Ingyinbin Journal: Arrival in the Village

John, a meditator from New Zealand, spends extended periods in Ingyinbin each year, the home of the revered Webu Sayadaw and with his friend Ashin Mandala. This winter, he has decided to keep a journal, which he has kindly offered to share with us. His journal alternates between observation and poetry, between meditation practice and commentary about Burmese Buddhist society, from his learnings and his questions. The full collection of his musings can be found here.

"The enthusiastic young student in the restaurant encourages us to return later to Kin-U and use her phone for wifi access if needed, given there is no internet available at the monastery. A few minutes later U Mandala arrives in a white car with the Sangha flag positioned mid-bonnet, his passenger a fellow meditator on a visit from Belgium, to drive us on the dirt and stone road, past multiple fields of mature rice plants interspersed by others containing only stubble on cracked earth, to the monastery.

Nearing Ingynbin 

egret buffalo buffalo egret: 

coming, staying, going.

Bhante is pleased to see us and clearly appreciates the National Geographic Atlas that, with other small gifts, we place before him following our prostrations. A new toilet is to be installed in the main building, itself freshly re-painted on the outside with a mixture of white green gold & silver; we also are shown the freshly painted white pagoda nearing completion that sits on a small mound between the guest house and the lake. Greetings ended, we pass by the dogs sleeping on the ground on the way to our accommodation and sit with the surroundings somehow seeming unshakeable:

Suddenly barking village dogs
enter an evening without disturbance
Already at home here.

The agreed time to sit is 5am; at 4:45 bhante’s torchlight appears at the glass panels of the metal door. The surroundings remain still until near 6 when the temple bell is struck in series of three calling the monks to breakfast - only to launch another crescendo, barks and yelps. Anapana together starts to reshape an internal sense of proportion:

A small boat 

smaller, smaller: 

sea everywhere!

When Karen and I in early afternoon head to the small white stupa in which Tamara said she had also meditated, it is the athletic young monks playing caneball who impress: some of them have draped parts of their red robes over nearby branches or tucked them round their bellies as they nimbly cavort. We see them kick the ball backwards over their heads or header it deftly to a teammate:

The cane ball repeatedly crosses the net 

dextrous monks!

- cane ball my mind.

The mythological duck placed atop the stone pillar adjacent our meditation place marks the historical extent of the monastery’s land. The elderly women with her few remaining blackened teeth who seems to be living out her life in one of the bamboo huts in the compound retains a wide smile as she fingers Karen’s lungyi ‘la la la’.

As we had done on the previous visit, now with Thierri we walk the local dusty lane, used by bullock carts leaving for the rice fields in the morning and re-entering the village near evening. Again the girls, at sunset, stream from the weaving factory, empty tiffins shining in their hands, smiling and laughing together, as they enjoy gazing at us and giggling:

A line of bullockcarts returning to the village: 

sunlight tangled in dust, 

girls smiling."

Burma Day 13: Settling In Before Heading Out

The day before can be seen here! The following excerpt was written by Kory Goldberg about the pilgrimage in Burma. You can also consider joining a later pilgrimage in Burma yourself.

Pilgrims take a group photo with the Sayadaw at the Patipatti side of Webu Monastery

"Today was atypical as people had the opportunity to really follow their own rhythm. Following meditation and breakfast, most of us chose to take the village and Pariyatti Monastery tour, but some decided to simply take it easy and meditate on their own. Some even followed bhikkhus U Sasana and U Agga on their alms round through the village, getting a glimpse into the 2600 year old tradition in a location that probably does not look like too much has changed since then. For those of us on the tour walking through the village with U Mandala and the visiting monk U Yassa was quite special. Ingynbin's people are renown for their devotion to the Sangha and walking along with these English speaking venerable monks afforded us an opportunity to interact with villagers in a way that seemed impossible the day before when a small group of us went out on our own. The previous day, we certainly got a few brilliant smiles and mingalabas, but with the monks people actually came out to meet us after they had finished bowing in reverence to the monks. 

The group gathers for a photo in front of the magnificent Dhamma Hall on the Pariyatti side of Webu Monastery

When we arrived in the village centre, we came across a large float built to hold a coffin. Venerable Yassa's aunt had recently died and he was back in Ingynbin from Mandalay to participate in the funeral procession and practice the Asubha contemplation. One of the pilgrims asked the monk of 25 rainy seasons how he felt. He admitted that he felt sad, but he did not cry since he had so much Buddhist practice under his belt. He said he felt happy also at this moment, for he had helped to teach dhamma to his aunt and he knew that she had lived a pure and virtuous life. Sharmaji, with full compassion, held the monk's hand, for he too is a human being. 

