From China to Myanmar, Once-Quiescent Creed Spurs New Campaigns

Buddhist monks protesting in Yangon. Unlike Islam and Christianity, Buddhism has often tended to stand aloof from politics but in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, China and elsewhere in Asia, different strands of Buddhism are a powerful spur to political activism. In September, long-fraying bonds between Buddhist clergy and the generals who run Myanmar snapped when monks took the lead in anti-government protests. (Photo: AP)

MUSCULAR MONKS

From China to Myanmar, Once-Quiescent Creed Spurs New Campaigns

November 7, 2007
By ANDREW HIGGINS
Wall Street Journal

After evening prayers on Sept. 18, the abbot of a small monastery in Myanmar's largest city convened the roughly 30 Buddhist monks in his charge. The bonds between secular and religious authority had broken, the abbot said. Then he gave the monks his blessing to take to the streets in protest.

That meeting, one of many held in monasteries across Myanmar in mid-September, helped turn a sputtering campaign of dissent led by secular democracy activists into a mass movement led by Buddhist clergy. The country formerly known as Burma erupted in the biggest wave of antigovernment demonstrations in nearly 20 years.

"We wanted to stay out of politics," says U Zawtiga, a monk at the monastery in Yangon, formerly Rangoon. But "how can religion thrive when the country is so desperate?" Mr. Zawtiga, active in the protests, fled Yangon after the military started shooting protesters on Sept. 27. He is now in hiding along Myanmar's border with Thailand. His abbot, he says, has been arrested.

The vanguard role of monks in the Burmese protests underscores a curious turn for a creed often associated with quiet contemplation. Unlike Islam and Christianity, Buddhism offers no clear scriptural mandate for revolt against unjust rulers. Rooted in nonviolence, a belief in rebirth and a conviction that salvation lies in the conquest of worldly desires, it has no tradition of crusades or jihad in service of an almighty God.

Across wide swathes of Asia, however, Buddhism has emerged as a powerful spur to political activism. Motives differ from place to place. So, too, do the strands of Buddhism involved. But in each case, the faith has taken the lead in often noisy campaigns for change.

The phenomenon extends from Tibet, where Buddhist monks have doggedly resisted Chinese rule, to Myanmar and several other countries of Southeast Asia, where monks have become a significant political force. Monastic activism has taken on a sinister tone in some places, particularly in Sri Lanka, where hard-line nationalist monks have formed a political party that wants all-out war against rebels of the mostly-Hindu Tamil minority.

In China, meanwhile, a Buddhism-tinged group called Falun Gong has eclipsed a moribund pro-democracy movement as the Communist Party's most determined foe.

Buddhism should "not run away from society but reform society," says Sulak Sivaraksa, a prominent Thai champion of Buddhist activism against poverty and injustice. Focusing on just meditation and the next life, he says, is "not Buddhism but escapism." In 1989, Mr. Sivaraksa helped found the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, a group of Buddhist activists that includes some from Myanmar and also Tibet.

Shocks of Modernization

Christopher Queen, a Harvard University religion lecturer, says the trend began in the latter half of the last century, a time when the shocks of modernization and war prodded many faiths to become increasingly political. Some Roman Catholics embraced "liberation theology" and Muslims increasingly turned to political Islam. For Buddhists, though, activism has involved a fundamental re-reading of their generally quiescent creed.

Buddhism holds that an individual's lot in life is determined by actions -- or karma -- in previous lives. This offers hope that evil leaders will pay a price for their misdeeds in a future life but provides little impetus for immediate action. As a result, for much of its history Buddhism has tended to shore up the status quo.

But Myanmar's current plight demands action in the here and now, says Bo Hla Tint, a Buddhist and member of Myanmar's government-in-exile. "We can't wait," he says. He adds that military strongman Gen. Than Shwe will face further punishment later -- with rebirth as a stray dog or an animal raised for slaughter. Rebirth as a household pet, says Mr. Hla Tint, "is too good for him."

A big factor pushing Myanmar's monks onto the streets is their own economic pain. Dependent on donations of food from an increasingly impoverished populace, monks are going hungry as public almsgiving declines. "If people are starving, how can they give to us? If they suffer, we suffer," says U Kaw Thala, 48 years old, another Yangon monk now moving between safe houses in the Thai-Myanmar border zone.

In contrast to secular activists, who are often easily silenced by arrests and intimidation, these faith-fired Buddhist campaigners have demonstrated tremendous stamina. Such perseverance is often helped by the fact that monks and nuns usually have no spouses or children to worry about. Activists also benefit from a loose but durable support network provided by their faith.

