"The Meditator's Guide to Burma, Part 2".... moves to layout!

The Meditator's Guide to Burma, "The Golden Path" or Shwe Lan Ga Lay, was begun in April 2013, originally believed to only take a few months in duration to complete. Envisioned as 14 separate chapters, the dana project was intended to help spiritual seekers find access and gain understanding to some of the country's special Dhamma locations.

In 2015, Part 1 was released, with four completed chapters, providing a cursory look at planning and arriving in the Golden Land. As the years stretched on and the core team of volunteer contributors persevered in the work, the five new chapters included in Part 2 took shape as something above and beyond-- clocking in at nearly three times the site, the team undertook intensive research to provide unprecedented access and information about important Burmese and Shan Buddhist sites far outside of the normal tourist-- and even known meditator-- path.

As Jenny Phillips, creator of The Dhamma Brothers comments, "A Myanmar Guide for Dhamma Seekers, with its hauntingly beautiful photographs, is much more than a travel guide. It becomes a deeply experiential inner map toward finding wholeness beyond our limited sense of self in a world of impermanence and interdependence.” Or as the American nun Sayalay Daw Candavatī, creator of the documentary, The Golden Land of Myanmar, puts it: "You, dear reader, dear seeker, have a treasure before you. This book is a gift of untold blessings as you step into the world of a unique spiritual journey that is found with such depth in Burma. You have no idea how much this book will help you."

Four main regions are included in this work... Shan State, Around Mandalay (see above image), Around Yangon, and Mandalay. Each region is then broken further in terms of towns and districts, uncovering a plethora of pagodas, caves, meditation centers, monasteries, nunneries and much more which give a different glimmer into the wealth behind Myanmar's nearly 1,000 year Buddhist history. From anecdotes to monastic biographies to poetry to history recounted to original artwork and photography, there is certainly something in these pages for everyone.

Hundreds of pages are devoted to such topics as the lineage behind S.N. Goenka, particularly Webu Sayadaw, Saya Thet Gyi, and Ledi Sayadaw; the early days, education, and first teachings of Mahasi Sayadaw in Seikkhun; the unique development and practice of dhamma as found among the Shan people; the ethno-religious connotations behind such historically significant sites as Maha Muni Pagoda and the five Buddha images of Inle Lake; the development of Buddhist monastic education as practiced at Mahagandayone Monastery in Amarapura, and much more.

The volunteers behind this effort seek no renumeration, and the electronic copies will be freely available when layout is completed. However, no physical copy is as yet possible, and donors interested in helping in this area are encouraged to write at burmadhamma@gmail.com.

May all volunteers be happy, peaceful and liberated!

The Birth of Ledi Sayadaw and the Birth of Insight

After over four years of continuous effort by dozens of volunteers, Part 2 of the meditator's guide to Burma is almost out! Here is a sneak preview introducing the birthplace of the great Ledi Sayadaw:

On the surface, Sain Pyin seems pretty much like any other nondescript, rural, Dry Zone village. But for Burmese followers of the Buddha’s teachings, it is anything but! This is where the future Ledi Sayadaw was born, novitiated and ordained as a full bhikkhu in the mid-19th century. 

U Sarana translates Sain Pyin as “plain with wild oxen.” But it was not only oxen roaming these plains in the lower Chindwin Valley, as many kinds of wild animals called this the once-vast wilderness home. While far from developed today, the land has mostly been tamed, and the much tinier village of Ledi’s time has become a modest town of around 1,000 homes.

Given the lay name of Maung Tet Khaung, a miraculous event accompanied his birth in December 1846. After turning ten, the boy was sent to study at Kyaung Ma Monastery, becoming a novice at age fifteen and being given the name Shin Nyanadhaza, or in Pāḷi, Ñāṇadhaja, this means “banner of wisdom.” He learned Pāḷi and the scriptures under Sayadaw U Nanda, as was common in pre-colonial Burma, when monasteries were charged with looking after the educational needs of the community’s young men. Shin Nyanadhaza continued his monastic studies in nearby Ye Thwet Village. By the time of his full ordination, he had read all the books to be found in the two towns near his home.

Soon after becoming a bhikkhu, Shin Nyanadhaza went to Mandalay with another monk to continue his formal studies at the royal capital. Erik Braun notes that this journey would mark “a radical change in his life, for during his time there he was exposed to the ongoing encounter with the West. Before he left the city, he would find himself an active participant in that encounter.” But Sain Pyin Gyi is where that boy became a young man before that adventure ever started.

Release of "The Golden Path Part 2"

Shwe Lan Ga Lay, or "The Golden Path," the meditator's guide to Burma/Myanmar, launched in April 2013. "Part 1: Planning & Logistics" was released in May 2015, and the five chapters comprising Part 2 are nearly complete. In addition to the Introduction, other chapters due to be released are the regional guides to the following places: Around Yangon, Mandalay, Around Mandalay, and Shan State. This will include detailed information about sites where Ledi Sayadaw, Webu Sayadaw, and Saya Thet Gyi lived and practiced (along with countless other monasteries and pagodas), allowing meditators to more easily access these important sites and to appreciate their significance and history while doing so.

After having worked on these pages for so many years now, we are very happy that they are so close to being shared with the meditator community! However, we have one final, critical need before their release... that is of someone with a copy-editing background who can make a final review of these drafts. If you have such experience and are willing to join our project, please let us know, and help us to hasten the release of Part 2!

While not as critical, there are other volunteer roles we're happy to have help with as well. First on the list would be someone with map-making ability, including artists able to copy from maps, so that meditators can more easily find the sites we describe. Also high on our list is anyone with design/layout experience, and has an aesthetic background, to help in preparing our text for the designer.

As usual, we also welcome any artists who would like to draw/sketch, and photographers or anyone who is willing to donate photos from their time in the Golden Land. If you've been to Burma/Myanmar and have a story to tell, please do share with us, or if you are planning to go and have some time, let us know as there is always on-the-ground assistance and needs. Next, someone with writing or editing experience, who can act as in a dual style editor/author capacity. The person in this role helps shape new raw material gathered from different sources into a coherent mix with existing Shwe Lan text, and oversees the overall flow of the book. Volunteer translators have been working at the text of Part 1, and contact us if you wish to help in the translation. And if you have any other skill, or just time on your hands, let us know as well!

