Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Myanmar (Burmese), with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai.

Angelic viewers, welcome to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television.

In the last chapter of the Christian Bible’s New Testament, it was recorded that Lord Jesus was describing the road of Heaven as being paved with gold.

In Buddhism, the Amitabha Sutra (Infinite Light Scripture) depicts the Pure Land as a place where the ground is made of gold, and trees of gems and crystals. Similar descriptions of higher realms are also found in other religions. Indeed, gold has been ubiquitously associated with heavenly scenes and is highly valued in various cultures.

Today, let’s look at the time-honored art of gold leaf making in the Golden Land of Myanmar (Burma). Noted for its dedication to Buddhist traditions, Myanmar (Burma) has been called the Land of a Thousand Pagodas.

In fact, on one of her pilgrimages several decades ago to this ancient and spiritual nation, Supreme Master Ching Hai was moved to compose two poems entitled “City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Pagan” and “Mandalay – Burma” honoring its glorious traditions: “From the distant hill a temple bell peals Resonating ethereal sounds in a world that seems unreal!”

Most Myanmar (Burmese) pagodas are topped with a gilded dome. In monasteries and temples, thin gold leaves adorn Buddhist statues, walls, ceilings, and even furniture. Gold leaves have also been used by royalty, aristocrats, and everyday citizens for coating common objects as well as for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.

We use for the Buddha. Sometimes, we use for the decoration, and also we use it for the lacquer layer. Buddhist devotees coat the gold leaves onto sacred images as offerings. As a result, many statues in major temples are re-gilded daily. The demand for gold leaves is met exclusively by family-operated workshops in the Maha Aung Myay Township of Mandalay, once an ancient capital.

The gold leaf is [made] in Myanmar, only [in] Mandalay, only this quarter, not another place. Altogether, [there are] 70 workshops.

Entering Maha Aung Myay, we immediately noticed the sound of rhythmic pounding coming from gold leaf workshops. Inside one of them, we saw a gentleman wearing a longyi, also called a sarong, a traditional garment of the region. He was immersed in his work of pounding a small square-shaped package positioned onto a slanted granite surface.

A cup-shaped device with a stick in the center floated on a pot of clear water on the floor. It was actually a water clock made with a half coconut shell. A small hole has been carefully drilled at its bottom so that water trickles in at an optimal speed.

They use the timer. This is inside a small pool. Then one cup sinks in 3 minutes. They don't use the clock, they use the timer. One cup is 3 minutes. Every 3 cups, they change the side. One cup is equal to 120 beats, 120 times for 3 minutes.

Our hostess kindly gave a tour around the facility and explained the manual process of making gold leaves, just as a young worker was beginning the first step of the procedure.

I would like to explain how to make the gold leaf. This is the first step: we use a 12-gram piece of gold, and then this is made by machine. We use a ruler, we get this 5 feet long. And then we cut this side into 200 pieces. This side, 200 pieces, we use 2 kinds of paper. This is the bamboo paper, made of the bamboo. This one is the straw paper, rice straw.

This is the gold, we put inside the bamboo paper. One gold, one bamboo and straw paper, altogether 200 pieces. One pack gets 200 pieces.

And then we beat [it for] half an hour. Half an hour of beating, we get this.

They use the hammer [that] is 3 kilos [in] weight.

After 30 minutes of pounding, the stack of paper – gold sandwiches – are passed to the ladies who work in a windproof room. Each enlarged gold piece is then separated from the paper and cut into 6 smaller pieces. The resulting 1,200 pieces are again stacked with bamboo and straw paper for another 30 minutes of pounding to further expand the gold flake.

After beating [for] half an hour, we cut [it into] 6 pieces, one piece this size, and beat it again [for] half an hour, we get this. This is the small bamboo paper, and then we change [to] the big bamboo paper.

We put 720 [pieces] inside the gold leaf.

This is the final stage, 5 hours of beating.

It takes three workers to complete the 5 hours of hammering. The first person beats it until the package becomes hot; then the second person beats to make the gold pieces bigger; and finally, the third person beats to separate the expanded gold pieces from the paper.

Different techniques are employed to pound for heating versus enlarging the gold. The size of gold pieces is very sensitive to fluctuations in the surrounding temperature, which may result in overly pounded products that have to be reworked from the first stage. Skilled workers are able to adjust their pounding technique according to the weather conditions.

