Description
Moving upstream on the broad Irrawaddy tide, the ocean liner approaches Rangoon, where the magnificent, gold-leafed Shwe Dagon pagoda welcomes it, rising spectacularly in the morning light. The traveler is immediately struck by the claim that this ancient shrine has stood for three thousand years. This claim, however, presents an intriguing anachronism, given that Buddhism itself was founded no more than twenty-five centuries ago, and its arrival in Burma even more recently.
Yet, this chronological discrepancy, based on “time-clocked occidental measurements,” causes no apparent embarrassment or confusion among the locals. For them, the Shwe Dagon embodies the “timeless eternity of the East,” where a few centuries’ difference in its immense history is considered a minor inaccuracy, secondary to the pagoda’s profound spiritual significance and enduring presence.
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