Questionable Karma in Myanmar
Unlucky ‘Good Luck’ Birds
Buying a bird’s freedom for merit in the next life
A Myanmar woman set up shop on the steps to the temple, a cage of restless, rustling birds besides her. It seemed a strange place to sell pets I thought, removing my shoes and socks to gain entrance to Shwedagon Pagoda. The pagoda is both a tourist attraction and active temple, adorned with 27 metric tons of gold leaf, thousands of gems, a 74-carat diamond and somewhere in the maze of brilliance, strands of Buddha's hair. From the stacks of shoes at the entrance, there were clearly many Burmese people inside. But I could not figure out what why the woman in front of the entrance was selling what I think were sparrows.
Glancing at the birds, I could not imagine anyone buying a pet before visiting a temple considered sacred by Myanmar Buddhists. Then the woman extended her closed hand toward me, and said what sounded like some number of kyats—Myanmar money. At first, I thought she was offering to safeguard my shoes for a fee. Then I saw one of the tiny birds in her hand. It looked like a sparrow but with flecks of yellow on its tiny head.
All became clear when a man walked up and handed the Myanmar equivalent of 50 cents to the seller in exchange for the release of one of the birds. The woman stuffed the money in a basket, flung the bird up and it flapped off away from the city. When I found someone to ask, the answer confirmed what seemed obvious. Birds are sold near Buddhist temples as part of a life release ceremony. A caged bird is freed into a public place as a way of generating positive karma for the person responsible for its release.
A Buddhist monk wearing an orange robe greeted me in English within the temple grounds. Like many Burmese, he wanted an opportunity to practice English and I seized the opportunity for an insider’s view of the sparrow’s ransom.
“They get merit for saving a life,” answered the monk. “The bird’s thanks come back to us as karma and the life of the rescuer is longer.”
The birds don’t see the merit
I didn’t understand how being released after captivity generated karma for the bird, but the monk kept glancing away nervously and was physically leaning toward the Pagoda. He did not seem to want to give me a class on karma.
“Should I have paid to release all those birds? Not for karma, but for the birds’ freedom?” Glen and I discussed it and I settled on the answer that a mass purchase would have encouraged bird sellers to capture more. I wasn’t sure if I should post this dispatch, not wanting to upset my many birding friends, nor be that person who judges things as good or bad in new situations. I realize it is a contradiction that while I respect the beliefs of others, my views on capturing wild birds for karma ransom would have required more than just one monk for translation. Because never mind the crowded cage conditions, those birds are trapped with nets which kill some number in the process. Birds that would otherwise pollinate fields, control insects, hatch and raise baby birds that would continue the life cycle of nature. And I believe that is what constitutes merit for a bird. The next time I see birds for sale at a temple, I am going to buy and free all the birds. Because really, the birds need to be free more than they need the karma.