Finally, keep in mind that the project is entirely funded by dana, with almost everyone involved a volunteer, and the completed PDFs are freely available to one and all. We are always in need of financial dana to cover our basic costs, as well as to help print and distribute completed copies of the book. You can keep the project afloat by donating here.

To get in touch, please email us at burmadhamma (att) gmail. You can also follow our project on Facebook at www.facebook.com/burmagoldenpath.

"Waking Up Is Hard Work": A Photographic Gift of Burma to Foreign Meditators

As Shwe Lan Ga Lay is entirely a dana project, American yogi Matt Richter has generously offered to give over one month of his time to helping the project in a unique way that will benefit all future meditators. He writes:

"On the night before his awakening, the Buddha sat beneath a bodhi tree and vowed not to move until he had become liberated from suffering. It is said that he attained enlightenment upon seeing the morning star in the eastern sky.

As I watch the sunrise after a month-long meditation retreat in Myanmar, I am humbled to realize how far it is to that goal. Waking up is hard work. 

I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude to this country for valuing inner work and offering foreigners like myself the opportunity to learn from its great meditative traditions. The teachings of the Buddha are very much alive here in the Golden Land.

Due to a stroke of luck or perhaps some unexpected karmic connections, I have been given a wonderful opportunity to assist with a book project on Burmese Buddhism. As a visual pilgrimage of sorts, I plan to spend an additional two months in the country photographing important monasteries, meditation centers and sacred sites. Many of these places have played a significant role in the spread of Vipassanā, or insight meditation, and have directly influenced the growing mindfulness movement in the West.  

The project, which is almost entirely run by volunteers, will eventually culminate in the definitive guidebook for readers interested in traveling to Myanmar to practice meditation.

If you are curious about Buddhism, Burmese culture, meditation or simply want a glimpse of possibly the most photogenic country I've ever been to, I invite you to follow along at #BurmaDhamma and @shwe_lan_ga_lay.  Donations to the project can be made at the link in my profile. The project is largely funded by dāna, the Pali word for giving, so any contribution goes directly to to covering the basic costs and has a huge impact. Part 1 of the book can also be downloaded for free! Thanks for looking! 🙏"

Note: the book can be downloaded freely here, also the page where one may make any financial donations.

Shwe Lan Ga Lay: "More Than a Guidebook"

American nun Sayalay Sukha, a resident nun at Pa Auk, has read a draft chapter of Shwe Lan Ga Lay, and shares the following comment on the soon-to-be-released work:

"You are also inviting/sharing about Buddhism, an incredible path that offers an alternative, a way out of the massive suffering that most Americans experience on a daily basis. A way out of delusion. Wow, that is no small offering! Thus this book could even appeal to many who know very little about Buddhism but have picked up the book for a different reason.

What I am saying is that the topic you have chosen is so rich and multi-layered and could not only serve as a guide on how to not offend the Burmese when eating a meal with them but could be a doorway to freedom for those who are lost and seeking inspiration from others who have found a way into seeing their inherent goodness and true nature. That is the second theme that I was wanting to convey. That this could be more than a guidebook. Through the path of Buddhism and what the Buddha had to offer and through the eyes and embodiment of a people, country and culture who live Buddhism and has so much more inner joy than most Americans I know, we have much to learn! How does a people who live so simply, with so little and in such basic/stark conditions end up so happy? And how does a culture with so much, so abundant in food, amenities, luxuries, etc, end up so unhappy? Isn't that part of the teachings of the Buddha?

Again, this book is very timely. There are just more and more people who are going to discover the treasure of Myanmar and are going to come and use what is offered, thus this is very critical that as 'embassadors' for our fellow Americans we set the tone for our fellow Westerners and make sure that Myanmar is safeguarded and our fellow Americans are noteworthy travelers. This is an incredibly well-kept secret but not for much longer. As people are more and more lost, dissatisfied, disenchanted with their lives and hungry to return to their hearts, they are looking for such opportunities. 

Did you know that this year, there were 300 people on the waiting list, wanting to attend the 10 day Burmese-led monastic retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center? Five years ago, this kind of retreat would barely fill up. Also with U Tejanyia coming to America now and offering retreats and his oh-so-approachable and recently published books, the word is out! People are hungry, people are waking up, people need places such as these to get quiet and find themselves again. It is becoming a hot and in demand necessity for our Western brothers and sisters. In that sense, do not take this book lightly. This book could be the next bible for those who are ready to make the shift in their life."

A Glaring Omission

Shwe Lan Ga Lay's underlying mission has been to illuminate and discuss the Dhamma as it is practiced in the Golden Land of Burma (Myanmar). Although Burmese Buddhists are greatly welcoming to the foreign meditator, and eager to share the wealth of the Buddha's teachings, due to recent history, the country has been rather inaccessible for some time. As it now opens up for investment, tourism, and other opportunity, we hope that its Dhammic venues may also open to foreign spiritual seekers, and that Burma's greatest export may benefit the many suffering people around the world. 

Bhikkhu Agga recently found an example of the startling lack of knowledge available about the country when trying to access it from abroad. He noted that the current Wikipedia entry for Mogok Sayadaw comes up with no information. A separate search for his Pali name, U Vimala, brings one to a very basic biography (of which much of what is written is not accurate to begin with). By comparison, this is about three times smaller than the entry for the one-hit-wonder American rapper Young MC, who had only a brief moment of stardom nearly three decades ago.

Mogok Sayadaw was one of Burma's greatest monks, a part of the patipatti movement in the postwar era, a reputed Arahant (fully enlightened person), and a key member of the so-called Golden Generation of monks and meditation teachers (which also included Thae Ingu Sayadaw, Mahasi Sayadaw, Webu Sayadaw, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, Sun Lun Sayadaw, etc.). What is more, the Mogok technique is the most popular tradition today in Myanmar, with over 800 Mogok monasteries in the country alone. That such a paucity of information is available about this highly historically important individual who single-handedly spread the Dhamma to literally millions of practitioners is, if not surprising, then highly unfortunate. Just as many Burmese venerate the great work of Mogok Sayadaw today, so also may foreign yogis who yearn for liberation, even if they practice according to different lineages, traditions, and techniques. 

For those who wish to learn more about the Burma-Dharma, consider downloading the free version of Part 1. For those who would like to support our volunteer project, more help is always needed, and will greatly appreciated for the benefit of future readers.

A Meditator's Guide to Burma!!!

