COVID-19 in Myanmar: Monastic Edition

How is the coronavirus pandemic impacting monastics in Myanmar? This is precisely the question we set out to answer in this very special “Monastic Edition” of our COVID-19 in Myanmar series. The guests include:

· U Viveka, a Canadian monk studying under Sayadaw U Tejaniya, who is using the pandemic as an opportunity to examine his fear of death.

· Ashin Sarana, a Czech monk who was teaching in the USA when the pandemic hit, and returned to undergo a mandatory (and then self-imposed) period of quarantine at a Burmese monastery.

· Pabhassaro Bhikkhu, a Polish monk who found his ideal monastery just north of Yangon—only to be told he had to leave the country for visa reasons, but realizing this instability and unreliability is a core teaching of the Buddha.

· Ashin Dhammosadha, a German monk who finished his studies at Yangon’s Buddhist University before staying at Mahasi monastery, and who eventually found his way to a small monastery north of Yangon to begin an extended self-meditation retreat.

· Bhante Mokkhita, a German monk who runs the Mudita Foundation, supporting poor local families impacted by a loss of income due to the pandemic, and who reflects on the different ways that Westerners and Burmese approach the inevitability of death.

As part of this new series, in upcoming episodes we will explore how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting Burmese monastic society, and how it is impacting meditators around the world, and pushing meditation teachers to respond in new and innovative ways to the crisis as it unfolds. In this time of uncertainty and insecurity, we hope the voices that follow provide information and insight, and help awaken the seeds of wisdom within you.

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