Reciting the Tipitaka

Lan’s mentor nun told us that the predominant religion in Myanmar is called Theravada Buddhism, and that is what Lan is studying.  I was told that this school of Buddhism studies the Tipitaka, which are three large sets of Buddhist texts believed to be the earliest record of the Buddha's complete teachings.

A little history that we learned ...

Buddha lived around 500 B.C.  Shortly after his death, five hundred of his most senior monks convened to recite all the teachings they had heard during the Buddha’s life.  They accepted as “canon” those teachings they all remembered the same.  Where there were differences, they agreed upon a version with the most consistencies.  

Since these teachings were passed on orally to laypeople and other monastics, a Second Council of Monks came together later to again recite the lessons and reconcile any differences.  At the Third Council of Monks, the teachings were put down in writing for the first time.  

To this day, individual monks come together once each year to try to recite the entire Tipitaka from memory.  By happenstance, this was happening on the very weekend we were in Yangon!  So of course we went to observe.

A partial view of all those
 attempting to recite the Tipitaka

Called an examination, it takes place over several days.  The monks who are attempting to pass the examination recite each day for a non-stop four hour stretch. They take a break, and then recite for four hours more.  Two people listen as the one recites.  One is a scholar who follows along in the text word by word.  The second is a layperson who verifies that everything is done properly.  

Candidate recites four hours non-stop

If a monk can complete a recitation of one entire book, that book will “count” and need not be repeated.  



If even one mistake is made within a book, they must stop and wait another year before trying again -- from the beginning!  We were told that only thirteen people living today have completely and perfectly recited all three books of the Tipitaka.

But, that small number who've accomplished this didn’t stop monks from trying.  The examination was taking place inside a huge auditorium, with tiered seats for general observers and a main floor that held at least 100 of these triads of monk and listeners.   The drone of the recitations completely filled the space.