Earlier this year, Pariyatti released Shwe Lan Ga Lay, or "The Golden Path," a meditator's guide to Burma/Myanmar. The Foreword clearly explains the book's intent:

Shwe Lan Ga Lay’s intended audience is very simple: those seeking liberation from suffering through the Buddha’s teachings. Our goal is to humbly assist readers in deepening their practice in Myanmar, the country where we believe the Buddha’s teachings have been best preserved. Shwe Lan does not aspire or pretend to be an instruction manual for practice or a textbook on Buddhist scriptures. Rather, it is a guide to point you in the direction of Myanmar’s many great meditation masters, monks filled with wisdom, and nuns who daily live out the Buddha’s teachings.

Shwe Lan Ga Lay has been a labor of love for all concerned from the get-go. The vast majority of work on Shwe Lan Ga Lay has been done by volunteers, who have received no remuneration of any kind for this project. Additionally, all financial dana goes strictly towards covering the basic costs of the project, and sales revenue is split between project costs as well as to further support Pariyatti’s mission.

The only thing Shwe Lan asks in return is this: at the time of undertaking any meritorious action—from meditating to offering dāna to cleaning a monastery toilet—we will be very happy if you have the volition to share your merit with the book’s contributors (and happier still if we hear from you in the process).

For those who find benefit from this Part 1 early release, and would like to help us continue the work, there are two ways you can do so. First, you can join Shwe Lan as a volunteer by sending an email to us. There is always work to do, and many types of skills are needed. In particular, we can use help in the following areas: artists, layout editors, map-making, photographers, copy-editors, scholars, web designers, translators, public relations, publishing, writers, researchers, and general volunteers are always welcome. The second way support can be shown is through financial dāna for the project, which can be offered through Pariyatti’s website.

Finally, if you have already been to Myanmar, or plan to go, and are willing to help us during (or after) your trip, please let the editorial staff know! There are always “on-the-ground tasks” that need doing. Additionally, if you come across information not included in this edition, do inform us. We are constantly on the lookout to update our content, and what we have now was provided by meditators/visitors just like you.

Many pairs of eyes—Burmese and non-Burmese alike—have passed over these pages. While greatly lengthening the creative process and Shwe Lan’s timeline, the goal was to ensure that Shwe Lan Ga Lay be as accurate and respectful a portrayal of Burmese Buddhist practices and traditions, as well as Burmese culture, as possible. 

Our next step is to distribute Part 1 in e-book and printed form, as well as to release Part 2, which features literally hundreds of pagodas, monasteries, and meditation centers where pilgrims and meditators and monastics may go for practice when visiting Burma/Myanmar. 

As this volunteer-effort has taken enormous work, and still requires more continued effort, support is graciously appreciated to ensure that we can continue this project. 

The following are excerpts from Part 1:

Living on Myanmar Time

“One thing that Joah hasn't quoted me on yet, is the thing I do say to a lot of people: ‘Myanmar is just a little bit closer to heaven.’ No, there are certainly a lot of things not okay in Myanmar, but the one thing that makes me very happy is that there are so many manifestations of the teachings of the Buddha here. There are those from the past, from Arahants who lived here and from pagodas made by Kings and laypeople centuries back. But there are also so many manifestations of the Buddha's teaching from the present here in Myanmar: so many people actually know and practice the teachings, they know about sila, samadhi and panna. There are so many monasteries and meditation centres and teachers, monks and lay people who are all supporting the Sasana.

For a long time people have been interested and curious in this country, and little by little have come here to learn, practice and get inspired by the Dhamma here. Most people who come to Myanmar get very enthusiastic about the people, the culture and the Dhamma. The enthusiasm of the practice of Dhamma brings this ‘ehipasiko,’ or the 'come and see.'

Shwe Lan Ga Lay is written with this in mind, with the volition to share something so unique and beautiful. Your holding a valuable gift in your hands, a gift for which many people have put in a lot of effort, giving hours, days, weeks, months and even years of their lives to create. It is a very special gift; it is not a tour guide that tries to satisfy temporary curiosities about some old buildings or fancy restaurants. It is a book helping you to understand, respect and appreciate a country and its treasures. Therefore, it is not a thin leaflet, because that would never do justice to the subtlety and depth of the experiences that one can have here. It is an extensive book, written with a broader perspective and timeframe in mind. It certainly will help you for a short trip to certain inspiring places, but it also provides in-depth information for those who develop a deeper interest in this country. Shwe Lan Ga Lay sets itself apart by taking time to explaining even details which come only alive after one has visited Myanmar for a second or third time. In this way, it is written in ‘Myanmar-time' instead of ‘Western-time,’ and Shwe Lan Ga Lay aims also at people who want to commit, to surrender to Dhamma fully in Myanmar.

And one feels, when reading this book which explains so many aspects of the manifestations of the Dhamma in Burma, it is all explained with this happiness which arises when you're able to share something so wonderful. I’m happy Joah chose to approach Burma on its own terms. This book is in a way a child of Burma, of its qualities: it is a Dana, a gift, intended on supporting you on your path of Dhamma.

I hope that people realize the magnitude and value of the information presented in this book, and they use it for their benefit, with respect and gratitude.”

--Bhikkhu Agga is a Dutch monk who has lived in Myanmar since 2011. He read the very first draft of Shwe Lan Ga Lay.

U Mandala arrives in Sydney

U Mandala, the disciple of Webu Sayadaw and vice-abbot of Webu Monastery in Ingyinbin, arrived in Sydney, Australia. Incredibly, at the airport just as he arrived was a Thai monk from Santi Forest Monastery, established by Ajahn Sujato for nuns. He was waiting for U Jagara, who resides in Burma and was coming to give a course at Santi, where Sayalay Anopama was already waiting. 

U Mandala will take several U Goenka 10-Day retreats while in Australia, and also answer questions during part of a work period at Dhamma Bhumi in Blackheath. As the Australian winter is just now approaching, the venerable Burmese monk will have to adjust to not only a different language and culture, but also an unfamiliar weather pattern! The editor of Shwe Lan Ga Lay is also in Australia, where he will be giving a series of presentations on the book and the last two years of research in Burma. Many threads are now converging Down Under!

"Shwe Lan Ga Lay Part 1" is now here!

After over two years of work, Shwe Lan Ga Lay (The Golden Path) Part 1 Planning and Logistics is now here! To download and view this wonderful meditator's guidebook to Myanmar, please see here.

