THE onset of the southwest monsoon is also a harbinger of the arrival of the three-month Buddhist Lent period, which starts on the full moon day of the lunar month of Waso, or July 6.
The Lenten season is a time when monks stay close to their monasteries and avoid overnight trips. Many laypeople adhere more closely than usual to the Buddhist Precepts, and no pagoda festivals are held during the period.
Lent is also the season for documentary films about the life and works of influential Buddhist monks, which are aired in serial format on Myawaddy TV.
One fan of the documentaries, 69-year-old Daw San Ngwe, said she was grateful to have the chance to learn more about the lives of famous Buddhist monks.
“The films help us remember the famous sayadaws, and we can watch and hear their sermons. We watch the films not for pleasure, but for religious purposes,” she said.
U Chit San Win, a scriptwriter for the documentary films, said people owed a debt of gratitude to the famous sayadaws for spreading the Dhamma (teachings of the Buddha).
“We should be thankful to these Buddhist leaders not only for teaching the Dhamma, but also for educating people about culture, literature, medicine and ways of living,” he said. “We shoot these films to record the activities of the sayadaws as well as to educate the audiences about them.”
U Chit San Win said the documentaries were especially important for teaching young people about the great contributions that famous sayadaws have made to the perpetuation of Sasana (institutions founded on the Buddha’s doctrines), culture and literature.
Daw Myint Myint Kyi, a film editor at Myawaddy TV, said film could be a powerful medium for conveying the lessons of Buddhism.
“Many people are more interested in films than in books. The films can show the contributions that these sayadaws made to Theravada Buddhism so that the public can appreciate them,” she said.
She said the filmmakers try to be as accurate as possible with the documentaries, even shooting in locations where their subjects actually lived and visited.
“Shooting documentary films isn’t an easy task. We devote much time to finding facts and casting actors who resembles the real-life sayadaws because we want to educate the people about the specific sayadaw depicted in the film,” Daw Myint Myint Kyi said.
“We also find copies of the actual speeches and sermons to include in the documentaries, which the public really appreciates,” she said.
“Biographies have been written on many of these sayadaws, but they can be hard to find because many are out of print. By seeing the monks in action in the documentaries and hearing their words, audiences can get their message very easily,” she said.
Members of the production teams said that they considered making these documentaries to be a kind of meritorious deed because they are performing a religious duty by helping to educate the public and maintaining the Sasana.
Past releases have included documentaries on Mingun Sayadaw, Amarapura Mahar Gandaryone Sayadaw, Ledi Sayadaw and Mogok Sayadaw.
The film about Amarapura Mahar Gandaryone Sayadaw has been subtitled in English, and the others are expected to be upgraded soon. Myawaddy TV is working on films about other well-known sayadaws.
The documentary on Mingun Sayadaw was the first, with shooting starting in 1996 and taking four years. It consists of 26 episodes detailing the life of the Buddhist leader who was instrumental in convening the Sixth Buddhist Synod at Kaba Aye Cave in Yangon in 1954.
