Burmese Buddhism in New York

U Indacara of the International Burmese Monks Organization at a protest in front of the New York Public Libary, commemorating the 3rd Anniversary of the Saffron Revolution in Myanmar (2010).
Htamane is a glutinuous rice dish mixed with ginger, coconut, sesame, peanuts, and copious amounts of oil. The Htamane feast marks the first harvest of the year, in which the best crops are set aside to offer to the monks. It's believed that these particular ingredients combine to create a healthy warmth in the body during the chilly season. Preparing htamane takes several hours and the hands of many temple members.
Htamane is a glutinuous rice dish mixed with ginger, coconut, sesame, peanuts, and copious amounts of oil. The Htamane feast marks the first harvest of the year, in which the best crops are set aside to offer to the monks. It's believed that these particular ingredients combine to create a healthy warmth in the body during the chilly season. Preparing htamane takes several hours and the hands of many temple members.
Ashin Indaka, head monk of the American Burmese Buddhist Association, based in Brooklyn's Universal Peace Buddha Pagoda. Photos of his final mentor, the influential Mahasi Sayadaw U Sobhana, are placed around the Buddha statue at the front of the room. In 1982, after two years of study at the Mahasi Meditation Center in Yangon, Ashin Indaka was sent to teach Vipassana meditation in Nashville. Mahasi Sayadaw died a few months later of a stroke.
The Metta Parami monastery, home to the All Burma Monks' Alliance, opened in August 2010.

The All Burma Monk's Alliance is comprised of monks who participated in the 2007 Saffron Uprising, a series of peaceful marches and demonstrations by monks in support of the oppressed people of Burma. Many of the monks were imprisoned and tortured, and many fled to Thailand as refugees. The ABMA fights for the release of imprisoned monks and raises awareness internationally about the plight of thier people.

Three of these refugee monks—two which were featured in the 2009 documentary Burma VJ—were resettled in Utica, NY in January 2009. Due to their frequent visits with the UN, Amnesty International, and the International Burmese Monks Organization, they moved down to Bed-Stuy in August 2010.
The ABMA monks and their guests from other area monasteries chant in procession to bless the new monastery, based in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Nay Tin Myint has lived in Elmhurst for two years after six months living in Mae Sot, Thailand. As a student leader for the National League for Democracy in the 80s, he was arrested and given a life sentence for speaking out on human rights and democracy. He served 15 years of this sentence, including 7 years of solitary, and was moved around to a total of 5 different prisons to prevent his discovery by human rights activists.

He and other student leaders were tortured, and many of his comrades committed suicide. Nay Tin Myint's faith helped him through this time; he meditated day and night until his release in 2005.

In 2007, before the Saffron Uprising, he took the bus out of Yangon, walked through the jungle, and emerged in Thailand. He lived in the NLD headquarters in Mae Sot until he was quickly resettled to the U.S. as a special case.
Ashin Agga Dhamma of the International Burmese Monks Organization greets a supporter at the Metta Parami monastery opening.
Dee Mantha, 68, is on his second temporary monkhood in three years at the Massachusetts temple, and comes to New York with the head monk for special events. Retired and with an understanding family, he goes into monkhood for a year at a time.

Dee felt compelled to leave Myanmar after the 1988 demonstrations against the regime. Educational quality had suffered drastically. Poverty was rampant. After the uprising, he sensed it would only get worse.

