Ingyinbin Journal: "The Moon Cares Little for my Despondency."

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.

24 January Uposata 

"Under the ramshackle wooden tiers of the old hall,the young Bhante paces delivering Uposata
to the children, themselves loosely tiered before him."

25 January 

The weather is warmer but I am on day 3 of a head cold. Surprising, with that and the poor night’s sleep, how cluttered and disconsolate the mind quickly becomes: dreaming of failure at work and with others, constantly tripping over and failing myself. A Lemsip before and a coffee after the morning group sit seems to help. I think of Bhante-ji, enduring a similar cold over a number of days.

Bante-ji, 83 and 40% total hearing,
burnt himself testing barium
for Indira Ghandi and the atomic programme.

*

Starting again, the breath gradually
distils to something finer, then the body,
until neither’s perplexed.

The moon and birds care little for my despondency. During breakfast the glowing spoon-hollow moon slips from above the trees to nestle among the uppermost branches, joining the ibises, which occasionally honk and shift position, before taking flight to other places and the day’s purposes. Looking like the concord, the bird lifts or dips slightly towards its long, curved beak, and is elegant in flight despite the initial dragging of the body and the straggling legs and the repeated short pump of its wings. The egrets are the engineers of flight, economical and precise. There are other birds, one a dark and narrow bird, maybe some kind of shag. At the lakeside a small frog, half the size of my thumb, hops away on hearing Karen’s footsteps and heads to the water’s edge, where it pauses.

The night traversing the sky, in the morning
the radiant full moon slips alongside
the ibises among the tamarind’s upper branches.

"The Environment in the Monastery"

Flowers are laid for Yaw Sayadaw at Shwe Oo Min Monastery

The following narrative continues the story of a Mexican meditator who has been in Burma for many years. This is the fifth entry, and the beginning post can be found here. 

"After water festival I still wanted to keep meditating, so I asked the teacher if I could go to another centre in Kalaw. In this new monastery we could keep practicing the same method. However, I was still a bit confused about the method at Shwe Oo Min. I thought that perhaps I should do a little bit of samathā because my stability of mind was not very strong. When I felt lost in the practice I used to follow the instructions of my old teachers.

Some other foreign yogis also came to Kalaw to practice, meanly because the heat in the hot season in Yangon is very strong. The weather in Kalaw was wonderful, very similar to Mexico City so I felt like coming home. In the monastery a single monk was living there, and he granted us an interview everyday. By that time we were only four yogis. We were sharing our experiences and he would respond with some advice. I learned some good things in this meeting but what I liked the most was the environment that we built together. It was very nice and friendly. We made a good dhamma team.

This monastery in Kalaw allowed me to deepen my practice because it is very free. The monastery itself is beautiful, it is surrounded by nature and yogis can follow their own timetable and choose places where they wish to meditate. This freedom gave me a lot of comfort and security in the practice.

At Shwe Oo Min I used to follow the timetable that was programmed for yogis. However, I did not find it skilful to follow all the time. Sometimes to allow the mind to be more relax and open helps awareness to work naturally instead of an artificial timetable. This natural work of awareness start to happen in Kalaw due to the freedom that the monastery gave to the yogis. I found it incredibly useful for deepening the practice. Slowly I started to see the hindrance that did not allow me to progress in the practice and this realization helped me to change my attitude and behaviour. I felt a lot of freedom when this behaviours change, bliss and calmness in the mind."

The next entry can be found here.

Sayagyi U Goenka course in Kalaw

A poster in Burmese language announces an upcoming ten day meditation course to be held at Thein Daung monastery in Kalaw, Shan State. The poster notes that the meditation taught is "according to the great Ledi Sayadaw" and in the tradition of Sayagyi U Goenka. It announces course dates, contact information, and registration logistics. 

Perhaps not coincidentally, the course is being held in one of the hottest months of year for the Bamar regions of the Dry Zone. Thankfully, the peaceful pine forests of Kalaw stay cool all year around, allowing for a more peaceful meditation experience. 

Burma Pilgrimage #2, Day 17: "Here, change is in your face."

The model plan for the new ambitious Sitagu Vipassana Center. The group sat here in the morning

The upper most paogoda at the Sitagu Vipassana Center. Last month's yatra was the first group to ever meditate there, and this group was the second 

The following excerpt was written by an American yogi about the pilgrimage in Burma. The first pilgrimage has ended, and the second one has just begun! To read about the previous day sitting the self course in the Sagaing Hills, go here. To read about the first pilgrimage group's experience as they explored Mingun, see here.

You can also consider joining a later pilgrimage in Burma.

A view of the Mingun Jetty before boarding the boat back to Sagaing

"The highlight today was an Ayeyarwaddy river boat trip.

On boarding the boat consisted of walking down a sandy bank, onto a 'bridge/plank' brought into being by the alignment of a slab of wood to walk on, and a single bamboo 'railing' held by two men. Arising and passing away is never far away in this land...

The craft was remarkably low set in the water with open windows covered only with adjustable tarp. Rain started during our time on the vessel, with a drop in temperature that few of us were prepared for.

