Terror strikes on the way to Saya Thet Gyi's

On December 19th, a series of explosions went off on the Yangon-Dalla ferry, injuring 17 passengers. While to some faraway readers this may merely seem like another act of violence in a war torn country, to vipassana meditators in the S.N. Goenka tradition, this hits very close to home.

This is because the teacher of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, Saya Thet Gyi, lived and taught in a small town named Pyaw Bwe Gyi, which is accessed through this Dalla ferry port. Although an unknown village to even many Burmese in the bustling city of Yangon, a steady trickle of Western practitioners travel halfway across the world merely to come to this special place… and every single one of them has stepped aboard this very ferry that was so brutally attacked.

For those foreign meditators who have visited Saya Thet Gyi’s center, we share this story to remind you of the reality and proximity of the violence and devastation which is now overtaking the Golden Land. Whatever benefits you have gained from your spiritual practice, and visit to these sacred sites, please keep this in your mind, heart, and practice as we continue to hear this tragic news. And let us do what we can to support them.

For now, we share a few passages from the meditator’s guidebook about Pyaw Bwe Gyi, and the ferry taking people to this village:

In spite of the short distance, one senses a profound cultural shift traveling from one bank of the Yangon River to the other. While it takes the ferry only about ten minutes to cross, it feels more like thirty years or 300 miles, as the landscape flattens out and the villages retain a decidedly more traditional feel. Looking back across the river, one can clearly discern the red-capped architecture from the colonial heyday of Rangoon rising up across the river, creating a sharp contrast with the more laid-back feel of this rural, delta town.

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.