Shwe Lan Ga Lay, Part 1: Planning and Logistics

The Golden Path, or Shwe Lan Ga Lay, is a unique guide for Dhamma seekers who wish to develop in paṭipatti (practice) and pariyatti (theory) while in Myanmar, as well as to gain an appreciation of Burmese Buddhist and monastic life. Helpful logistical information is supplemented with yogi anecdotes, historical background, scholarly research, authentic local voices, Burmese proverbs, original artwork, inspiring photographs, and wisdom from some of the country's foremost monks, nuns, and meditation teachers. Part 1: Planning and Logistics consists of four chapters: "Planning Your Trip," "Health", "You've Landed," and "Food." Future editions will include detailed information covering hundreds of important monasteries, pagodas, and other sites throughout the Golden Land, as well as comprehensive discussion on proper behavior and customs while visiting these Burmese monastic sites, along with other cultural information.


The target release for Part 1: Planning and Logistics is Monday, April 13.

"Shwe Lan Ga Lay: Part 1"

A cover preview of Shwe Lan Ga Lay's Part 1, due to be released just days from now...

Translations now underway of "Shwe Lan"

After over two years of hard work by several hundred volunteers across the globe, the first four chapters of Shwe Lan Ga Lay may be released as soon as next week! In the spirit of the Dhamma, all main contributors are volunteers and will receive no personal renumeration of any kind, a kind of pure giving to meditators and monastics wishing to come to the Golden Land, with no strings attached. Chapters 2 through 5 will soon be available. These include: Planning Your Trip, Health, You've Landed, and Food. 

Now that the drafts for these chapters are finally complete, volunteers have also been requesting to translate these for meditators in their own countries who are non-English speakers, so that they too can benefit. With this in mind, translations will soon be underway in Thai, Japanese, Burmese, Spanish, and Chinese. If fellow meditators would like to join this meritorious project, either in these languages listed or other languages, you are welcome to do so. Please contact us burmadhamma@gmail.

"Shwe Lan Ga Lay" Editor to visit Australia

The Editor and Author of the upcoming meditator's guide to Myanmar (Shwe Lan Ga Lay) has plans to visit Australia and New Zealand in May and June. His visit will coincide with that of the senior monk from Webu Monastery, U Mandala. For anyone Down Under interested in organizing or attending a presentation about Burmese Buddhism, lineages, traditions, meditation practice, culture, etc., please contact burmadhamma@gmail for more information. After almost exactly two years of work and with the help of several hundred volunteers, the first four chapters of Shwe Lan are scheduled to be released next week! This release will allow meditators, monks, and nuns to begin planning their Burma pilgrimages and meditation retreats.

Burmese Buddhism: Vast, Brutal, Gentle, and Sticky

 By Miles Bukiet 

"Much of the Buddhist world has been crushed over the last century. The wake of devastation stretches across the Asian continent, a result of the Communists in Mongolia, Vietnam and Laos, the Cultural Revolution in China, and the ongoing ruthless occupation in Tibet. Even the countries spared violent political suppression have been assaulted by modernization and development. In Thailand, for example, economic growth has led to the wholesale destruction of the forests that once served as the ground of the Forest Tradition. Is there anywhere dharma is still at the root of things, where the people have been steeped in it for millennia, where the built environment reflects the devotion of a nation, where the spirit of the society is infused with the wisdom of the Triple Gem? 

Welcome to Myanmar. 

Many know of Myanmar as an incubator for the modern Vipassana movement, the home of Mahasi Sayadaw and the birthplace of S.N Goenka. Others know it as the base of the fabled Pa Auk monastery. These strands of teaching and practice lured me to Myanmar with their promise of fourteen hours of meditation a day, the strictness of their demands, and the fullness of their support. Wake up before dawn, keep your mouth shut, and sit through pain in exchange for a bed and a free lunch. This was the brutal no nonsense approach I sought. If this is what you seek, Myanmar won’t let you down. 

My own journey began last winter at Panditarama, a sprawling 100-acre campus still presided over by the indomitable Sayadaw U Pandita, a man who has been in robes for more then 80 years. Here the task is an unremitting focus on the moment-to-moment arising of phenomena. From 4:30am until at least 9:00pm you alternate sitting and walking meditation in one-hour blocks. There’s a ferocity to the approach here. It’s not about feeling good; it’s about relentless application of the technique, and hopefully over time a breakthrough to liberating insight.

Pa Auk has a similarly driven attitude although the focus is, at least in the early stages, narrowed to the breath and sitting meditation is prioritized. Its 500-acre campus inhabits a forested hillside with kutis spreading up steep pathways and extending deep into the jungle, making the scale almost impossible to grasp. These kutis house the monks, whose numbers sometimes swell to over 1000. Go to either Pa Auk or Panditarama and you will be assured a clean and comfortable lodging, abundant food twice daily and the expectation of rigorous practice.

I most likely would have stuck to this limited itinerary if it weren’t for a chance encounter with a man named Joah that would radically alter my trajectory. Neat, trim, fit, he carries a quiet calm matched by a fierce intensity of purpose. Two years ago a small group of foreign yogis at the Shwe Oo Min center north of Yangon met to exchange tips about where to study. Seeing that most of these yogis were new to the country and understood very little about the ins and outs of Burmese Buddhism and culture, Joah began gathering and collating information in order to deepen and enrich the experience of foreigners living and practicing in Myanmar. The project has since snowballed into an exhaustive and long overdue guide to Burmese Buddhism. This guide will become an immediate classic of indispensable value to anyone looking to experience the dharma first hand in Myanmar as well as for those with a more armchair style curiosity. But the book is about more then just satiating idle curiosity and facilitating the experience of foreign yogis. It’s a treasure trove of history and a chronicling of one of the richest extant cultural realms on this planet. It arrives at a time of radical change and will help to redefine what development and progress can mean, not only in Myanmar, but in Southeast Asia and the world at large.

The book is called Shwe Lan Ga Lay (Shwe Lan for short), which translates as The Golden Path. It contains a thumbnail sketch of hundreds of monasteries, practice centers, monuments, pagodas, shrines, and stupas across the country. It profiles dozens of Sayadaws, both contemporary and historical, and it contains information from interviews with Sayadaws, scholars, lay devotes, and seasoned foreign yogis. Much of this content has never before appeared in English, and some of it has never before been written down in any language whatsoever. The book has a section on Burmese culture and the ways to be respectful, focusing on common guffaws and cultural differences. It notes the practicalities of travel with information on transportation, health, food, and visas. It will even teach you how to ordain as a monk.

