Humble Beginnings in Pyaw Bwe Gyi Village

On Day 3 of the upcoming pilgrimage, pilgrims can expect to go across Rangoon River and take in the rural village of Pyaw Bwe Gyi. Here is a sneak preview for what they can expect when they get there....

At first glance, Pyaw Bwe Gyi village is indistinguishable from any of the hundreds of other similar, rural villages dotting the flat delta plain. Few tourists bother coming here. And even if they did, what would this humble, rice-farming village have to offer them besides its gently swaying palms, endless rice paddies extending towards the horizon, oxen bathing in muddy ponds, and the typical clean pagoda offering fresh water and clean tile to the devout, all shimmering in the haze under a relentless sun?

And yet meditators eagerly trek half-way across the world, get packed in like sardines onto a ferry to cross the river, then travel out into delta country over a bumpy road, just to get to this tiny, nondescript hamlet. To the non-meditative foreigner, little about this would make any sense…

Great world events sometimes have humble beginnings, and Pyaw Bwe Gyi is just such a place. For this was the home of the inspiring and historically important lay meditation teacher, Saya Thet Gyi. One can wonder with good cause whether the Dhamma would have spread around the world to the degree that it has, if not for this very modest farmer from this very humble village.

(Today the village consists of approximately 1,000 homes, far more than a century ago in Saya Thet Gyi’s time. The foundations from Saya Thet’s old family home are believed to still exist somewhere within the village today, although the actual location is unknown. The main occupation here now, as then, continues to be rice farming.)