In a previous interview《A Different Style of Practice! Burmese Monk Naing Win: I Travel around the World by Making Friends》, Naing Win, lives in Yangon, Burma, had mentioned, the life of a monk is quite different from people’s imaginations. Most people have the stereotype that monk is related to restriction, desireless, chanting and shaven heads, but their lives might be better and funnier than we think.
About the life anecdote in Burmese, Naing Win couldn’t help but laugh and said “What I’m going to tell you will definitely blow up your mind.”
Monk Making Friends
Making friends is expensive. Sometimes you bought a suit, you showed up at a fancy feast, costing a lot of money only for a business card, frequently you will go bankrupt before you successfully make a friend. The way Naing Win makes friends is very unique. He indicated that he would love to walk to any place as long as it’s gathered with tourists because in that way he could meet people from all over the world, by exchanging the social media, he could make friends with people of different cultures and different languages.
What very hard to imagine included, he would be out for most of the time instead of being in a monastery which indeed let him make a lot of international friends. He shared one of his experiences “Through one serendipity I met an asian dude, due to his terribly wrong way of Buddha, I got a chance to correct him immediately”
At that time, Naing Win guided the traveler to completely accomplish the Buddha. Afterwards, Naing Win asked the traveler to have pizza with him which established their friendships by sharing stories and eating together.
Speaking of which, Naing Win said humorly “Check it out! The way I make friends on foot is so environmentally friendly, zero carbon emission, zero cost. In Bruma we are also aware of the ESG, the businessmen aren’t the only ones who are promoting it, so do the monastery, temple and me! A little monk can also do the contribution as well.” Everyone laughed out loud after this conversation.
The Example of Enjoying Life
Naing Win told us that after the dinner, he enthusiastically took him to buy the specialities in Burma and invited him to his monastery. According to his description, the true feature of the monastery can make people’s jaw drop, “As soon as I showed him the 32 inch LCD TV, the look on his face was the best!”
Naing Win recalled his memory, indicating that it was because his roommates were out for fun that he wandered around the Shwedagon Pagoda. If he didn’t meet the traveler, he’d probably stay in a nearby four-star hotel for two nights. Naing Win showed the reporter the selfies about his trips to different bars and hotels, enjoying the feast and SPA.
“The expression on your faces look exactly the same to the traveler! By the way, I was in a microfilm which is about the Burmese culture based on my life.” Naing Win said “Besides that, I also love photography,” in the meanwhile he showed his works to us. “Some of the media even asked me for the authority to utilize them!”
Being A Monk Is Necessary
In Bruma, “Be Monk” is essential to most of the male, to them, it is equal to the rites of passage, it’s odd for a man to not be a monk. Due to the stereotype, in many people’s imaginations, a monk’s life might be plain and even boring to them, but I believe after knowing Naing Win’s life and trips, your perspective will change eventually.
More from《The Icons》:
A Different Style of Practice! Burmese Monk Naing Win: I Travel around the World by Making Friends