With dozens of artists donating original pieces, both professional and amateur photographers contributing photographs, and professional designers working to create a dynamic layout, it promises to pack a strong visual punch to match the hefty written portion. When Shwe Lan is completed Pariyatti, a non-profit devoted to disseminating the teachings of the Buddha, will publish it in a way that insures as broad a distribution as possible including freely available e-versions.

More impressive still, the entire document has been created exclusively by volunteers and a scanty few thousand dollars of dana (donations) to cover various costs. I was floored and struck with a powerful urge to lend a hand. Joah emailed me and another young American, Sam Hanft, a list of 25 places to scout in Yangon. For each place we were instructed to report back on the conditions, the food, the sleeping arrangements, the style of teaching, and the vibe. We were asked to iron out directions, cull anecdotes, interview Sayadaws, record relevant history, and take pictures.

The scale of the task begins to crush me as even finding the monasteries proves to be a maddening undertaking and a herculean test of patience. Hurled into Yangon, the pulsing hub of the emerging nation, I spend a sweaty confused week lost and stuck in traffic. Busted sidewalks, with potholes big enough to fall into, heave with swarms of people hawking cheap Chinese merchandise and local fruits. Several stories above the mayhem, trees grow through the cracks of the function over style concrete flats that dominate the downtown. A rooster sits on the top of a glass counter full of the latest model knock off smart-phones. This is the angsty epicenter of the nation set to set to become the newest democracy in Southeast Asia, set to increase its GDP ten fold in the next decade.

But despite all the hustle, and bustle, despite the promise of modernity, despite the smog, and despite the traffic, there is the palpable sense of a collective, expectant pause. On a balmy evening, wandering the streets of Yangon, a Burmese friend and a poet, quips to me “it’s like Godot around here, everyone’s waiting, but they don’t know what they’re waiting for.” Myanmar is poised to transform, but in the interim you’re still hard pressed to find internet or an ATM and you can still see an older, gentler way of life and practice of dharma. This poisedness lends a poignancy to all that I see, a sense that the world that’s unfolding in front of me, the world that Joah is eager to share, is open, but only for a moment. 

Even within the crowded downtown, each monastery is a universe unto itself. Aletawya Monastery is lost in time with decaying colonial relics interspersed with lush green foliage and hidden pagodas. Orange robes hang on lines as elderly monks move quietly about their business and cats bask in the sun. Dhamma Theidhi Kya Ung center is full of the charged youthful energy of hundreds of novices showering and running about. Smart new concrete school buildings stand proudly above the well-marked sports fields. The Mogok Headquarters occupies the sprawling former tax building. In the 1950’s this was a crucial center for the massive post war meditation boom, when tens of thousands took up the practice for the first time. Drenched in history it’s a Blade Runneresque maze of corridors and rooms, some filled with huge dusty machinery. Everywhere wires and pipes run this way and that. Dhamidaow Daya Dhukhidarma is an orderly and serene nunnery housing hundreds of well fed young women dressed in the classical hot pink robes. Some monasteries ooze a turgid energy with pudgy monks lazily lounging, chewing betel nut, the fast acting narcotic of choice in Myanmar, as packs of mangy dogs roam the grounds.

The continual refrain from the monasteries is: come stay, come practice, come learn. Everyone is ready to roll out another mat to sleep on, ready to set up another mosquito net to meditate under, ready to make room on the floor around one of the round tables laden with food. Whatever your style, whether it’s learning Burmese and studying Pali; practicing one of the many different types of meditation; or helping the young novices there’s somewhere to suit you. Shwe Lan will highlight this diversity of options opening dharma doors both within and beyond the formal practice of meditation. 

Something of both the relative and absolute scale of it all can be grasped by noting that Myanmar is a country with 53 million people and a whopping monastic population of over 500,000. Those 500,000 live off donations alone. Myanmar is one of the poorest nations in the world, and yet the society somehow manages, through extraordinary generosity, to unfailingly support its bulging monastic population. Much of this generosity comes in the form of a single spoonful of rice given daily. Indeed this generosity, and the faith and understanding that inspires it, is legendary. This spirit of giving has created a softening effect on the country, such that despite the poverty, and despite the political oppression there is an air of friendliness and safety. The people possess an unusual uprightness both physically and psychologically, and they have a remarkable brightness and warmth. Some of the money that flows into the monastic world is squandered on flat screens for the Sayadaws, vain building projects, and sluggish monks, but much of it is funneled towards education and authentic practice whose fruits radiate through the entire society.

Watching a long line of monks marching through the streets at dawn, large metal bowls held out expectantly, people bowing and filling them with all types of food, I wonder how long such generosity can last as Myanmar hurtles into the 21st century. Shwe Lan reminds us that change is not new to Myanmar, recounting the mighty kingdoms that have come and gone, the rise and fall of colonial rule, the passing of the World Wars, and the five decade long grip of a corrupt military regime. Somehow through it all the dharma has remained strong and relevant, often reinventing itself to do so. But the juggernaut of consumerist culture that is already descending on the land is something unprecedented. How the society galvanizes to protect what’s worthwhile in the culture, while also working towards valid development goals concerning health, sanitation, infrastructure, access to education, ending hunger, the alleviation of poverty, and protection of minority rights, will have effects far beyond the boundaries of the nation.

Although originally tasked with investigating particular monasteries, it seems Myanmar is so saturated with Buddhism that I can’t help but trip and fall over it everywhere I go. Riding on one of the busy highways I see a massive Buddha, perhaps dozens of stories high, rearing up from the flat lands visible through the haze like a mirage. “What’s that?” I ask the cab driver excitedly. He dishes back a deadpan shrug as though such things are so commonplace as to be forgettable. Trundling through the streets on one of the 1950’s wood floor buses, I look up and notice that above the driver the bus has its own shrine, with flowers, pictures, and a small statue. I soon discover this is nearly universally the case.

Stumbling upon the former residence of Aung San, the much-loved father of modern Myanmar, I learn that despite being both a general and a communist, he was also a devoted Buddhist. In a turret of his house I pause for a moment of meditation in front of the gold, oddly squat Buddha statue where the general sat quietly each morning in the last few years of his life. My spine tingles and, chills course up and down my body. There’s a palpable charge to this turret. It’s not only here. Almost daily I find places that provoke this peculiar energetic reaction. 

