hear about the troubles of the outside world.

The so-called "Thousand Monks' Rice" is because there are the most monks here. At 10 am every day, the scene where thousands of monks gather together for lunch is quite spectacular.

At 10:15 am, the Buddhist Academy rang the bell on time, and thousands of monks walked from the dormitory from all directions to the path outside the restaurant. The appearance of this monastery is not special. Passing through the corridor in front of the bell tower, the end is the canteen, and on both sides of the corridor are places for monks to study and stay.

Every day at 10:30, everything is like a performance. Tourists from all over the world hold their cameras around the monks' team, shoot at the entire ceremony, and have various long spears and short cannons. Over time, this place has become a famous must-visit attraction. It was originally a normal life for monks, but because of the gradual increase in tourists, it has evolved into a commercial performance?

The monks seem to be used to it. Although they are not rejected, they will not easily be photographed. The walking monks dodge, lower their heads, or simply turn their backs, or look ahead with expressionless faces, in short, they will not give tourists a good look.

Looking at their feet, the young monks have deformed their feet because they walk barefoot every day, and the marks left by Burmese mosquitoes on their bodies.

The monks were begging for barefoot and were moving forward slowly and without expression. During this period, the monks and believers had no communication, but just silently accepted the alms of the believers. The monks' alms begging bowls were also diverse, such as candy, bread, glasses, coins, books, etc.

This is a Hinayana Buddhist country. Monks must strictly abide by not eating after lunch and begging for food. They can only eat two meals a day, one meal at 4 a.m. and one meal at 10 a.m. From afternoon to midnight, they will no longer eat anything except drinking water.

I heard that monks with higher status in Buddhist colleges would eat alone, not only rich food, but also serve them. Monks with lower status sat row by row on both sides of long tables, eating silently without any sound. Many monks did not eat in the cafeteria, but just sat for a while and left with their own food.

At the entrance of the canteen is surrounded by a group of people who make a living by giving alms. Whether tourists or monks, they will distribute the food they donated that day. Even a few pieces of candy will show a real and satisfying smile.

In this country, the issue about monks is quite subversive, such as eating meat and having a wife. Of course, you can return to secular life, but you can also become a monk at any time. When a person wants to be a monk, his parents must agree. If he has already started a family, his wife must agree, and if he has a job, his boss must also agree.

So in our country, every time the Golden Week holiday, all the attractions are overcrowded, while in Myanmar, every time the holiday is overcrowded, because many people use their holidays to go to temples to be short-term monks, and they don’t return to the secular world to continue working until the holidays are over.

Having a wife does not mean that when a person is a monk, he can go home every day to live a husband-and-wife life, but that after a person gets married, he can still go to the temple to be a monk, but at this time his wife needs to agree.

When this person is a monk in a temple, he must follow the monk's lifestyle, eat and live in the temple, go to the vegetarian food every morning, etc. until he is not a monk after he is secular, and he is still a husband and wife with his wife after he is secular.

There was once a popular saying: There are only two colors in Burmese TV, green and orange. Green refers to the army, while orange refers to the monk's robe.

Under the long-term influence of Buddhist thought, we are kind and generous. In Myanmar, people raise funds almost every day and give alms. Alms have become a habit of Burmese people. They do not pay attention to the value of goods but pay attention to whether they are willing.

There is a saying: A sincere person can give alms like a banyan seed to get a big reward like a banyan tree; a dishonest person can only accumulate merit as small as a banyan seed.

If you can give passers-by a cup of cool and clean water in the hot summer, it is a very virtuous thing. So, you will see that at the entrance of Burmese people at the city bus stop, or in places such as parks and pagodas, there are always water jugs and water cups filled with clear water for passers-by to drink.

Alms and donations can be seen everywhere. Tens of thousands of pagodas and countless temples were built by people; the vegetarian robes and daily necessities of 320,000 monks and nuns across the country were donated by believers; even the pavilions and stone benches for tourists to take a break in the awning park of the buses in the city were built by believers, and the names of the donors were engraved on them.

Many people’s greatest wish in their lives is to donate money to build a pagoda, and they are reluctant to give up food and clothing. When they die, they donate all their savings to build a pagoda before they can fulfill their wish.
Chapter completed!