Going down the Ayeyarwaddy was the last leg of Goenkaji's ashes. As we traced his path, we passed tugboats hauling wood cargo, small wooden boats with old motors attached, some puffing out black smoke in their journeys.

All share passage in the muddy waters, in a place where change is a reality of life. The sandy banks actively evolve, with large chunks falling to join the river. Men testing water depths stand guard at the bow, guiding vessels away from swirling eddys and sand bars. The landscape is foggy, with rolling hills framing flat lands interspersed with an occasional thatched hut and flame tree.

One of the things in the West, is that we've created such comfortable (and artificial) environments that we forget that all things change. Here, change is in your face, whether it is in the dimming of the bathroom light because the electric shower head just turned on, or floating down the Ayeyarwaddy in an exposed wooden boat.

Anicca, anatta, dukkha...

A gold statue of Mingun Sayadaw

**************

This Mingun Pagoda is built on seven layers to resemble the seven layers of waves when approaching Mt. Meru

The mood is somber, as we pass near where Goenkaji's ashes were scattered.

The rain picked up, and by the time we got on the bus, we were a wet bunch. And in the moment, huddled together on the exposed bus for warmth, Goenkaji's doha chantings arise, led by a couple of CCTs... a sweet ending to a memorable Ayeyarwaddy trip..."

To read about the pilgrims' final day in Yangon, see here.

The Sitagu Academy Rector gave generously of his time, as pilgrims took advantage of his English fluency to ask him a number of question pertaining to the Dhamma

Diary of a Yogi Bear #1

The The Phyu Taw Ya Pagoda at night

Australian yogi Nobuko Nakano has spent an extended period living a dhammic life in Burma, and now takes a moment to reflect on her experiences and share the inspiration with a larger audience:

“Dearest brothers and sisters,

I write the following journal diary/blog style, completely from my personal perspective, from my own experience, describing the stay I have had here at The Phyu Tawya Monastery in the Hmawbi during December 2012- November 2013

The idea came up after a dhamma brother requested to me in December 2012 who came to The Phyu, to write him an email to describe my experiences during my stay, after I announced to him, my intention was to stay here for at least one year. So I share with you all, the experiences I have had and some things which you may be made aware of should you choose to come here to do vipassana meditation.

Please excuse any grammatical, spelling, typos errors etc, and as I’m writing from an Android phone, which has been lent to me from a dhamma brother for the duration of my stay here in Burma.

If these entries appear choppy, thats because they are :)

I wrote entries at different times, and cut and paste them back into these emails, so the energy with which I have written them in is not really flowing, but anyhow, my main objective was to write to describe to you my experience and to inform you and also to get the yogi diaries completed.

The main reason why I chose to come to The Phyu Tawya is because I knew after sitting a 30 days course at Dhamma Nidhi finishing November 27th 2012, that I didn’t have anything planned, and after living in [Goenka] Vipassana Centres as a full time dhamma server for about 6 years, I knew I wanted to have a break from serving, but still meditate in a dhamma environment, preferably practising Goenkaji technique.

Sayalay Daw Pinyasara watering flowers in front of the nuns' residence

A few years prior, whilst I was living at Dhamma Aloka, Melbourne, Australia, a fellow dhamma brother brought a copy of the vipassana meditators guide to Burma, and told me about The Phyu Tawya, and that the Sayadaw here is an ex-Goenka AT, and still teaches a similar vipassana technique as SN Goenka.

I had a strong feeling as the 30 days course finished at Dhamma Nidhi, this would be the path ahead of me.

So several days later after the 30 days course finished, after spending some time a few days stay at Dhamma Joti, and a few days at a friends apartment in central downtown, I trekked to The Phyu Tawya.

Something I’ve noticed time and time again travelling in Burma, is that I’ve found people will help you so openly, that the flow of the journey to where ever you wish to go happens effortlessly. True viriya- effort… as one AT said whom i served with at Dhamma Sikhara, Dharamsala India said, “true viriya is one that consists of very little effort and yields great results."

Somehow, the almost two hour journey from downtown Yangon, via local bus then a 20 minute ride via motorcycle did seem rather easy even though I had very little idea how to get here, through the help of the warm Burmese people, and this true viriya came into effect.

When I got to The Phyu Tawya, first I met the head nun Daw Ponya, whom in the beginning, I thought was very stern, very strictly living adhering the rules and regulations, and I thought she perhaps had thought of me as a very wild horse (I’m born the Year of the Horse:)… with my long black hair streaming, wearing colourful hippy/foreigners clothes, loud as a banchee monkey, and energy like wildfire.

Well actually, as I live in my third different accommodation,.. it’s a two storey older house, it looks like the addams family mansion, I now share living this house with the head nun, Daw Ponya. She lives downstairs, and I live on the second floor.

The size is the biggest of all residences I’ve stayed at here, with polished wooden floorboards, and open space, it reminds me of the ware houses, turned into apartments in Melbourne city.