Mr. Zawtiga, the Yangon monk, entered the monkhood at the age of 7. Now 39, he has lived in five different monasteries and has a network of contacts across the country. During the September protests, he traded information with old monastic friends and helped coordinate street protests. His parents are both dead. Two of his brothers are abbots.

When the military started raiding monasteries the night of Sept. 26, Mr. Zawtiga took refuge at the home of a devout Buddhist. The next day, accompanied by two other monks, he traveled by bus to the border with Thailand. Local Buddhists gave him shelter and a set of orange-colored robes to help him pass himself off as a Thai monk. Burmese monks wear burgundy. Mr. Zawtiga stays in touch with monks in Yangon and elsewhere by cellphone.

"Everybody knew the military would use violence," he says. "This was not unexpected. We are not afraid." Students and other pro-democracy forces, he says, have been severely weakened by years of repression but "the Sangha [Sanskrit for Buddhist clergy] is getting stronger and more organized." Last week, more than 100 monks took to the streets again in Pakokku, a town in the center of the country. They chanted a Buddhist prayer associated with the democracy cause.

One of the better-known demonstrations of stalwart Buddhist resistance is in Tibet, a Buddhist theocracy until China invaded in 1950. Its monks again defied Beijing last month by celebrating the U.S. Congress's decision to award its highest civilian honor to the exiled Dalai Lama. Clashes were reported in several towns between Chinese security forces and monks.

Persistence and organization are also hallmarks of China's banned Falun Gong movement, a blend of Buddhism, Chinese folk religions and pseudoscience founded in 1992. After initially tolerating the group, authorities cracked down hard in 1999, branding Falun Gong an "evil cult" and arresting thousands.

Since then, the movement has taken up politics with gusto, promoting a political tract called "The Nine Commentaries," a denunciation of communism written in 2004. Falun Gong has no monks or clergy but, through a web of motivated and well-organized lay followers in Hong Kong and elsewhere, it continues to needle Beijing. A TV station and radio network run out of the U.S. beam anticommunist messages into China.

Toughened Resolve

The head of China's state-controlled Buddhist Association denounced Falun Gong, but a few activist Buddhists rallied to defend the group. Among them was Xu Zhiqiang, a protest leader during China's 1989 democracy movement who, after being released from jail, joined a Buddhist monastery. Buddhism, he says, offered him a sanctuary and also toughened his resolve.

In 2004, Mr. Xu helped in a civil suit filed on behalf of an imprisoned Falun Gong follower. He says he doesn't support Falun Gong's reading of Buddhism but does support religious and political liberty. Last year, authorities booted Mr. Xu out of his monastery, accusing him of corruption and "improper relations" with three female Buddhists. He denies the allegations.

Though often wary of Falun Gong's sometimes cultlike behavior, secular Chinese dissidents voice admiration for its staying power. Democracy campaigner Wei Jingsheng, who spent 19 years in Chinese prisons and now lives in exile in the U.S., isn't a believer but sometimes attends Falun Gong events outside China to show solidarity. At a big July rally in Washington, he looked out on a sea of anti-communist banners and said his own dwindling band of secular democrats "could never get a crowd like this."

Buddhists have moved beyond cloistered contemplation before. In medieval Japan, a time of political turmoil, monasteries ran their own armies. China, too, had warrior monks. Starting in the 13th century, China saw periodic rebellions stirred up by the White Lotus, a Buddhist sect greatly feared by rulers as a symptom of dynastic decline.

Generally, though, Buddhism has tended to support established power. This pattern dates back more than 2,500 years to the religion's founder, Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha or the "enlightened one." A north India aristocrat, he found spiritual liberation -- Nirvana -- through meditation under a tree. Unlike Jesus and Muhammad, he didn't challenge ruling elites.

Roughly two centuries after Siddhartha Gautama's death, King Asoka of India declared Buddhism a state religion. Since then, Asian rulers through the centuries have sought to emulate his example, supporting monasteries in return for the clergy's blessing of their rule.

Washington, struggling to beat back communism in Asia, also saw Buddhism as a potential force for stability. But in 1963, a Vietnamese monk set himself on fire to protest the anti-Buddhist bias of South Vietnam's U.S.-backed Roman Catholic president, Ngo Dinh Diem. Eager to calm Buddhist anger, the U.S. helped topple President Diem.

Even fanatical atheists have cloaked their rule in symbolism borrowed from Buddhism. In May 1975, shortly after their conquest of Cambodia, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot and his lieutenants retired to a Buddhist sanctuary, the Silver Pagoda, to plot a murderous program that would result in an estimated 1.6 million deaths and include the slaughter of many monks. Pol Pot slept on a raised dais previously used to display a statue of Buddha.

