> Buddhism obviously goes way back in Myanmar (by the
> way, from reading Wiki I discovered Burma is more
> European and the name Myanmar has deeper roots), but
> I found this, excerpted from Wiki-encyclopedia, to
be
> an interesting exclamation of Buddhisms heightened
role
> in a societies not only search for identity, but
> seemingly push for identity.
>
> Source:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar
>
> "Colonial era (18861948)
>
>
> To stimulate trade and facilitate changes, the
> British
> brought in Indians and Chinese who quickly displaced
> the Burmese in urban areas. To this day Yangon and
> Mandalay have large ethnic Indian populations.
> Railroads and schools were built, as well as a large
> number of prisons including the infamous Insein
> Jail,
> then as now used for political prisoners. Burmese
> resentment was strong and was vented in violent
> riots
> that paralyzed Yangon on occasion all the way until
> the 1930s.[19] Much of the discontent was caused by
> a
> perceived disrespect for Burman culture and
> traditions, for example, what the British termed the
> Shoe Question: the colonisers refusal to remove
> their
> shoes upon entering Buddhist temples or other holy
> places. In October 1919, Eindawya Pagoda in Mandalay
> was the scene of violence when tempers flared after
> scandalised Buddhist monks attempted to physically
> expel a group of shoe-wearing British visitors. The
> leader of the monks was later sentenced to life
> imprisonment for attempted murder. Such incidents
> inspired the Burmese resistance to use Buddhism as a
> rallying point for their cause. Buddhist monks
> became
> the vanguards of the independence movement, and many
> died while protesting. One monk-turned-martyr was U
> Wisara, who died in prison after a 166-day hunger
> strike to protest a rule that forbade him from
> wearing
> his Buddhist robes while imprisoned.[20] Kiplings
> poem 'Mandalay' is now all that most people in
> Britain
> remember of Myanmars difficult and often brutal
> colonisation."
>
>
> If you read Kipling's poem, linked from the
> source, notice what seems to be Kipling's yearning
> of
> the east. Thoreau mentions the east. How far back
> this goes indeed...
>
> ...what exotic perfumes continue to tempt us.
> With Marco Polo and the spices, silk road,
> porcelain, opium, etc...
> these journeys brought to the courts of kings
> and queens
> Not only Columbus, Magellan, but the current
> corporate world sails the ocean blue
> the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
> The Japanese opened their door, in time,
> as the western business world seeded their
garden.
> And paleo-hunters and gathers walked here to see
> for themselves.
>
>
> SA
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