There is a kool large Buddhist alter with a bronze Buddha in my room… I think it’s meant to be Ananda, as the Buddha in the main meditation hall is Gautama Buddha. I get to look after the alter, and change the water cups every few days, give it goodies, cookies, fruit etc. whatever I receive at breakfast time, every morning, and take it off before midday. Yes, even statues of Buddhas observe the Eight silas, no eating after 12 noon :)

…and go hunting for flowers and leaves to put in its three vases every several days.

The great Buddha statue at The Phyu Taw Ya

The moment I started sitting here at The Phyu Tawya, I knew I was in the right place my body, where the dhamma wanted me to be. It felt like an unbelievable opportunity, after serving for what felt like so long, to finally be sitting, sitting, quietly, for as long as I wanted, and to be looked after, all my meals prepared, accommodation offered, and such strong metta everywhere.

I truly felt blessed to be here, and wanted to be nowhere else. To me, it was better than having the best chocolate gateau with freshly whipped cream and strawberries sitting there on my lap, ready to be eaten. This was sweeter than any honey in the world, and richer than any gem could offer.

I first came during the 'winter months' (December through February) and in the mornings it is quite crisp, and you need to wear a shawl or a long sleeve top, probably both, at 4 am in the mornings. The timetable is almost exactly the same as at Goenkaji centres, except meditation begins at 4 am, breakfast at 6 am, and lunch is at 10.30 am. The evening after last meditation finishes at 9 pm also.

I remember during those mornings where the air was crisp, fresh, kool and foggy,
as I sat down on my cushion, in the dimly lit meditation hall, I watched the monks, in their deep red, maroon robes slowly enter the main meditation hall in the mornings at 4 am, one by one, in their own time, with part of their robes, wearing as hoods, to provide warmth for their bare heads, the ambience was so dhammified and felt so mysterious.

I thought to myself, "I am in another realm, galaxy, far, far away... very similar to that foggy mysterious swampy place Luke Skywalker in Star Wars lands after he crashes his plane thing, and this is where he meets the Yoda for the first time.

I watched the monks sitting, and thought, “these guys, wow!! They're dhamma warriors.”

For me, it was the first time to be residing and meditating along the Sangha. I had stayed in a monastery in Thailand, Wat Boonyawad before in 2011, though you meditate in your own kuti, and interaction of monks with lay is very strict, well, the monks with females, is not allowed, so I only saw monks from a distance, watching them eat their one meal a day in their dining hall.

To be here, and really be amongst living with the sangha, and meditating with them for me has been an experience like non other.

Back to the monks being like dhamma warriors, actually I have heard that George Lucas, who created Star Wars based the Jedi Knight's persona and beliefs on Buddhist Sangha, after he was influenced reading "the hero with a thousand faces" by Joseph Campbell. It is a book which explores the notion of gods, or archetype figures, that present as heroes in different mythologies and cultural traditions, and also explores the Buddha.

During the first three months December 2012- February 2013, which was winter, I saw quite a few snakes, a towards a water area, near the manmade lakes in the monastery grounds. Most were fairy small, though one evening I did see a large, fat boa constrictor, black and silver striped, it was at least 1.5 meters long, coiled in the grass, slinking away into deeper vegetation, between two kutis one evening, very fat indeed! I had only seen a similar boa constrictor behind glass windows in the reptile area of the Melbourne zoo, where I grew up.

The writer and friends at The Phyu Taw Ya

If you ever get into the situation you wish to stay and apply for a yogi visa extension, through this or any other monastery, please ensure you do have a the correct papers from the local village immigration, and that also you process with the ministry of religious affairs, (in Kaba Aye, Yangon) to get approval, and then the Burmese immigration downtown, and make certain the actual visa extension sticker is stuck into your passport, which you can see, with the valid until to date.

My first experience of a visa extension, through The Phyu Tawya ended up in paying a hefty overstay fee, as I realized it had not been processed correctly, almost three months after I had started the visa application process.

A monk who could speak English came with me to Hmwabi local immigration, the main big town closest to The Phyu Tawya to begin the process, and there I received an official form stamped and signed by the immigration. It was known as (The Registration of Foreigners Rules 1948) Report of Arrival- Form C. After this was completed, the old monk who came with me, said oh yes, this is it, indicating this was my visa, completed and finished.

Of course I was delighted, to think a visa extension was so easy, and having no idea, this was not the finished visa extension. Two months afterwards, I went to Dhamma Joti and sat a 10 days course, after this 10 days course, and I went to the Japanese embassy to ask and show this letter from Hmwabi immigration, they informed me this wasn’t a complete yogi visa. It is simply a form which foreigners receive after going to the local immigration, to say they are residents in that district.

A complete visa ends as a sticker in your passport. This is something I learned in a big way. It was my first time to have a visa extension of any sort, and taking the monk's word that this was enough, I had thought I was carrying a valid visa extension.

Yogi Bear has decided to waddle back into the forest to reconnect with nature...tune in for the next episode, diary entry for Yogi Bear..."

To see the next entry, read here.