At night Shwedagon Pagoda, beaming over Yangon, beckons me to retreat north of the downtown. As the heat recedes and the crowds dissipate, I walk barefoot on the still warm marble, head craning up to see the 344ft golden spire stretching towards the heavens. The profound allure of gold, its austere and relentless beauty against a dark sky, captivates the eye. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the singing of the small brass wind chimes placed high on the monument. Lovers walk hand in hand and families picnic idly.

In Myanmar the romantic rarely comes without a reminder of the real as the nation grows up. A youth anxiously spins his smart phone in his hand as he talks in a jittery manner with his girlfriend. LEDs have been affixed behind many of the bronze Buddhas nestled at the foot of the pagoda and cheesy looking plaster statues have been added around the base. The true devotees don’t seem to mind, kneeling silently by the Buddhas in the various reliefs, the altars full of offerings, fruits, flowers, dried goods, incense. A time for prayer. A time to tune into something beyond time.

I’ve become lost in this strange timeless momentum and have taken a young Sayadaw named U Asabha, at his word to come and stay. On the outskirts of Yangon is a vast sprawling neighborhood known as South Dagon. Flat, dry, hot, poor, and dusty, its massive blocks stretch for miles, lined with rickety wooden houses packed close to one another. Small makeshift footbridges cross the open sewers that run alongside the bumpy dirt streets. Sayadaw U Asabha speaks impeccable English, and teaches in the Mogok style, a style that is barely known in the West, but with more then 700 major centers, represents the most practiced tradition in Myanmar today. He presides over Shwe War Win monastery on a small plot at the corner of one of the blocks.

He takes me with him everywhere. Day after day we wind through the neighborhoods in his Toyota 4Runner, his infatigueable driver spitting betel nut out the window, honking his way through pedestrian-choked streets. We’re off to lunches and breakfasts, Sayadaw U Asabha blesses the homes, the babies, the marriages, and gives dharma talks everywhere he goes. Each home, no matter how modest the family, provides an immaculate spread, of fruits, rice, tealeaf salad, fish, curries, tea, sweets, on and on. Rolling out low wooden tables to sit around, they take great joy in offering food to the monks and me.

At night we’re often driven to this or that neighborhood of Yangon for large public talks where many hundreds of people cram into a temple or onto the streets that have been closed off for the occasion. The Sayadaw’s normally cool temperament is here augmented by a ferocity that sweeps the crowds on a roller coaster from excitement to hushed silence and on into the rollicking laughter so typical of the Burmese people. When he leaves the organizers present him with piles of cash gathered from the attendees, shoeboxes or plus sized envelopes stuffed with kyat. As per monastic code he doesn’t touch any of it. Instead one of his lay supporters carries it faithfully back to the car. This will go towards the construction of his monastery and towards feeding and educating the monks and young novices under his care. Somehow in his spare time he manages to instruct me on the Theory of Dependent Origination, the central teaching of the Mogok tradition. He’s adamant that the link between vedana (feelings) and tanha (craving) is the crucial link that must be severed in the karmic cycle.

He takes me south with him to the bottom of Mon state for a retreat. We clunk along in the 4Runner for twelve hours on poor roads with four people to a three-person seat. The retreat is an assault on my senses as Burmese continuously blares through loud speakers across the monastery. But the dharma is between the cracks out here. A young man noting the awkward position I’ve ended up in takes me on his motor-bike on an impromptu tour around the state to see massive religious monuments and enormous forested monasteries supported miraculously by local farming communities. I get a glimpse of the vastness of the monastic network and gain a new respect for the power of a spoonful of rice. In the small “kitchen” a handful of middle-aged women with large smiles, a few immense woks, and a small pile of wood, crank out enough food to feed hundreds. They consistently come by and ask me “alright?”, “happy?”, “enough?”. I assure them “kaun deh,” Burmese for “it’s / I’m great.” 

Golden Rock Pagoda in Mon State

When it’s time to part ways with Sayadaw U Asabha a young man offers to take me to the bus stop and once there he buys me a ticket before I know what he’s doing. It’s only 5000 kyat, a few dollars, but for him it’s likely a week’s pay. To refuse would be obscene so I accept as graciously as I can. “Call me when you get to Pa Auk, it’s good place, it’s good thing you do, good luck.” He leaves me with these words and I leave with a heart bursting with the absurdity and the profundity of such a gesture. There’s a saying that when it comes to Theravada Buddhism: if you want the universities go to Sri Lanka, if you want to learn the Viniya go to Thailand, but if you want to practice, go to Myanmar. Everyone is relentlessly ready to help and is determined to support you in any way they can.

Before I leave Myanmar I head north to the Sagaing Hills, a place I had never heard of, but for a few words from Joah and the battered pages of printed notes from an advance copy of Shwe Lan. “It’s difficult to overstate the majesty and wonder of the Sagaing Hills. And for the yogi intent on Burmese Buddhist practice, there are few—if any—places that compare... with an estimated 1,000 monasteries and 200 nunneries—many of them consisting of just little more than a scant collection of buildings on a quiet hillside— and well over 15,000 in robes, it is a living, breathing Buddhist community almost unparalleled in the modern world.”

Further along in the Shwe Lan section is a quote from V. C. Scott O’Conner in Mandalay and Other Cities of the Past in Burma that seems as true today as it was one hundred plus years ago when he wrote it. “By far the most interesting part of Sagaing lies in the hilly country above it, where austere monks live; and every peak bears testimony to the piety of bygone kings and people…. The effect of the spectacle is enhanced, and lifted up to something strangely majestic, by the atmosphere, dry, prismatic, mystical— glorious with all the effulgence of Sagaing… One does not come upon sights like this out of Burma. There is some unconscious undercurrent of great qualities in the Burman personality that alone makes them possible.”

At a quiet monastery, tucked into a valley in the Hills, I stumble upon an old friend and a small gaggle of foreigners. I tell them a bit about the project and they nod. “Ohhh, just don’t tell them about these Hills” they giggle to themselves, wanting to keep Sagaing a secret. For a moment I falter. Perhaps they’re right. Maybe sharing these places will just spoil them, leave them overrun the same way the Lonely Planet often destroys the very places it highlights. Joah has already considered this, opting to craft the Sagaing section not as a traditional guide, but as a monument to the unknown and untold history of Sagaing and an open invitation to make your own path there… still I wonder.