Burma, as Myanmar was known until 1989, has a particularly deep Buddhist heritage. According to Burmese tradition, the faith was first brought to the country by a mission sent by King Asoka in the third century B.C. When Britain seized Burma in the 19th century, loyalty to Buddhism helped rally resistance.

Since independence in 1948, Burmese leaders have all sought to revive the ancient model of close bonds between monastic and state power. More than 80% of the population is Buddhist. U Nu, the country's first prime minister, rebuilt temples and monasteries and, in imitation of King Asoka, held a Buddhist Council that brought together faithful from across Asia. After a 1962 coup brought the military to power, dictator Ne Win, a Buddhist inspired by Marx and Stalin, built two huge new pagodas -- but also purged the clergy of monks suspected of disloyalty.

Democrats tapped Buddhism, too. When students took to the streets in 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the democracy cause, visited Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda to call for an end to military rule. Monks joined the movement, which mushroomed into a peaceful mass uprising. In September 1988, the military crushed the protests. As many as 3,000 people died. Nine months later, on June 4, 1989, similar scenes played out in China, Burma's closest ally. Hundreds and possibly many more died when the army launched an assault on Tiananmen Square to end student-led protests.

In both China and Myanmar, democracy activists went into hiding, fled abroad or were jailed. In both countries, various strains of Buddhism helped fill the void as a vehicle for dissent.

China worked hard to shore up the Buddhist bona fides of its increasingly beleaguered allies in Myanmar. Starting in the mid-1990s, it arranged several times to have Buddha's tooth -- a relic greatly revered by Buddhists -- sent from China to Myanmar for display. Myanmar's generals built a special sanctuary to house the tooth and invested in other Buddhism-related construction projects.

The lavish spending on temples won over some monks but in general, ties between the state and the clergy continued to fray. Dissident monks set up the All Burma Young Monks Union to organize resistance to the junta. Ms. Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, reached out to elderly abbots and, while in detention, calmed her nerves by reading a book on the "liberation teachings" of Buddha.

The deepening economic crisis of recent years hit monasteries hard, pushing even apolitical monks toward activism, says Mr. Kaw Thala, the Yangon monk now in hiding. He says he used to collect small donations of rice and other food from around 20 people each week. The number of almsgivers, he says, had dwindled to a handful by this summer.

Meanwhile, soaring unemployment drove many jobless men to seek shelter in monasteries. At a monastery in the hills above Myawaddy, a town on the border with Thailand, a 44-year-old former professional kick boxer explained that he grew too old to practice his martial skills and couldn't find another job. He decided six months ago to become a monk.

Recent Protests

Myanmar's recent protests were initially triggered by an abrupt hike in the price of fuel on Aug. 15. Veteran political activists, mostly former student leaders from 1988, organized a series of small marches and delivered fiery speeches. Most were promptly arrested. The protests died down.

In early September, security forces threw gasoline on the dying embers by manhandling a group of monks in Pakokku, the central Myanmar town where monks marched again last week. Rumors quickly spread of a bloodbath. Senior monks demanded an apology from the military. Officials ignored the plea.

When a mid-September deadline set by monks for an official apology for the Pakokku incident passed, monastic anger bubbled over. At meetings in monasteries across the country, monks denounced the military's failure to apologize and called for action.

Mr. Zawtiga, the monk from Yangon who is now on the run, says discussion of the Pakokku episode dominated the meeting held at his own monastery on Sept. 18. The military "insulted our religion," he says. "We can't tolerate that."

Write to Andrew Higgins at andrew.higgins@wsj.com

Religion and the Arts in Khmer Life: A Question of Continuity and Challenge

FEATURE ARTICLE
BY DR. SAM-ANG SAM

Sam-Ang Sam, an ethnomusicologist and performer by training, was educated in Cambodia at the Royal University of Fine Arts, in the Philippines at the College of Music (University of the Philippines), and in the United States of America at Connecticut College and at Wesleyan University, where he received his MA and PhD degrees in Music Composition and Ethnomusicology respectively. Sam-Ang has been actively involved in the art field and refugee resettlement since his arrival in the United States in 1977. He has made a significant contribution to the international understanding and appreciation of Cambodian traditional performing arts through his documentation efforts, scholarly work, and numerous cultural exchange projects with dancers and musicians from Cambodia.

