Former Myanmar President Joins Buddhist Monks
KABUL: (MEP) Former president of Myanmar, Thein Sein has reportedly joint the Buddhist monks and shed his formal attire – and his hair – according to state media, days after he ceded power to a new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party.
According to a report from The Irrawaddy, the former president will spend five days at the Dhamma Dipati Monastery outside Pyin Oo Lwin, a town near Mandalay in central Myanmar.
Photographs on social media show the former general became a monk after he shaved his head and dressed in a robe.
Myanmar language state newspaper Myanma Alinn said, “Those close to U Thein Sein said he will practice meditation during a temporary monkhood of about five days,” It added that he had promised Buddhist elders he would be ordained as a monk once he finished his role as president.
A temporary stint at a monastery is common in the predominantly Buddhist country, where boys are expected to ordain as novice monks at some point in their childhood and then return later in adulthood.
