Maung Htin Aung Boeken

The tales contained in this collection were first told in the dark decade of Burmese history (1876-85) during the coming event of the British conquest. The stories combine exotic background with strong details that offer the Western reader both a picture of Burma in the nineteenth century and an understanding of the basic good sense, gaiety, and gentleness of the Burmese people and the Buddhist clergy. The characters that appear in the book illustrate timeless truths about human nature, which today's reader can apply to existing people and situations. For the first time since the eleventh century the future of Burmese Buddhism became uncertain, and there was widespread fear, both in Upper Burma still under a Burmese king and in Lower Burma already under British rule, that the final fall of the Burmese kingdom would result in the total extinction of both the national religion and the Burmese way of life. Told with the purpose of allaying this anxiety and fear, these tales give a full and faithful résumé and appraisal of the position of Burmese Buddhism on the eve of the British conquest of 1886. (Note: This title was previously published under ISBN 9781681720487. Due to technical issues a new ISBN had to be assigned. Rest assured that both versions of this title are exactly the same.)

A work on the integrating power of Burmese Buddhism. When Theravada Buddhism became the national religion in the 11th century there already existed a number of primitive religious cults, the most important and most popular of which were the worship of nat spirits, astrology, and alchemy. In addition there also existed Mahayana Buddhism and Tantric or magical Buddhism. All the different cults were given an artificial unity by the fact that they were all under the patronage of the Ari monks. These Ari monks had some acquaintance with the Buddhist scriptures, gloried in the name of Buddha, and wore dark brown robes and conical hats. But they also presided over the nat spirit festival at which hundreds of animals were sacrificed. The nine chapters of this book deal folk elements in Burmese Buddhism; the nine Gods; the feast of the New Year; the cult of alchemy; the cult of the magus; the Lord of the Great Mountain; the thirty-seven Lords; initiation ceremonies; and the Ari monks and the introduction of Buddhism.