RELIGION AND THE ARTS have always been an inherent part of the Khmer life and have played an important role in the development and decline of Khmer civilization. This article discusses Cambodian Buddhism and the influences religion and the arts have had on the
shaping of Cambodian culture and society. I would like to look at the relationship between religion and the arts as a vehicle for expressing fundamental Cambodian beliefs and customs through looking at the roles of music, dance, and literature in Buddhist tradition. Through understanding how religion and the arts are interwoven, I would like to highlight the importance of preserving such Cambodian Buddhist practices. Buddhism in Cambodia Cambodia is essentially a Buddhist country. Some 95% of the country's population is Buddhist and Buddhism has been the core of Khmer culture and civilization. To exemplify the importance of religion, one finds that Cambodia's National Trinity has been "The Nation, Religion, King," suggesting the three important components of Khmer national identity. In the Khmer view, the upheavals which occurred following the coup in 1970 (during the Khmer Republic and the Democratic Kampuchea) were the result of breaking the concept of national trinity as the Monarchy and Buddhism were abolished.

A blend of Animism, Brahmanism, and Buddhism have been deeply embedded in the Khmer's beliefs for millennia. The history of Cambodia has revealed that at the beginning, in our case the earliest we can go-the Funan period (first to sixth centuries A.D.)-Khmer people practiced Animism. When Brahmanism and Buddhism were introduced, the Khmer did not abandon their beliefs and replace it with new ones, but adapted the new religion to the old one. Khmer religious practices reflect a conscious 'Khmerization' suiting Khmer tastes, adopting beliefs that were practical, and which helped serve the community both socially and spiritually.

Impact of Buddhism in Khmer Society
Buddhism plays a significant role in Khmer rural and urban life. In Buddhism, the essential teaching rests upon the good deeds, accumulation of merits, and peace-making. Adhering to the ten Buddhist precepts, this is how Khmer dedicate their souls and merits to the next world. In the traditional setting, monasteries functioned as educational and cultural centers, and offered a wide range of social services. Past and current Kings have often lived a monastic life for some time in order to gain education and become good and effective leaders. Monasteries also served as mental health centers, retreat centers for the aging, recreational centers, meeting places, rest areas for travelers, orphanages, and funeral homes. Each individual Khmer owes a great deal to the monastery for the memorable experiences it provides from childhood to adulthood to old age. For an elderly person, the monastery provides a peaceful place to relax, meditate, and prepare for death. When life ends, remains are cremated and the ashes are kept in a stupa
within the temple grounds.

The Arts in Cambodia
Throughout Khmer history, religion has also had a tremendous influence on the expression of Khmer traditional arts, especially in architecture, sculpture, literature, music and dance. Religious Ceremonies and Khmer Life Ceremonial practices in Cambodia depict a blend of Animist, Brahmanist, and Buddhist influences. Animist beliefs such as arakk (guardian spirit), neak ta (male guardian spirit), and witchcraft have been with the Khmer people since the olden days and these practices are still prevalent in the rural areas of Cambodia today. When members of the family and village are ill, people perform spiritual ceremonies to have mediums enter into trance in order to tell the causes of the illness. In the belief that spirits cause the persons to fall ill, ceremonies are performed to ask for forgiveness and for the sick persons to get well again. Khmer Court Dance Associated with the royal court of Cambodia for over a thousand years, Khmer court dance originates in the sacred rituals of ancestral worship, and has thus been regarded as "sacred dance." On the walls of the Angkor temples, 1,737 apsara (celestial dancers) were carved, reflecting a period of history in which Khmer performing arts reached its greatest expression (Thierry 1963:361, Sam 1988:231-232, Sam 1997:13-14). Regarded as "sacred dancers," these apsara functioned as intermediaries between the gods and humans, whose function was to perform and make offerings to soothe gods and the spirits of ancestors. Thus, one may observe Khmer dancers, still true today, move about the earthly world noticeably celestial in their aerial stylized walking manner, adorned in their divine costumes and headdresses. Alongside the Angkor Vatt Temple, Khmer court dance is perceived to be the symbol of Khmer national pride and identity.

In dance, ceremonies are always conducted with an offering. The smoke of lighted candles and incense sticks signify an eclectic practice of religion and beliefs. Going back to the very beginning of a dancer's career, a ceremony called pithi sampeah krou or "ceremony of paying homage to the spirit of the teacher" precedes one's first lesson (Chan Moly Sam 1987:13). This ceremony is so important that a dancer performs it over and over again throughout his/her dancing career. The ceremony is believed to place a dancer under the safeguard of Samdech Preah Krou (the spirit who resides in the dance) who thus protects and blesses the apprenticeship.

Khmer Music Music also accompanies every Khmer as far back as his cradle. Lullabies are common and there are numerous traditional songs embedded with traditional morality. Music ceremonies are conducted throughout one's life, starting with the birth blessing, hair shaving, entering the shade (rite of passage), ordination, wedding, and family gatherings at a funeral. Music also plays a very important role in the accompaniment of the performing arts, including dance, traditional theater, the ceremony of paying homage to the spirit of the teacher, ancestral worship, and national ceremonies such as the Khmer New Year, Soul Day, and Worship of the Spirit.