But as I wander for days up and over and around the hills I begin to see just how embattled this ancient bastion is. Only a generation ago wild tigers roamed these Hills, today the towns on the edges steadily encroach on the habitat once reserved for these magnificent animals and the seekers brave enough to live alongside them. In the Hills once quiet forest paths have been paved and tractors blare as workers illegally mine rocks that will be crushed and made into cement. The historic Dat Ma Ku Kan Pond has been reduced to a puddle by a strangely dry year. On the peaks you can hear the speakers of the nearby towns blasting pop tunes. Myanmar is surrounded by nations eager to plunder it. It’s filled with people enthralled by the promises of material wealth and its climate, like that of the rest of the world, is becoming strangely unpredictable. It’s these forces that will radically reshape the monasteries and transform the character of the nation and not a few earnest seekers. It’s these changes that also lend an urgency to the completion of Shwe Lan and to the explorations it will engender.

I leave on a direct Air Asia flight from Mandalay to Bangkok, one of many such new connections that are facilitating Myanmar’s rapid transformation into just another cog in an increasingly monolithic global capitalist culture. The plush red and black pleather seats contrast sharply with the brown earthy hews of the Myanmar landscape fading beneath me. The tight-fitting uniforms, fake smiles, and menus where everything is for sale likewise contrast sharply with the modesty, authenticity, and generosity fading beneath me. As I sink back into the seat I begin to reflect that perhaps Myanmar doesn’t fade from you quite so quick as that. Maybe its got more of a sticky hard to rinse off quality.

I went to Myanmar hungry for a certain almost violent approach to practice, but in experiencing such practice delivered in impeccable form I began to navigate towards something else. Of course there can be enormous value in hardcore practice environments, but the dharma is not one size fits all and even an individual will need different things as he or she evolves over time. Myanmar seemed to effortlessly accommodate, perhaps even instigate, my own shifting orientation and turned out to be more diverse, gentle, and nuanced then I’d ever imagined. It swept me along in its current, delivering teachings on its own time and its own terms.

Like a pebble emerging from a river I feel a little smoother and softer around the edges. I fear that upon returning home I’ll effortlessly regain all my old prickly hardness, but this is far from fated. Despite what the dominant culture may encourage, culture is not a one-way street. Individuals create culture just as culture shapes individuals. At one point the dharma was new to Myanmar, carried slowly by pilgrims, seekers, and wise men from the Indian subcontinent. I’ll be taking home a burgeoning understanding of how these initial seeds of dharma can root and flower and grow into something of tremendous scale and multifaceted value. Tempering this awesome possibility, I’ve also seen how even mighty trees can be threatened by storms and disease. And alongside these grandiose conceptions of how radical large-scale social transformation emerges and declines, I’ll carry something on a much more intimate, and visceral level, a quiet twang in my chest reminding me of the deep worth and infectious quality of human kindness.

Hopefully the majesty, the grandeur, the mystery, the improbable scale of it all can be a reminder that the world still holds pockets of wonder and goodness. As we consider the people who make all this wonder possible, as we reflect on the relentless drive of Joah McGee, the welcoming embrace of Sayadaw U Asabha, the patient persistent contributions of peasants offering their daily spoonful of rice, and the monks and yogis battling to transform their minds we can settle back in these reminders of uprightness and benevolence, finding solace and warmth in their glow. We can also use these reminders as an edge to inspire us to dig deeper in summoning our own relentless drive, in conjuring our own warm embrace, in finding an arena for our own consistent contribution, and in waging our own inner battle."

To read Shwe Lan Ga Lay Part 1, go here.

About the author: Miles Bukiet has followed a consuming passion for yoga, bodywork, and meditation to India, Malaysia, China, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand.

Miles Bukiet

Shwe Lan Ga Lay: A Project of Selfless Giving

The editor of Shwe Lan Ga Lay has shared this statement about the progress of the project:

"In the spirit of the Buddha’s advice to give freely and without expecting anything in return, Shwe Lan Ga Lay is entirely a dāna project, and everyone associated with it is a volunteer. While several hundred volunteers have helped us in some capacity, a core group of a couple dozen people have been involved since the inception. This includes a dedicated team of professional editors, translators, scholars, artists, photographers, layout designers, writers, web designers, and others who are giving in kind by offering their unique skill set to the project. 

Those of us who work on this project believe that Myanmar has an untold wealth of profound wisdom and sacred teachings to offer the world. For it is here that the depth of the Buddha’s teachings have been followed and practiced for centuries, and a visit offers the foreign meditator an unparalleled opportunity to grow in the Dhamma.

Shwe Lan Ga Lay explores Burmese monastic discipline in depth, instructing the foreign yogi in not only where one can go to practice but also how to behave respectfully in the culture. Towards these ends, we have worked with dozens of senior monks, nuns, and scholars, who have reviewed many of our drafts and kindly offered feedback for revisions."

U Sarana Arrives in the Sagaing Hills

U Sarana has reported that his first full day of intensive research in the Sagaing Hills has been completed, and was an astounding success. Reports a monk who made contact with him: "he is happy (and proud) of the work done in a day and says that you will be amazed of all the gems he has found. Lots of material is coming! Apparently local monks are helping and have found unedited maps drawn in cloth of the area, they have camera, dana," and all other needs being fulfilled. As there are only walking paths carved into the wilderness in the Sagaing Hills which go back centuries, discerning how to get around is a major challenge that even many locals do not know. This is therefore awe-inspiring news that, like a line out of Tolkien or Robert Jordan, "unedited maps drawn in cloth" have already been found at local monasteries. For those that would like to support U Sarana's trip, dana may be offered for all to share in the merit.

"What's So Special About the Sagaing Hills?"

Regarding the recent news about U Sarana undertaking an intensive research trip in the Sagaing Hills, some readers who have not been to Myanmar have asked, "what's so special about this area, anyway?"

This is a fair question, and one that would require a book to answer-- or, perhaps, the upcoming Shwe Lan Ga Lay.

