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.