Burmese folk religion
Burmese folk religion(also known as Nat Worship by locals) refers to the animistic and polytheistic religious worship of nats (deities of local and Hindu origin) and ancestors in Myanmar (Burma).
[2] The king came to the realisation that he could not possibly stop these nats from being worshipped, so he created a formal list of 37, strategically renaming the head one, Thagyamin, which was a name of Buddhist origin.
A testament to the continued survival of Burmese folk religion can be seen by the fact that the prime minister of Burma in the mid 20th century, U Nu, erected a nat-sin (nat shrine) as well as a traditional Buddhist shrine.
The marriage of a nat and a nat-kadaw is done through an extremely elaborate ceremony titled Ley-Bya-Taik.
In this process mirrors are used to trap the soul (mentioned earlier) that leaves the host.
After this transformation is complete, the nat-kadaw dances, embracing their recent marriage with a nat.
The first step in these festivals is the donation of many offerings, usually consisting of a coconut, bananas, fruits, leaves and rice.
The beliefs and practices of folk faith vary widely across Myanmar, so it is difficult to define this religion exactly.
Several scholars in the 19th and 20th century have done field research in villages in Myanmar, their findings have then been reported by themselves, as well as recently by others in various books and articles.
Although it is difficult to determine what the precise beliefs and practices are, these anthropologists found several common trends that help give us a better picture of Burmese folk religion.
In contrast, Burmese folk religion holds that the soul can leave the body it inhabits.
[16] Melford Spiro remarks on an interesting difference with the concept of suffering in Burmese folk religion as opposed to Buddhism.
In contrast, folk faith places the cause of suffering on mischievous evil spirits.
Burmese folk religion also allows for a cure to suffering, in the form of supernatural help from magical people, or offerings to the spirits.
Burmese folk faith consists of many different kinds of festivals that all involve singing and dancing, drinking and merriment, or nat-pwes.
This idea of relieving stress and indulging in various pleasures is very different from the traditional doctrine of Buddhism, which emphasises losing all desires.
These traditional Buddhist practices offer a starkly different way of achieving religious consciousness.
In this instance, there is not some type of divine being, and folk religion is practised entirely separately from Buddhism.
Instead of adorning these nats with offerings and food, the most effort is put into fending evil spirits off.
[20] These exorcists, or ahletan hsaya, are said to possess powers that can fend away or challenge these evil demons.
As an interesting overlap with Buddhism, exorcisms can be performed by holding the Buddha up to the possessed person, in an effort to have the Nat flee.