His parents had moved out of Burma in the 70s, and helped him obtain a green card. Like many people at the Universal Peace Buddha temple, Dee is of Chinese descent and states that Chinese-Burmese people had always been conscientious about helping their countrymen leave. Despite relative fluency in English, he was rejected from a job at McDonald's due to lack of experience. Eventually his work in Burma as an accountant helped him land a job at the New England Bank, and later Fleet.
33 temporary monks, adults and children, were initiated the weekend of August 7th, 2010 to honor Mahasi Sayadaw, spiritual leader of the Universal Peace Buddha Temple. The initiation ceremonies were led by the famous Dr. Ashin Kovida, visiting from Yangon.
Dr. Ashin Kovida teaches a young novitiate to put on his robes.
Ashin Vimala explains the regulations to the monk initiates. Many Burmese men go into temporary monkhood on a regular basis to re-affirm their Buddhist faith.
U Agga Nyana of the ABMA and some of his new neighbors in Bed-Stuy.
Before moving to Brooklyn, the monks of the ABMA lived in Utica, where with only a small Burmese community they were often forced to fend for themselves. All three monks now have driver's licenses—something frowned upon in Myanmar—but only U Gawsita is comfortable driving in the city.
U Gawsita of the All Burma Monks' Alliance attending ESL class in a Williamsburg public school.
The refugee monks of the All Burma Monks' Alliance attend ESL class in a Williamsburg public school.
U Pyina Zawta of the All Burma Monks' Alliance attends ESL class in a Williamsburg public school.
Praying at the Universal Peace Buddha Temple in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
After a recent eye-opening trip to Asia, Kevin became aware of the Loka Chantha Pagoda near his longtime home in New Jersey. He met the temple's head monk Ashin Pyinnya Thiha (facing camera) and undertook one year of meditation training. Kevin ordained as a temporary monk on Buddha Day at the affiliated Universal Peace Buddha Temple in Brooklyn.
Burmese temples in New York are also used for community gatherings. The Universal Peace Buddha Temple hosted a health fair with free medical check-ups administered by doctors and nurses from the community. The festivities included a small Burmese food market in the parking lot, sales at which raised funds for a new meditation center.
The Universal Peace Buddha Temple holds an event nearly every month. The day before each event, volunteers—many serving on the Executive Board of the America Burma Buddhist Association—prepare foods for the congregation to share. Special foods for the monks are prepared by individual donors and brought on the day of the event.
Many monks were forced to flee Myanmar after the Saffron Uprising in September 2007. Ashin Nyaninda spent 8 months teaching at Mae La and Umpium refugee camps in Thailand. He was resettled into a new home among Laotian monks in Georgia before eventually moving to Brooklyn.

The devout young man kneeling before him was a former monk who could not survive on alms once resettled in Virginia. Monks liken it to learning to become human for the first time.
Burmese communities create places of worship with the space available. The Buddhist Missionary Society in Jackson Heights houses a single monk; thus, events are held at the nearby P.S. 222 Christopher Santora School. Seated in a cafeteria rather than at the typical low round tables, the head monk of the BMS and his guests accept food offerings and chants from the donors.
U Agga Nyana of the All Burma Monks' Alliance explores jerk chicken at the West Indian Day Parade in Crown Heights. Burmese monks are not limited to types of foods they eat or by number of meals, but they must finish eating by noon.
The International Burmese Monks Organization was founded after the Saffron Uprising crackdown in 2007. The leaders are based around the globe, but the headquarters are in Elmhurst, New York.

The IBMO raises awareness about the plights of monks, nuns and laypeople who were tortured, imprisoned or killed during the demonstrations in an effort to increase international pressure on the junta. Dhamma classes are also held at the headquarters every Sunday afternoon.

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March 2009 - October 2010
Location: Prospect Heights, Bed-Stuy, Jackson Heights

Due to its high proportion of monks and the amount of time and money spent supporting religious activities, Myanmar is considered one of the most deeply-Buddhist countries in the world.

While many Christian refugees have left Myanmar due to religious persectution, those who immigrated voluntarily mostly maintain close ties to Buddhism. Approximately 1,000 Burmese live in New York, making it a supportive and tightly-knit community. There are currently 5 Burmese temples and meditation centers in Brooklyn and Queens, and an affiliated pagoda in New Jersey. The headquarters for the activist groups International Burmese Monks Organization and All Burma Monks' Alliance are also based in New York City. The majority of these photo were shot at The Universal Peace Buddha Temple in Prospect Heights.