The last few decades have seen Buddhism spreading and flourishing in the Western world, and becoming established in the lives and hearts of many people from cultures very different from where the teachings originally came. Many of these people feel the need to have contact with teachers and practitioners from the East and, as part of the process of deepening their own spiritual development, want to have some understanding of the culture and traditions of the countries where Buddhism began. One such country is Myanmar. But due to the political situation there it had been closed to Westerners for over three decades, opening up again only as recently as 1990. So although there are many Myanmar teachers in the West, still Westerners have not been able to go and 'see for themselves' and consequently they have little real understanding for how Buddhism is actually practised there.
I firmly believe that people visiting Myanmar from the West will be astonished at the vibrancy that Buddhism has there, and how sincerely the ordinary people integrate its practices and ideals into their everyday life in a natural harmony that seems almost effortless. In Myanmar today there are over 400,000 monks and 75,000 nuns, 6,000 viharas and countless pagodas. About 1,000 of the viharas serve as educational institutions for the monastic community. Some of the larger monasteries have over 1000 monks studying the Buddhist scriptures and meditation practices. It is interesting that nuns in Myanmar have a much higher status than in some other Eastern countries. Myanmar has the largest number of nuns of any country in the world.
They are well respected by their own people and have their own monastic and meditation centres; these being independent institutions in their own right. Many nuns have an equal or greater level of spiritual and scholarly attainment as the monks. One monastery in Mandalay has 2,600 monks devoted to the study of the Pali Canon, The Commentaries and Sub-Commentaries. Monastic institutions of this type and size are unique in the world today and exist only in Myanmar. There are also several meditation centres, for both lay people and monastics, which can each cater for over 1,000 meditators. The ordinary people of Myanmar are very much involved in supporting all this. They support the existing institutions with great joy and generosity and every day new religious buildings are constructed. How Buddhism came to them originally and why it became so established in their hearts makes interesting reading.