U Mandala arrives in Sydney

U Mandala, the disciple of Webu Sayadaw and vice-abbot of Webu Monastery in Ingyinbin, arrived in Sydney, Australia. Incredibly, at the airport just as he arrived was a Thai monk from Santi Forest Monastery, established by Ajahn Sujato for nuns. He was waiting for U Jagara, who resides in Burma and was coming to give a course at Santi, where Sayalay Anopama was already waiting. 

U Mandala will take several U Goenka 10-Day retreats while in Australia, and also answer questions during part of a work period at Dhamma Bhumi in Blackheath. As the Australian winter is just now approaching, the venerable Burmese monk will have to adjust to not only a different language and culture, but also an unfamiliar weather pattern! The editor of Shwe Lan Ga Lay is also in Australia, where he will be giving a series of presentations on the book and the last two years of research in Burma. Many threads are now converging Down Under!