One cannot find the words to adequately describe such an unusual gem as these Hills. It is noteworthy that it has played critical roles in the genesis of the two major Burmese Buddhist practices that have been exported from Burma: Mahasi Sayadaw and Sayagyi U Goenka. It was in Sagaing, at Thameikdawdaya Nunnery just after World War II, in 1947, where Sir U Thwin beheld Mahasi Sayadaw speaking for the first time. He was transfixed listening to the sermon, and later remarked that “[Mahasi Sayadaw] was teaching with utmost dignity in a tranquil state of mind without any distraction….This eminent teacher is the savior I have been searching for.” Conferring with Prime Minister U Nu, Sir U Thwin invited Mahasi Sayadaw to the newly opened Sasana Yeiktha in Rangoon, asking him to be the lead teacher here. It was from this this center where the Mahasi movement swept not only Burma but the entire Southeast Asian region in unprecedented ways, an unparalleled Dhammic movement that had its origins in a humble Sagaing nunnery.

Similarly, U Goenka has suggested that Ledi Sayadaw learned Vipassana meditation deep in the Sagaing Hills from an unknown master. Although there are questions about this speculation, it is extremely significant that this region would be chosen as the origin of Ledi's Vipassana practice, for it is a region especially known for patipatti-minded monks. Ledi would be asked on two separate occasions to return to the Sagaing Hills to drive away plague epidemics, and was successful both times, according to one monk biographer. He also spent the last couple years of his life in a monastery near the Ayeyarwaddy River (although passed away in Pyinmina), where pilgrims can still today go and meditate just beyond the peaceful flowing river. It was also here where he was given the highest award by British colonials. (by this time, however, Ledi was legally blind, having exhausted his eyesight from his continual reading and writing) Also, perhaps U Goenka's greatest contemporary Dhamma friend in Myanmar was Sitagu Sayadaw, who played a critical role for the spread of U Goenka's teachings within Myanmar. And Sitagu Sayadaw, of course, established his famed Sitagu Academy just at the foot of the Hills-- and is now building a massive Vipassana Center much deeper into the Hills in the model of Borobudur in Indonesia.

Until just a generation ago, tigers roamed the dense forestation of the Sagaing Hills, and some monks even today bear tiger scars upon their bodies from attacks that occurred during alms rounds-- talk about unwholesome kamma for the great beasts! Countless arahants have been produced from these Hills, and the surviving stories of their challenges and ultimate successes make some of the most inspiring reading available to meditators today-- it is histories and stories such as these that U Sarana hopes to further track down.

U Sarana: Preparations for Sagaing

A previous message noted that U Sarana will undertake an intensive one week trip into the Sagaing Hills, accompanied by the Burmese monk U Tiloka and one lay supporter, to do comprehensive research of the monasteries, pagodas, and history of this region. Next to nothing has ever been written about the Sagaing Hills in English, and very little even in Burmese, since for the last one thousand years this has been a refuge for Vipassana-oriented monks who were more interested in seeking full liberation than in preserving historical records or making a lineage. Still, some history has remained here, and for the benefit of the many thousands of future meditators who also seek this practice, U Sarana has chosen to undertake this great task.

In his own words, he shares:

"I want to go straight inside the Sagaing Hills, to the places where lay people, foreigners can't get. I want to get to the most dangerous and most "wild" places, which are most shrouded in mysteries. This is where I can be helpful, not elsewhere. Prepare me the trip-plan in this way. Not otherwise, please.

The greatest luck here is, that the monk supposed to go with me is eager to tell me everything and anything, so I am able thus to gain a lot of "answers", and also "questions" for further research. It is the monk who is the cause for my travel, nothing else. I am completely convinced, that if there is something very sacred or extremely difficult to know/understand about Sagaing, this monk will just take me to the answer, or point out the right source of information.

From words of U Tiloka I have a strong belief, that lay people won't get access to certain places, unlike monks. Me, as a monk, going there together with a Sagaing native, might have an enormous, immense possibility to get such information that you perhaps never even dreamt of. In the course of searching answers for your questions, I will certainly learn much, much more.

You also should know, that I have huge expectation of the Sagaing research trip. I expect to take thousands of photos, visit extremely developed Sayadaws - see their feats, see all the mysteries by my own eyes. I expect to learn hundreds of new vocabulary and great number of proverbs, lists of wisdom and maybe even find the monk who could be my meditation teacher after I finish my studies."

For those who would like to give dana to support this monumental research trip, please see here.

U Sarana to visit Sagaing Hills

Readers of this blog may find that many of our entries share information about the Dhamma in Burma which is basically unavailable anywhere else on the Internet, and which even many printed books do not carry.  Most of these posts are excerpts from the upcoming meditator's guidebook to Burma, Shwe Lan, for which hundreds of specialists and volunteers have given their time for more than two years. For Shwe Lan, hundreds of monasteries, pagodas, meditation caves, and other Buddhist sites were visited in Myanmar, and dozens of interviews were conducted with noted scholars, writers, monks, nuns, and meditation teachers. Many of the blog posts are but a small window into the breadth of information that is being compiled and revised in the Shwe Lan draft, to be freely shared with seekers on the Path.

With this in mind, it is with great joy that we announce that the monk U Sarana has volunteered to take a one week fact-finding mission in the Sagaing Hills. He will go with another monk who is familiar with the mystery and legends surrounding the Hills, both of whom will be supported by a local lay woman, who will look after their daily needs. They will spend an intensive week visiting more sites from morning until night, and conducting interviews with monks who have lived in these Hills for many years. Surely, they will find much precious information that has never been known about this area of the Golden Land where, more than any other, Vipassana practice has flourished for centuries. What is more, U Sarana is known for being particularly devoted to his Buddhist studies, Vipassana practice, and monastery responsibilities, and very rarely ever leaves his monastery. So it is all the more remarkable that for the first time, he has offered not only to leave his monastery, but also to go all the way to Upper Burma! This is a rare event indeed. His findings, research, documentation, and photos will eventually appear in Shwe Lan as well finding their way on this blog, to benefit all meditators.

U Sarana's trip expenses will be covered by the generous dana that meditators around the world have given Pariyatti to fund this volunteer project. All dana received goes directly to project expenses; which in this case will cover the travel expenses from Yangon and throughout Sagaing for these three researchers. His lay supporter has estimated that the total cost for this week trip may be $600-700. For those meditators who have found inspiration from this blog and would like to see this continue, and who moreover would like to gain merit by being involved in this kusala project, financial dana may be offered to Shwe Lan via Pariyatti's page here. Scroll to the bottom of this link and there is an option for giving dana through one's credit card.

For those without financial resources but who would also like to be involved in this wholesome project, please send us an email directly.