A Prayer for Continuity in Teknaf
When the garden's silence meets the quiet of dawn, U Nanda Loka, 50, begins his prayer of meditation and whispers. At 5.30 a.m. for thirty minutes he seeks blessings for all the people of the world, just as he has done daily for the past year since he took up the post of sole monk at the roughly 200-year-old Teknaf Buddhist temple.
While the temple grounds are largish the congregation is small. Only fourteen Rakhine families remain in Teknaf town, joined by a handful of other Buddhists who have moved there for work.
“There should be at least one monk,” says 19-year-old Mong Swui Thing, a Marma teenager from Ramu sent by his father, a farmer, to the temple's tranquillity to better prepare for school exams. He aspires to a government job eventually.
Due to the community's small size adjustments have been made. Where in a larger location it is customary for monks to walk through morning markets carrying pots into which people place food, all the monks will eat for that day; in Teknaf the fourteen families supply food provisions on a rotation basis.
“The issue is continuity,” says temple visitor Aung Kyaw Tha, “Temple goers are few but it doesn't matter; we want our religion to stay.”
Gautama Buddha said a quiet place has its own happiness, explains Tha. “Alone or with people, in town or village, no matter where, one keeps Buddha's teachings in mind to live peacefully.”
The temple complex of a main building raised on stilts in Rakhine tradition, a smaller temple and a golden stupa featuring a footprint of Buddha, is tucked away from the road, barely visible.
Once its grounds were larger but roadside portions were sold when many local Rakhine families moved to Myanmar in the 1990s.
Tea shop talk says the then-majority Rakhine community was favoured in the British era. There are tales of how Bengalis back then used to take off sandals to carry them underarm while passing a Rakhine shop in the bazaar, as a sign of respect. It was considered improper for a Bengali to wear a wristwatch or open an umbrella in front of a Rakhine house, people say.
Such talk of political history stands in contrast to the monk's views. When asked to speak of other religions he says, “Of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam I have no knowledge. I don't understand. I only do what Buddhism says.”
Central to his beliefs is the importance of avoiding envy or jealousy; one reason why it cannot be fruitful to consider how others practice religion. This tenet does not mean, however, neglecting concern for non-Buddhists. “Everyone in the world I will bless,” says the monk.
Similarly when I was foolish enough to ask his favourite food the monk struggled to answer. When the goal is to seek enlightenment away from the physical world, the question makes no sense. “What is given, I like,” he says, “My preference is nothing.”
By tradition monks eat only one plate of rice, without looking up to see what others are eating. A second serving is to risk gluttony; to see others eat risks envy. At Teknaf Buddhist temple the monk will eat nothing after midday lunch until the next morning's breakfast.
U Nanda Loka says he became a monk after his parents died when he was 16 years old. “I didn't like regular life anymore,” he says. With his two sisters married he moved to the temple.
Being a monk is not inherently a permanent position. It lasts “as many days as it makes you happy,” though most commonly it is for life.
In describing Buddhism, the monk refers to five principal tenets: don't kill because life is sacred; don't take what isn't yours; treat women respectfully; don't lie and; don't use stimulants including alcohol, drugs and betel leaf. “To explain more than these basic beliefs,” says the monk, “is to embark upon an ocean of knowledge.”
Each morning is spent reading texts, completing bath and lunch before retiring for thirty minutes' rest. In the afternoon is more prayer, while commonly of an evening people arrive seeking advice.
The pattern of each day is simplicity repeated right up until it meets again the quiet of dawn. Such Buddhist traditions are followed around the world, right back to the 4th – 6th century BCE time of Gautama Buddha. Teknaf's temple is but a footnote in a far greater continuity story.
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