Altogether, we beat [it for] 6 hours. The first stage is half an hour, the second stage is half an hour, this final stage is 5 hours. The first stage is, we beat altogether 200 pieces. The second stage is, we beat 1,200 pieces. The final stage, [there] is 720 inside the gold leaf. The final stage is the thickness of normally 3 microns.

After the three steps of pounding, the original small gold pieces are transformed into much larger gold films with exquisitely consistent thickness.

Gold leaf is only by hand, not machine. We tried; the machine is not thin, a little thick. By hand, we got this best quality.

At this stage, the product is so thin that one can remove a wrinkle on the gold film by a gentle blow of air. Before the gold leaves can be shipped, they are cut into neat squares and stacked between protective cardboard papers in 10- or 100-piece packages. To avoid damage to the final delicate product, precautionary measures are taken to avoid sticking.

This is ready for the Buddha, we send to pagodas. Also, she uses white powder, a talc powder, not to stick to fingers. And then, she cuts the gold. This is the final stage after 5 hours beating. This is ready. One packet is 100 pieces.

This is 100 pieces. I will show you. This is 100 pieces. This size is 1.5 inches square. We made different sizes, 2 inches square size, 2.5 inches square size, because it depends on the order.

For gold leaf making, we use 24-carat gold, pure gold.

The bamboo paper used in gold leaf making is supplied by the family business itself. Let’s find out how this special material is made

I would like to explain how to make the bamboo paper. This is the first step. We use the bamboo with no hole, solid bamboo. In Myanmar, so many kinds of the bamboo inside have a hole. This has no hole. This is the special kind of the bamboo, about 1 year old. And then, we must beat it. This is to take off the cover. After [that], we cut to small pieces.

And then we tie it. We put it inside the pot. This is lime and water. 3 years, keep it in the pot. After 3 years, we get this bamboo fiber. [We mix] this fiber with hot water, and then [from] pounding we get this paste. This is the bamboo paste. This paste, we put inside the water. This paste with the water, we mix. And then we put it on the cutter frame. This is the cutter frame.

After that, we must be drying it. And then this we take off. We cut this size. This is before beating. We need to beat [it] to change the color. And then we put on the brass plate. This is the brass plate, this paper with water. Put the water and then we beat.

That’s one leaf, half an hour. One leaf, half an hour beating, we get this paper. This is changed to bright color and smooth. This is ready for the beating. This paper, we use again, about 20 times, not only once. This paper is very strong. For the beating we use only bamboo paper. We cannot use other paper because bamboo paper is very strong.

Besides gold leaves and their own supply of bamboo paper, the workshop also makes an array of gold-covered souvenirs for religious remembrance and good luck.

This is the leaf of the banyan. This is a real leaf and then we use the glue, after [that] we stick the gold. This is, we stick the gold leaf. This Buddha [statue], this is inside bronze, not wood. The bronze and then this, we use a lacquer, and then this cover [with] the gold leaf.

We use real gold. Inside [is] bamboo and covered [with] gold; inside [is] wood and covered [with] gold.

This one is made of bamboo and then this lacquer and covered [with] gold. This is male and female. This is also made of bamboo. This is bamboo, and then this is lacquer and covered [with] the gold leaf.

Also, this is the leaf of the banyan and this cover gold. This is from the Buddha tree. This, all Buddha, we use wood and then this lacquer and covered [with] the gold leaf. This is the glue; this is the lacquer, for the stick. This one is first stage, teak wood and then this lacquer, and this cover [with] gold. This is ready for selling, for souvenir.

Most of the people, they like the elephant.

This is the Buddha footprint with the gold leaf. We use the real gold leaf.

The widespread use of gold leaves has special cultural significance for the people of Myanmar (Burma). Gold signifies purity, brightness, and nobility. Gold is also the color of higher level light radiated by practitioners in deep meditation, as demonstrated by modern scientific research of the human body’s electromagnetic waves.

The quest for decoration with gold reflects human’s innate quest for spiritual elevation. We are thankful for being introduced to the exquisite art of gold leaf making in Myanmar (Burma). May this lovely tradition be a treasured reminder to people of all faiths and nationalities of our magnificent heavenly home!

Brilliant viewers, thank you for being with us today on A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. Up next on Supreme Master Television is Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living, after Noteworthy News. Together, let’s strive to make our planetary Earth a peaceful and golden paradise for all co-inhabitants, human, animal and plant alike!