The Masoyein Response
Masoyein Monastery in Mandalay has long been one of the great centers of monastic education, and they have just issued a public statement denouncing the military coup. From the Meditator’s Guidebook to Burma, here is a short summary of its history:
The story behind this site begins almost a century ago with a wealthy lay supporter in Mandalay named Thet Shay (or “Mr. Long Life”), who wished to offer a large monastery to his teacher, a monk living in a small village. His teacher, however, felt that the proposed monastery would be too big for his purposes, and so he suggested, instead, to build it in Mandalay and donate it to a monk worthy of the honor. Thet Shay completed the construction and initially donated it to Bingalar Sayadaw; however, that monk did not stay for long, so Thet Shay then donated it to the great Ledi Sayadaw, requesting that he stay here whenever he passed through Mandalay. Ledi accepted, and he later supported the installation of two young monks (named Ashin Suriya and Ashin Ñāṇa), charging them with overseeing the monastery’s development. Thet Shey was somewhat disappointed, as both appeared inexperienced and seemed to lack proper qualification. However, Ledi Sayadaw assured the donor that he had great faith in them and they were well suited to the task.
Ashin Suriya and Ashin Ñāṇa more than fulfilled the faith that Ledi Sayadaw had placed in them. For example, in his later years, Ledi became increasingly interested in sharing Buddhist teachings with foreigners, and took up written correspondence with a number of prominent Western writers. In doing so, he soon realized the need of a reliable Pāḷi-English dictionary, and he called on these two disciples to help him with this task. He also wanted a comprehensive Pāḷi dictionary that covered all pertinent Pāḷi terms and provided extensive definitions, another task delegated to Masoyein Monastery.
Eventually, Masoyein Taik Monastery grew into one of the biggest learning centers in all of Mandalay, if not the country. It became known as a kind of Buddhist center for higher education and where many great monks and meditation teachers came to study. For this reason, it is incorrect to think of any kind of Masoyein “tradition” or “lineage,” for the monastery provides a general grounding in studies, rather than a specific teaching or technique. It is impossible to comprehensively list the esteemed alumni who have attended here, a veritable “who’s who” of notable monastics over the last century: Sayadaw U Rājadhamma, Yaw Sayadaw Ashin Sirindābhivaṃsa (The eldest living Tipiṭaka-dhara. Technically speaking, this highly revered monk resided at Visuddhayon while attending classes at Masoyein), Webu Sayadaw (though he did not complete his studies) and others.
The rough translation is as follows:
1) Sangha and the people of Myanmar are dismayed and unhappy due to the current military coup.
2) Thus, as the executive sangha members of new Masoyein monastery, Mandalay, we do not like nor accept the military coup which is against the will of the people. Nor do we support it. We also denounce and protest it.
3) The current military coup is against the will of the majority of the people, hence we urge that this should be solved in accordance with the law. We earnestly pray there shall be a peaceful, stable, and developed federal union state as soon as possible.
Singed: Executive Sangha members, new Masoyein monastery, Mandalay.