A Meditator's Guide to the Golden Land
A young nun in Sagaing offers rice to a young novice on his alms round. Both given and receiver must be barefoot according to custom |
U Myint Toun Zay Pagoda in Sagaing. |
Preparation is now underway for a much more comprehensive 3rd version, which we anticipate coming out around April/May 2013. We are really excited about the changes that are
The sun setting over Mandalay Fort |
Monks and novices residing at Webu Sayadaw's monastery in Ingyinbin, Upper Burma |
There will be no cost to the final version and all contributors are giving their time as dana to the project. (We will invite any yogi who benefits from their use to make any contribution for which they have volition to a Burmese charity in which all proceeds go towards impoverished villages, orphans, and the spread of dhamma)
Waiting area at Mandalay Airport |
If you would like to contribute in any way, please get in touch with us (burmadhamma@gmail). Examples of ways other yogis are contributing are: professional photographs from Burma, on-the-ground fact checking, technological or formatting assistance, networking, etc. Even if you are not able to contribute, please check back here regularly so that you can make use of the updated version!
A young novice resting on the Pali tablets made from Ledi Sayadaw's words at his monastery in Monywa. |
Following is a selected text that comes from the working introduction to the 3rd version...
An old photograph of Sayagyi U Ba Khin at IMC |
When we, as the contributors, found our way to The Golden Land for the first time, we experienced a sense of being overwhelmed with how to best navigate the culture and language in the limited time available. It was also a challenge to figure out how to reach key meditation sites, and then how to properly pay respects and maintain practice once there. For this reason, the overall intention of this document is to help meditators in making the best use of their time as they deepen their devotion to and practice of Dhamma while in Myanmar/Burma.
Anagami Saya Thet Gyi's private meditation cell in Pyaw Bwe Gyi Village |
Natural hot springs shower at Webu Sayadaw monastery |
For a meditator to visit Burma even just a few years ago, there was no guide of which to speak, and many spent their days trying to figure out first what sites even existed, and then where they were located and how to reach them. This often left many important places off the list and required more time and effort in tackling logistics than tackling meditation. Burma guidebooks naturally do exist, but meditators have their own special needs and interests that the standard books often don’t cover. For example, while yogis generally have less interest in the best bars and beaches, our kind tends to have a far greater desire to learn how to get healthy vegetarian food or communicate about Buddhist principles.
A group of four meditator set up a makeshift mosquito net for their Vipassana self-course in a Sagaing cave |
Pindaya Cave in Shan State |
While the first version was simply intending to organize and update existing notes, we as contributors immediately received positive feedback and gratitude, as well as complaints as to what was left out or no longer relevant. None of us realized the commitment we were thus making to simply format a series of notes! But here we are now, with a third version that has become even more comprehensive.
A Sayadaw from a small monastery deep in the Sagaing Hills feeds a monastery dog in the cool morning. |