U Yassa then translated the conversation to the crowd of villagers who stood close by (in a respectful and non-imposing manner, unlike in India when locals are not shy to surround a foreigner and gawk at him as if he were an animal in a zoo). The villagers were all smiling, including Yassa's uncle, understanding that death is just another part of the cycle of life. Yassa continued that his aunt was a dedicated Buddhist whose morality was stainless and her meditation strong, so he was confident that she was bound for rebirth in a celestial plane. He then invited us to attend the funeral and practice the Asubha, a reflection on the fragility of human life and the repulsiveness of the human body. To his surprise, we all accepted with gratitude and excitement to watch a corpse burn to ashes.

Since the ceremony was not for another 90 minutes we returned to the monastery for an audience with the Buddha relics. As I was at Chowse, I was quite skeptical regrading their authenticity, despite knowing that they had been donated to Webu Sayadaw by the Prime Minster of Sri Lanka (Webu Sayadaw had visited Sri Lanka only on the condition that he was given some Buddha relics to bring back to Myanmar). However, as soon as I entered the Sayadaw's darkened room where they were kept I immediately felt that distinct strong activation of the awareness of the anicca along with a coolness flowing through my body, a very unique movement of sensation that I feel only when in the presence of the Tathagata's remains. The 82-year old Sayadaw sat there flanked by some younger monks, and in front of him was an open relic casket. Right there lay before me mustard seed sized pieces of bone in the centre of an ivory lotus flower. Snow had been in the room for some time already, and she called each one of us up to the relics and then placed them on our heads for a direct blessing. Once everyone had had a turn, Yassa translated the Sayadaw's Webu-inspired teaching on practising continuously in order to awaken in this very lifetime. None of us wanted to leave, but this moment too had to come to the end of its life as the funeral ceremony was to soon begin.

The procession itself was neither solemn nor sad, but rather festive with lots of joking and laughter as people banged on the side of the float shouting out the Burmese equivalent to "Grandma, Grandma, come on Grandma." The float was then disassembled, the body removed from the coffin and placed on to the pyre. We then all moved to a nearby site where we were all given lychee juice while taking refuge in the Triple Gem and 5 precepts, followed by an Asubha-based discourse, which fortunately Yassa translated for us. 

Initially, I felt bad that we were given the seats of honour at a funeral of person we did know and that the translations stretched out the event for our sake, but when realizing that all the locals were so pleased to have us there, all such thoughts vanished. As the chanting and discourse commenced, the smell of burning flesh wafted through the air. When the discourse was over, we met Yassa's cousin, also a monk, and uncle who we met earlier. This time, however, the elderly farmer was no longer grinning from ear to ear as the direct realization of what was happening began to sink in. His son, the monk, looked devastated, despite wearing the armour of a bhikkhu. We then walked over to watch the corpse burn and reflect on the vulnerability of life and inevitability of death. To our surprise, most of the funeral attendees skipped out on what seemed to me one of the most important parts of the ceremony. Those in attendance, besides the freaky foreigners eager to see a dead body, were a bunch of young novices with their fingers stuck up their noses, a few teenagers, the calm Yassa, and those responsible for burning the body. Every now and again these guys would use a long piece of bamboo to scrape the flesh and poke at the bones to make sure that every part got consumed by the fire.

Later that afternoon as most people rested, a couple of us completely changed gears as we dove into the mud with the Thai women and a group of novices to work on constructing the mud bricks for the adobe house. We worked out our muscles by mixing the clay, water and rice husks and then carrying heaps of these mixtures over to the frame for shaping the bricks. It was a lot of fun and gave us an opportunity to interact with locals in a completely new and engaging way. Translating words into English, Thai and Burmese while building something useful is a great way to establish communication amidst linguistic and cultural obstacles. After we were done and bathed at the natural hot spring, we came across some young, local farmers playing their end-of-day ritual of chinlone-volleyball. At first we hesitated to join because these guys were amazing, but their skill and positive energy magically raised our bar and we fit in not too badly.

After our evening meditation the relaxation for most continued until bed while some of us went back to meet with Thais to learn more about adobe building and their projects back home. What an incredibly diverse and spontaneous day! The constant surprises and blessings on a pilgrimage can only manifest when their is a willingness to remain flexible and open to change, comfort with not knowing what will pop out around the next corner, and honest about one's needs and limitations. The next step is integrate these pilgrimage lessons back home where every day, every moment is its own little journey."

The next day's entry, when the group goes on to the mystical Sagaing Hills, can be found here...

Burma Day 3: On the Road

The group poses for a photo in the Bamboo Grove at Sassana Won Saung Monastery in Hmawbi

For Day 2, see here! The following excerpt was written by Kory Goldberg, describing the ongoing Buddhist pilgrimage in Burma. You can also consider joining a later pilgrimage in Burma yourself.