Khmer Literature: The Reamker
The Reamker (Khmer version of the Ramayana), Moha Bharata, and old religious scriptures in literary forms are the foundation upon which ideas, beliefs, and philosophies are built in Khmer society. Brahmanist literature, such as the Reamker (Ramayana) denotes the victory of good over evil, with the King representing the good, with a mission and duty to destroy evil to protect the weak or the ruled. In the Khmer Reamker, the authors intended to portray Preah Ream not as a god or Avatar of Vishnu, but as being an ordinary human being, engaged in human activities and having emotions (Giteau 1957:18, Kak 1996:20). In doing so, the Reamker becomes very popular among the people as it unfolds their real and natural ways of life contextually, socially, religiously, and culturally. With good always prevailing over evil, this, in essence, teaches Khmer how to conduct their lives appropriately. In the performances of masked play, for example, only certain episodes are chosen to perform, and those only happy ones. Sad or unfortunate episodes are not supposed to be staged, as they bring bad luck (Kak 1996:24). Reamker and Buddhist jatakas, which depict the life of Lord Buddha, serve as the main themes for the development of several Khmer art forms, including dance, plays, paintings, bas-reliefs, sculptures, and astrology.

The oral history retold by Ta Chak (Mi Chak 1897-1971) is invaluable for its revelation of Khmer life and development and evolution of Khmer literature-the variation of the word use in spoken and written Khmer languages (Bizot 1973). In the Angkor vicinity, the bas-reliefs of Reamker story adorned the historic temples, including the temples of Koh Ker, Banteay Srey, Ba Puon, Angkor Vatt, and Banteay Samre (Sar 1975:2, Kak 1996:22). Along the walls of other monastic shrine halls, including Vatt Bau (Siem Reap), Vatt Chaktotih (Udong, Kampung Spoeu), and Vatt Preah Vihear Preah Keo Morakot (Phnom Penh), the Reamker is beautifully painted.

Challenge of the New Millenium:
A Question of Continuity
Religion has certainly been the pre-eminent foundation of Khmer societ. Religion and the arts have had a great impact in the shaping of Khmer culture. The Khmer Buddhist religion has strengthened common beliefs, building solidarity of the people and nation, teaching values, self-esteem, pride, and emphasis upon the mental over the physical, and the spiritual over the materialistic. Buddhism for Cambodians, is at the heart of their tradition, culture, and identity. The Khmer Rouge atrocity (1975-1979), in which more than a million of Cambodians died by torture, starvation or illness, destroyed the foundation of the Khmer family– in separating children from parents, husbands from wives– along with education and health. To many Khmer people, the absence of Buddhism is the absence of the “Khmerness”.

In this new context, efforts are being made to restore, revive, and preserve Buddhism in Cambodia. The traditional arts are also increasingly being viewed as valuable resources for community development, urban revitalization, and the development of tourism. Recreating and preserving the traditional practices of Buddhism in the new physical and social contexts beyond Cambodia, however, are next to impossible. In Japan, Australia, France, Canada, and the United States, millions of Khmer people now make their new homes. The change in education, experience, context, value and role of monks and Buddhism itself, makes the practice of Buddhism a challenging one. New monks, particularly young ones, do not learn Pali or Sanskrit, as there is no such school. Ceremonies have been curtailed and simplified. Without encouragement from parents, the practice of Buddhism among the younger generation is
dwindling.

As we begin the new millennium, in the context of the computer age and technology, a new chapter will be written on religion and the arts, and the shaping of Khmer culture. In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the present and future generations to keep alive the culture of their forebears. In Cambodia and Khmer communities beyond, a valuable first step is to look back and study their religious and artistic traditions and understand them. The challenge ahead is not to break away from tradition, but to find a contemporary way of expressing it. Only within continuity of the past, can Khmer cultural identity be preserved and reaffirmed for
its future generations.

REFERENCES
Bizot, François, Histoire du Réamker. Paris, 1973: Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient.

Giteau, Madeleine, Histoire du Cambodge. Paris, 1957: Didier.

Kak, Chan That, Traditional Drawing of Ream Kerti Story on the Preah Keomorokot Temple (Royal Palace). Phnom Penh, 1996: Kampuchea-Japan Friendship Publishing House.

Sam, Chan Moly, Khmer Court Dance: A Comprehensive Study of Movements, Gestures, and Postures as Applied Techniques. Newington, CT, 1987: Khmer Studies Institute.

