Don't Make a Sign on the Boat, Stories from Burma
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About this ebook
A collection of stories from Myanmar (Burma), told by Sayadaw UNyaneinda, Abbot of the old Burmese Temple in Bodhgaya and written down in this form by Susanne Isabel Krajanek, born in Austria and living in Bodhgaya, India, for many years.
Hidden in most of the tales is some piece of advise, such as how to manage a certain situation, or to show how things generally turn out. Some are simply amusing in the Burmese way.
‘Don’t Make a Sign on the Boat’ is a well-known and well-loved proverb in Burma and very typical for the people’s Buddhist attitude of mind. It has much to do with our continuous attempt to preserve things, which are by nature transient and passing.
Between two variations with the same title, concerning young people just starting out on their life’s journey as the first story, and an old couple in the last, is set a rich variety of different themes, which also draw a beautiful picture of the daily life in the villages and small towns in the countryside along Burma’s Great River.
There are farmers, fishermen and storytellers, rich men and poor shopkeepers, the Joker, the King and the Wise Man, the Little One who challenges Wind and Rain and the Two Blind Men. Also, the Hunter, Tiger, Dog and Monkey teach us lessons. Always somewhere included is the Buddhist monastery, the monk and the gods of the rivers and trees.
Each one is not only a story, but also shows very common situations in life.
We clearly can see the love of the Burmese people for the fantastical and surreal, for their old gods and kings and for their Buddhist Tradition.
We find a mixture of simplicity and complex psychology. There are often sudden humorous twists and turns in the course of events, which seem rather absurd.
Some of the stories are quite old, but, if one forgets about the kings, they could happen today, because in the villages, in the life of the simple people, there has not changed that much.
Susanne Isabel Krajanek
Deutsch:Susanne Isabel KrajanekGeboren1952 in Wien, ÖsterreichTechnische Ausbildung für Industrielle Keramik, Baustoffe und Glas an einer technischen Schule in Wien.Da ich mich mehr zur Kunst als zu den Industrieanlagen hingezogen fühlte habe ich mein Studium an der Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Wien in der Meisterklasse für Keramik und Bildhauerei fortgesetzt.Während ich mit meiner Familie seit 1976, als ich das erste Mal mit meinem Mann und meiner ersten kleinen Tochter in Indien angekommen bin, die Pilgerrouten von Nordindien und Nepal bereist und an diesen Plätzen gelebt habe, sind sie zum Ursprung und Inhalt meiner Kunst geworden.Meine Vorliebe dabei gehörte immer den ursprünglichen Buddhistischen Überlieferungen und den alten Ikonographien der Mutter-Göttinnen.Seit vielen Jahren ist Bodhgaya in Nord-Zentralindien mein hauptsächlicher Aufenthaltsort geworden, alternierend mit langen Pilgerreisen in die Berge des Gharwal und Reisen nach Burma und Vietnam.Seit einigen Jahren hab ich auch mein eigenes Land Österreich wiederentdeckt und neu schätzen gelernt.Doch hauptsächlich geben mir die Berge, Flüsse und Tempel Nordindiens die Ideen für meine Bilder, aber die Geschichten, die ich sammle und erzähle stammen hauptsächlich aus Burma.Ausstellungen von Keramik und Skulpturen in WienAusstellungen von Bildern in Indien und ÖsterreichEine Sammlung Burmesischer Geschichten ist mein erstes Buch.English:Susanne Isabel KrajanekBorn 1952 in Vienna AustriaTechnical education as engineer for industrial ceramics , building materials and glass at a technical college in Vienna.More inclined to be an artist I continued my studies at the master's class for Ceramics and Sculpture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.Living and travelling on the pilgrimage routes of northern India and Nepal with my family ever since 1976 when I arrived in India for the first time with my husband and baby daughter , this places have become the 'native realm' and content of my art, my main love always going out to the original Buddhist teachings and the ancient iconographies of the Mother Goddesses.Since many years Bodhgaya in Bihar, north central India, has become the main place for me to stay, alternated with long pilgrimages in the mountains of Gharwal and travels to Burma and Vietnam.Since some years I have also learned to appreciate to spend time in my own country again.Mostly the rivers, mountains and temples of Northern India give me the ideas for my pictures, but the stories I have collected and like to tell have come to me mostly from Burma.Exhibitions of ceramics and sculptures in Vienna.Exhibitions of paintings in India and AustriaA collection of stories from Burma in German Language is my first book.
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