"Leaving Yangon for the unknown. Much of what we have been doing so far has been totally unprecedented, and the unfamiliar--for both us and our Burmese hosts-- would continue. After a brief halt at the Htaukkyant War Memorial with a reflection on the uncertainty and vulnerability of this precious human life, we stopped in at the Sassana Won Saung Monastery to offer food to more than 250 samaneras and bhikkhus learning and practicing the vinaya. As with all visits to a monastery, the first order of the event was to seek out the Sayadaw, pay respect to him, offer dana, and explain to him who we are and what we are doing. We were pleasantly surprised to be joined by Snow's father, who was very proud of his daughter's accomplishment of helping foreign yogis travel around their country to gain an intimacy with Burmese culture and Dhamma. Now that we have visited a few monasteries and Dhamma centres I also came to realize that not only were we curious objects of interest--and to some degree, pride, for the Burmese, but we were also in some way representatives of our teacher Sayagyi U Goenka and his teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin. We were showing these Sayadaws what Goenkaji has accomplished by disseminating the practice of Dhamma on a global scale, and that his international students were now respectfully visiting famous and out of the way places that have helped shape the form of Burmese Buddhism over the last century and a half. 

A subtle example of the exemplary discipline found at Sassana Won Saung Monastery is evidenced by the simple way that the novices leave their shoes when entering a building

From the Sayadaw's meeting room, we made our way to the massive dining hall filled with almost hunded small tables laden with several dishes. the men of the group formally offered the food to an elder bhikkhu who in turn led the group in a chant of homage. The men, not used to the Burmese pronunciation, fumbled all the prayers, causing even a chuckle here and there by both foreign and local yogis. (a short clip of this incident can be seen here) Then as the large number of monks filed in the women in our had the opportunity to offer rice in the bowls of the monks. This moment was a first for almost all the women, and the joy and excitement they were feeling was tangible. watching the monks silently accept and consuming alms was a blessing and an inspiration for mindful eating--a practice that most westerners are not habituated to do, and probably not unrelated to the various digestive issues that so many face. 

New robes are offered and merit is made at Sassana Won Saung Monastery by foreign yogis

When the monks were done eating the men in our group offered each bhikkhu a sachet of washing powder. We all worked as a team as some of us were separating the attached packets (and making a bit of a mess spilling powder everywhere--although a pleasant sign that we contributing to the cleansing of defilements!), others handing them off to the givers, and the rest sending metta, abiding in piti, and/or taking photos of the whole event. Then it was our turn to eat. Although it would be a lie to say that we followed the monks' tranquil example, we did eat our lunch with appreciation, joy, and great Dhamma discussions. To help digest the once again delicious meal, Snow and one of the monastery's lay supporters gave us a tour of the peaceful premises dotted with jackfruit trees and a cool bamboo grove, probably not dissimilar to the venuvana of the Buddha's day. None of us really wanted to leave the shade of the bamboo, but there was still much to do before the day's end.

The immensely peaceful Bamboo Grove walkway found at Sassana Won Saung Monastery

Our next stop was Aung Zabu Tawya, a monastery that recently acquired a 301 precious Buddha statues from a Japanese devotee (whose business apparently multiplied after the donation--Dhamma works!). As soon as we arrived, we were ushered to the front of the temple to meet the Sayadaw. He was so impressed by our group that he closed off the display to other visitors so that we could visit the statues undisturbed (not a small gesture as there were hundreds of people outside waiting to enter--apparently the temple now receives approximately one million vistors per week). As we walked around the temple inspecting and honouring the images, a small group of women pilgrims clad in brown chanted Pali suttas. Their beatiful voices in unison charged the moment with a devotional intensity, bringing tears to a few of our eyes. Again, how fortunate we are.


Myittar Shin Shwe Pyi Thar Monastary in Hmawbi, about 90 minutes from Yangon, was Our next and final destination for the next couple of days. Since the Sayadaw was out of station, we went straight to our accommodation. Unlike the luxurious 3-star hotel with comfortable beds and wifi connection we stayed at in Yangon, here we were to sleep on the floor in small dorms, sharing the space with spiders, frogs, lizards. These conditions provided us with a perfect opportunity to practice nekkhama parami with grace and trust that everything would be fine as long as we maintained equanimity and appreciation. before our group meditation in monastary's ordination hall, We walked around the grounds where we came across a group of construction workers playing chinlone outside the five thousand person capacity meditation hall. While the group toured the hall, I stayed back to watch the guys play, half hoping that they would invite me into the circle. they were much better than the guys I played with in Yangon (who were about the same skill as I was), so I was also happy to just watch. They invited me in and I hopped in without hesitation, not regretting it for a moment since I was able to follow along without dropping the ball too often. Like meditating in groups, we get charged by others and everyone's capacity to go deeper increases. After our group sitting, those of us who were hungry concluded the day with tea, biscuits, and fruit over wonderful Dhamma discussions and stories. Another great ending to another great day."

The next post can be found here! (You can also compare this day with the Burma Yatra #2)

This dhamma hall is most of the time empty, but twice per year they hold Vipassana meditation courses that accommodate 4,000 sitting students at one time! (as a comparison, one Canadian Vipassana center in the tradition of Sayagyi U Goenka welcomes approximately 1,000 students per year)