Sam, Sam-Ang, "The Pin Peat Ensemble: Its History, Music, and Context.", Ph.D. Dissertation, 1988, Wesleyan University.

Sam, Yang, "Society, Administration, Economy, Religion, and Culture during the Angkor Period." 1997, Unpublished paper and "Udong: Liberation from Catastrophe." 1995, Unpublished paper.

Khmer Buddhism and Politics: 1954-1984. Newington, CT, 1987: Khmer Studies Institute.

Sar, Sarun, Reamker, 3rd ed. Phnom Penh, 1975: n.p.

Thierry, Solange, Les Danses Sacrées. Paris, 1963: Sources Orientales.

The Source of This Article is from khmerstudies.org Siem Reap

Rush hour at Angkor

The Buddhist complex of Ta Prohm is one of the largest sites at Angkor.

Pedal power is the main way of getting to the sites.

You can always take a break and ride in comfort.

November 04, 2007
Kara Murphy
Sunday Mail (Australia)

IT'S 6am, "rush hour", and locals from outlying villages make their way to Siem Reap on bicycles while remorque-motos (motorbikes pulling a covered carriage) carrying tourists putter along the main road towards the temples of Angkor.

This morning, I have neither bicycle nor remorque-moto to carry me. My old, faithful feet do the job instead.

The debatably bright notion of walking to Angkor Wat comes when a waiter at my hotel mentions that it is only 6km away.

"Great!" I think. Aware of the danger of landmines when walking off the beaten temple tracks, I assume that exercise opportunities will be minimal.

As usual, assumptions are incorrect, and I soon learn that Angkor's temples are quite spread out and exploring them certainly involves moving one's feet.

Angkor Wat, one of about 100 temples scattered over a 300sq km area in northern Cambodia, was most likely constructed as a Hindu temple between AD 1113-50, serving as a mausoleum for King Suryavaram II and later as a Buddhist temple.

Heading north from Siem Reap, visitors reach this temple first, and walking is a necessary part of exploring its grandeur.

A 250m causeway crosses its moat, and a 500m avenue leads from the main entrance to the central temple. Bas-reliefs stretch 800m around the outside of the three-storey central complex.

The first floor's Gallery of 1000 Buddhas and the second floor's 1500 apsaras (celestial dancers) don't make my jaw drop as much as the approach to the third floor. At 24m above the ground, the third level is accessible only by climbing exceedingly steep steps. The height and angle is paralysing on the final steps, and I'm both unable to move forward and too frightened to descend. Fortunately, a Cambodian guide-for-hire explains that if I can continue, another set of steps – complete with railing – is available for the descent.

After exploring the complex for nearly two hours, I'm ready to proceed to the Bayon, the central temple of the fortified Buddhist city of Angkor Thom (built by Angkor's greatest king, Jayavarman VII, in the late 12th and early 13th century).

Since it's 3km away, walking seems excessive in the moisture-rich heat.

Instead, I hire a remorque-moto, which carries me swiftly past the gargantuan faces of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara at Angkor Thom's south entrance, past elephants (used for hauling tourists short distances) and through shady surrounds towards the Bayon's entrance.

From the remorque-moto, the Bayon doesn't look particularly spectacular but, moving closer, I appreciate the identical contented representations of Jayavarman VII, adorning each of the four sides of the temple's 54 gothic towers.

The faces are both spooky and fascinating, and worth another look when I'm not so exhausted from a long walk.

Hailing a remorque-moto for $A3 back to the hotel for a long, lazy lunch is a no-brainer.

Just before sunrise the next day, I pedal towards Angkor Wat on a rented bicycle, hoping to view the temple in a different light.

The ride takes half an hour and, alas, the lighting and sunrise are less than ideal.

Just over a kilometre from Angkor Wat is late 9th or early 10th century Phnom Bakheng, a five-tiered Hindu temple mountain where crowds flock to view Angkor Wat at sunset.

Even though it's at least 11 hours too early, the view is gorgeous, plus the 67m descent occurs in daylight.

About 3km beyond the Bayon is the west gate of circa-1191 Preah Khan, one of the largest complexes at Angkor.

Its vaulted corridors provide cooling shade, and it is here where I first spy the magical tree roots that claim the stonework like alien claws.

Taking the longer route to Ta Prohm, I spend 90 minutes cycling north and east around Preah Khan, south past the circa-952 East Mebon, and west towards mysterious Ta Prohm's entrance.

En route is a group of little girls who have decorated themselves in leaves.

Stopping to take their photo, I give them a bit of riel (the local currency). On the ride back, these entrepreneurs are on the side of the road, fully dressed up in homemade leaf turbans, ready for the next tourist photo op.

