Myanmar (CNN)We arrive at the monastery via a pickup truck that doubles as a bus in Amarapura township of Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, for an unusual sightseeing activity.
I actually didn't know of the existence of the monastery here until I overheard a group of fellow travelers talking about the place over breakfast.
They described it as a place you went to, ahem, watch the monks eating lunch in the morning.
Sounded a bit like a "tourist zoo," but I decided to go along.
I'm pleasantly surprised when we arrive.
The Mahagandhayon Monastic Institution is airy and tranquil with beautiful wooden buildings, arrayed like courtyard houses, set away from the main road.
As we move further into the monastery, others tourists and visitors become more noticeable.
The monks walk around in their rouge robes, seemingly oblivious to our presence, although I do detect a slight hint of ambivalence.
Then the "show" starts.
The monks line up along the street, clutching what look like urns -- these are actually containers for food.
The tourists snap away, myself included.
Snap, snap, click, click.
Told not to get in the way of the procession of monks, bystanders crowd the sidewalks, elbowing and pushing to get the best shot.
As the monks start walking, a frenzy of flashes from cameras raised aloft becomes audible.
I notice a slight reluctance among some visitors -- a few keep their hands off their cameras, their heads slightly lowered, as if wanting to keep their dignity by differentiating themselves from the tourist paparazzi.
A German voices doubts to his tour guide about how the "spectacle" seems intrusive and insensitive.
His tour guide says the monks have gotten used to the commotion, the way dogs are trained to certain behaviors.
The comment isn't derogatory, but rather explanatory.
Another visitor on a blog says: "It is actually embarrassing, as if we were watching animals being fed."
After the monks have eaten, the tourists dissipate and the monastery becomes a quiet sanctuary again.
The whole event is odd.
Is this an organic local ritual that's grown into a full-blown attraction?
Or a monastery opening itself up for the promise of tourist dollars through a contrived spectacle?
I decide to return the following day to find out.
Arriving in the afternoon allows me to see the monastery in another light.
Nary a tourist can be found -- the atmosphere is serene.
Located near the scenic U-Bein Bridge, reportedly the world's longest teak footbridge, the monastery is sometimes known as the Maha Ganayon Kyaung.
Founded in 1914, the complex is home to more than 1,500 monks.
Visitors can walk the grounds freely and even attend talks and lectures.
As I sit down on a wooden platform, scribbling in my notebook, a monk approaches to ask what I'm doing.
His name is Ashin Pannadhaya, 26 years old.
He's lived in the monastery for six years.
I ask what the monks think of the tourists.
I'm expecting Buddhist mildness but his reply is blunt.
"I feel disturbed when I see unexpected trouble with the tourists," says Pannadhaya, using the English he's been studying.
"Some tourists very nice, some very bad. They take photo crazily and extremely."
"Lunchtime very private time," he adds. "They take photos, we very disturbed."
The monks wake up at 4 a.m. every day, have breakfast at 5 a.m. and begin lessons at 6 a.m.
Lunchtime is 10:15 a.m. And then they're forbidden from eating from noon until breakfast the next day.
Another monk joins us, Ashin Zavana, 22 years old.
He says it gives him a shameful feeling to be photographed during his lunch hour.
Myanmar has been enjoying a well-documented surge in tourism in recent years.
With an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 monks among a population of 53 million people, Myanmar's Buddhist culture is one of the biggest draws for visitors.
Temple and monastery visits are popular photo ops.
The appearance of tourists affects the monks' daily life, says Pannadhaya, especially the groups that come to see them eat.
He says the monastery's newfound popularity is unexpected and not initiated by the monastery.
And tourism may not necessarily be helping the monastery, as some may think.
Pannadhaya explains that the monastery relies on donations -- currently, most of those come from local devotees.
Tourists don't usually donate to the temple after visiting.
Mahagandhayon Monastic Institution is open to public.
To avoid the crowds, the best time to visit is in the afternoon.
It's also the time when spontaneous conversation is most likely to happen.
The information center can help you make a donation to the monastery. Receipts for donations are available.
Mahagandhayon Monastic Institution, 80 meters west of U-Bein Bridge, Amarapura, Mandalay, Myanmar; no entrance fee
A mindful being is one with clearmindedness and openheartedness, surely as moon wanes and waxes, as similarly human relationships evolve and move, surely too one becomes mindful as one learns and grows from a mindful community?
In the time of the Buddha, mindfulness in the society and community is encouraged, and this means not only associating with good people, but also learning from them and emulating their good qualities.
[The Blessed One said:] "There are these four qualities, that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in this life. Which four? Being consummate in initiative, being consummate in vigilance, admirable friendship, and maintaining one's livelihood in tune.
"And what does it mean to be consummate in initiative? There is the case where a lay person, by whatever occupation he makes his living — whether by farming or trading or cattle tending or archery or as a king's man or by any other craft — is clever and untiring at it, endowed with discrimination in its techniques, enough to arrange and carry it out. This is called being consummate in initiative.
"And what does it mean to be consummate in vigilance? There is the case when a lay person has righteous wealth — righteously gained, coming from his initiative, his striving, his making an effort, gathered by the strength of his arm, earned by his sweat — he manages to protect it through vigilance [with the thought], 'How shall neither kings nor thieves make off with this property of mine, nor fire burn it, nor water sweep it away, nor hateful heirs make off with it?' This is called being consummate in vigilance.
"And what is meant by admirable friendship? There is the case where a lay person, in whatever town or village he may dwell, spends time with householders or householders' sons, young or old, who are advanced in virtue. He talks with them, engages them in discussions. He emulates consummate conviction in those who are consummate in conviction, consummate virtue in those who are consummate in virtue, consummate generosity in those who are consummate in generosity, and consummate discernment in those who are consummate in discernment. This is called admirable friendship.
"And what does it mean to maintain one's livelihood in tune? There is the case where a lay person, knowing the income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my income.' Just as when a weigher or his apprentice, when holding the scales, knows, 'It has tipped down so much or has tipped up so much,' in the same way, the lay person, knowing the income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my income.' If a lay person has a small income but maintains a grand livelihood, it will be rumored of him, 'This clansman devours his wealth like a fruit-tree eater.'[1] If a lay person has a large income but maintains a miserable livelihood, it will be rumored of him, 'This clansman will die of starvation.' But when a lay person, knowing the income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my income,' this is called maintaining one's livelihood in tune.
"There are these four qualities that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in lives to come. Which four? Being consummate in conviction, being consummate in virtue, being consummate in generosity, being consummate in discernment.
"And what does it mean to be consummate in conviction? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones has conviction, is convinced of the Tathagata's Awakening: 'Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy and rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge and conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine and human beings, awakened, blessed.' This is called being consummate in conviction.
"And what does it mean to be consummate in virtue? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abstains from taking life, abstains from stealing, abstains from illicit sexual conduct, abstains from lying, abstains from taking intoxicants that cause heedlessness. This is called being consummate in virtue.
"And what does it mean to be consummate in generosity? There is the case of a disciple of the noble ones, his awareness cleansed of the stain of miserliness, living at home, freely generous, openhanded, delighting in being magnanimous, responsive to requests, delighting in the distribution of alms. This is called being consummate in generosity.
"And what does it mean to be consummate in discernment? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones is discerning, endowed with discernment of arising and passing away — noble, penetrating, leading to the right ending of stress. This is called being consummate in discernment.
Dighajanu (Vyagghapajja) Sutta: To Dighajanu
Notes
1.
Commentary: one who shakes more fruit off a tree than he can possibly eat.
Dighajanu (Vyagghapajja) Sutta: To Dighajanu" (AN 8.54), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.054.than.html