Ta Prohm, a Mahayana Buddhist monastery, was built around 1186 and dedicated to Jayavarman VII's mother. Overcome at every angle with grasping roots choking the crumbling ruins, its atmosphere is one of decay and jungle power. It's no wonder that this site was selected for the filming of Tomb Raider.

A guide-for-hire leads me to Nim, the monk pictured on the cover of the 4th edition of the Lonely Planet Cambodia guidebook.

Nim uses this fame for a good cause. On a temple step, he sells slightly overpriced trinkets to camera-touting tourists, guidebook propped beside him, with proceeds benefiting local monks.

After an hour's pedal back to the hotel, I'm well and truly spent. One day of this type of exertion is plenty, and the next day $A24 buys remorque-moto transport to the intricately carved circa-967 Banteay Srei, 32km from Siem Reap.

To avoid becoming too overwhelmed and exhausted, spend at least four days in Siem Reap, using mornings to explore the temples by bicycle and remorque-moto, and afternoons to relax by a pool, beer in hand, reflecting on the morning's discoveries.

Acadamic Article: Learning Professionalism in Athletic Training Education

Vocabulary List

fostering:-foster(v) to encourage sth to develop

competent:(adj) having enough skill or knowledge to do sth well or to the necessary standard

integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles

livelier:-lively(adj) full of life and energy, active and enthusiastic

blueprint: a plan which shows what can be achieved and how it can be achieved

facilitating: facilitate(v) to make an action or a process possible or easier

sling psychrometer: a type of thermometers

didactic: designed to teach people sth, especially a moral lesson

preceptor: teacher or instructor

haphazard: with no particular order or plan, not organized well

fluctuate: to change frequently in size, amount, quality.

domain: an area of knowledge or activity

autonomy: the ability to act and make decisions without being controlled by anyone else

pillar: a basic part or feature of a system, organization, belief.

altruism: the fact of caring about the needs and happiness of other people more than your own (opp: egoism)

Learning Professionalism in Athletic Training Education

Debbie I. Craig, PhD, ATC

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

The level of professionalism demonstrated by undergraduate athletic training students may vary greatly within athletic training education programs (ATEPs) across the nation. Fostering professional characteristics is essential to developing competent graduates; people who see athletic training as a profession rather than just a job. The purpose of this article is to define professionalism and discuss its development in athletic training students. The topic of developing professionalism in students is not new. The medical profession has conducted considerable research to understand how students learn professionalism. Previously, role modeling has been relied on heavily as a tool for teaching professionalism. However, research is beginning to show that this traditional method of transmitting professional values is no longer adequate.

Defining Professionalism within Learner-Centered Education

To discuss learning professionalism, a working definition is needed. For the purpose of this paper, professionalism is defined as “...the conduct or qualities that characterize a professional person or a profession.” It is the conduct, or behavior, and the qualities, or characteristics, of a professional person that make it difficult to create one definition agreed upon by all. In one study, 90 separate elements of professionalism were described. Some behaviors and characteristics relating to professionalism that are commonly written about are autonomy (independence), altruism (unselfishness, or putting the patient before yourself), collegiality (teamwork/courtesy toward peers in your profession), integrity, morality, responsibility, and the pursuit of excellence (commitment to expanding one’s knowledge).

Many of these characteristics are not easily taught in the classroom or the clinic. They are learned through the experiences each student encounters. Each of these experiences may lead to different learning for each individual. “An activity becomes what people turn it into by bringing in a reference frame that they developed through earlier experience.” Though experiences that students encounter are controlled to some degree, what they take from those experiences will vary according to past experiences. To understand this further, a differentiation must be made between teacher-centered education and learner-centered education. Hovelynck states, “It is not about developing livelier ways to pass on teachers’ blueprints of reality to students, but about facilitating the learners’ process of developing their own blueprints.” For instance, one way to teach students how to use a sling psychrometer is to demonstrate its use in front of the class. This would be teacher-centered education. A learner-centered approach would be to hand students a sling psychrometer and a list of four sites where they need to take comparative readings. Discussion would follow where the students report their findings and talk about reasons why different readings may have occurred. Thus, student learning arises from the student’s own experience–building their own blueprint. This limited example includes the common professionalism characteristics of autonomy, responsibility, the pursuit of excellence, and collegiality.

When applied to learning professionalism, a teacher-centered approach would be to define the characteristics of professionalism in the classroom through lecture. A learner-centered approach would be having students define professionalism on their own through a search of the literature. They would share this with the class, along with a list of how they feel they demonstrate professionalism, and ways they could improve upon this in their clinical setting. This makes the lesson personal to the learner. Using learner-centered education, then, presents even further complexity to the already complex topic of developing professionalism. Indeed, some authors view it as difficult or nearly impossible to teach professionalism in the didactic, traditional ways. Batlle suggested that teaching professionalism in the classroom creates further knowledge of an academic subject, not professionals. However, assuming that professionalism will be learned during clinical experiences may also create varied results. In a study on educating for promotion of professionalism, Wessel stated, “While medical students cited their clinical experiences with preceptors as a highlight of their medical school experience, the clinical experiences were often variable, resulting in haphazard and fluctuating levels of learning for students in the same program.”

Within each ATEP, a variety of approved clinical instructors (ACIs) commonly serve as role models for students. Each of these ACIs will naturally demonstrate professionalism differently. Thus, regardless of presentation in the classroom, student learning of professionalism will fluctuate with their clinical placements. This fluctuation may be decreased to some degree by the equal rotation of students through all clinical sites. Thus careful selection of the most professional ACIs is critical for optimal development of professionalism in students.

Data from medical school admissions material do not predict professional behavior. The only significant predictors of medical student professionalism were in domains where students had opportunities to demonstrate conscientious behavior or humility in self-assessment. In athletic training education, students must be provided with ample clinical experience allowing enough autonomy for them to demonstrate behaviors and self-assess those behaviors. Discussion of their self-assessment with their ACI completes each individual learning experience.

Autonomy is necessary to develop the three pillars of professionalism, expertise, ethics, and service. Without some degree of autonomy, students cannot learn necessary skills (expertise), practice necessary altruism and responsibility as demonstrated by ACIs (ethics), and provide necessary service to athletes/patients.

Being good healers is not enough. Athletic trainers, like physicians, will be “judged both as healers and as professionals, and when they do not fulfill their obligations in either role, both they and the profession suffer.” The following is a list of components that Cruss and Cruss feel should be included in medical education to foster growth of both the healer and the professional:

-There must be a clear definition of professionalism and its characteristics.

-There must be identifiable content in the curriculum devoted to professionalism.

- Professionalism must be viewed as an ideal to be pursued, highlighting altruism and social responsibility.

-Students must conceptualize that being a professional is a privilege, not a right.

-The [athletic trainer] must be conceptualized as a healer and a professional.

-Students must understand that moral behavior is essential to maintain the trust of patients and society.

-Knowledge of the code of ethics governing the profession must be communicated.

-There must be an understanding of the essential nature of the autonomy of the individual [athletic trainer], along with the legitimate limitations that have always existed. A minimum degree of autonomy is required to exercise the necessary independent judgment to best serve the patient.

-There must be an understanding of the nature of the collective autonomy of the profession and its regulatory practices.

-The ATEP must present the material that is both critical and supportive of ideals related to the profession.

Comprehension Questions

1.What is the objective of this article?

2.How does the author define “professionalism”? Does she give us one definition, or not?

3.What are two types of educational styles?

4.According to the author, what is “Autonomy” necessary for ?

Discussion Questions

1. The author shows many elements of professionalism. In your opinion, which one is the most important? How do you define “professionalism”?

2.Which educational style do you prefer if you learn professionalism?

3.Can this topic apply for other fields? If so, please share your opinion.

4.If you are an athlete or a patient, what characteristic do you expect an athletic trainer?

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Comprehension Questions
1.What is the objective of this article?

This article has clear objective discussion on how to enhance professionalism.

2.How does the author define “professionalism”? Does she give us one definition, or not?

The author does define the meaning of professionalism as“...the conduct or qualities that characterize a professional person or a profession.”

3.What are two types of educational styles?

They are learner-centered education which emphasis on students engagement and teacher-centered education that teacher lectures alone.

4.According to the author, what is “Autonomy” necessary for ?

Autonomy is independent and it is important for learner to have their own boundary of thinking, innovating and acting. It is one of virtues such as integrity, altruism, morality, responsibility, collegiality and pursue of excellence.


Discussion Questions
1. The author shows many elements of professionalism. In your opinion, which one is the most important? How do you define “professionalism”?

Personally, learner-centered education is the best source of professionalism because according to diverse behaviors and tendencies of individuality; professionalism can be established for their own exploring. Professionalism means expertise on one particular subject.

2.Which educational style do you prefer if you learn professionalism?

I prefer learner-centered education to develop professionalism.

3.Can this topic apply for other fields? If so, please share your opinion.

Yes, the author also mention in training athletics, but I think we can apply it with other training as well.

4.If you are an athlete or a patient, what characteristic do you expect an athletic trainer?

Sh/he should be sympathetic and patient.