Episode 21: Zaw Win Htet, Part 1

 

“My grandmother is the main character of this story,” Zaw Win Htet tells us, saying that the bedtime stories she told him every night led him on a journey of discovery.  Part historian, part educator, part tour guide, part Dhamma practitioner, Zaw Win Htet is a unique individual.  In our conversation together, he seamlessly weaves together his own life, his local region, and some of the most revered Dhamma teachers of 20th century Burma.  What follows is part one of a two-episode interview that is quite different than past podcasts we’ve offered.

In this first episode, Zaw begins with the founding of his native village, Chaung Oo, a town that traces its history back over a millennium. The story goes that in one of Burma’s old capitols, Bagan, an unlucky lover fled to the village of Chaung Oo to escape the wrath of the then-king over a messy love triangle.  That village provided him safe shelter until he returned to Bagan to claim the throne as King Kyasawa. As a homage to the village that had protected him,, he constructed a pagoda in Chaung Oo that still stands today. Zaw is perhaps one of the most knowledgeable people alive today about this seldom visited gem, also known as “Little Bagan”; its current entry on Wikipedia is Zaw’s work entirely. 

From there, Zaw moves the interview into nearby A Myint village, and onto native son U Wisara. He was a prominent monk in the Colonial period who died after a hunger strike lasting 150 days, in protest of the British refusal to remove their shoes when entering Buddhist holy places. This fact leads us to an animated discussion regarding the role of monastics in political life, with Zaw contrasting U Wisara’s work to that of Ledi Sayadaw, another ‘local boy’ who went on to great fame.

And that is a natural segue to a more direct focus on the amazing Ledi Sayadaw himself. It turns out that Zaw’s grandmother heard him speak on many occasions, as her husband worked for the local railway station and Ledi traveled a great deal. Interestingly, their diet changed because of him, as happened for many during that time. Traditionally meat eating was not common in Burma, usually just what had been caught hunting or fishing.  When the British came, they opened slaughterhouses, and farmers began sending their animals there to profit from the lucrative trade, resulting in the widespread killing of cattle and a significant increase in per capita meat consumption.  Ledi traveled across the country forcefully speaking out against this practice. As a result, his grandparents stopped eating beef, a decision that has continued onto Zaw’s generation as well. Another Ledi story Zaw’s grandmother told him concerned a long draught that their region had been enduring.  Ledi came and made a “public declaration of truth” (sacca kiriya)…and she said that the rain suddenly came pouring down. This event only magnified her faith in that great monk.  Joah notes at this point that while Zaw came to the Dhamma through his grandmother’s faith in Ledi Sayadaw, his own Dhamma journey started with Ledi’s eventual lineage disciple, S.N. Goenka, making them Dhamma cousins! “Nothing happens without a former cause,” remarked Zaw, laughing. 

It turns out that Ledi is just one of three renowned Sayadaws who Zaw discusses in the interview that his family at one time or another knew. While reflecting on the impression that Ledi had on her grandmother, Zaw relayed how she compared him there was only one other monastic she had ever encountered that left a similar mark: Bodhi Ta Htaung Saydaw, a presumed Arahant. She said that she had only observed “such noble countenances” twice in her whole life:  on Ledi Sayadaw and Bodhi Ta Htaung Saydaw.  And if ever a bombshell was dropped on an Insight Myanmar podcast, this is it, as Zaw reveals something of a family secret:  this revered Bodhi Ta Htaung Sayadaw and his brother once confided to Zaw that he was, in fact, their late mother reborn! The Sayadaw had first met Zaw’s mother while she was pregnant, and informed her that she would have a boy, and said, “he would be beautiful.” Zaw now interprets this as a reminder that his mission in life is to continue to work to make his mind beautiful through meditation and selfless Dhamma service.

Zaw expands on this anecdote and treats our podcast’s listeners to a rich biography of Bodhi Ta Htaung Saydaw. In brief, the Sayadaw’s Dhamma journey began as a young monastic living in Pakkoku, where he contracted tuberculous, and was advised to find a new monastery where he could walk in the hills and fresh air. Relocating to the Monywa area, he owned just one robe and lived in a small hut that leaked during monsoon season. He once confided to Zaw’s family that he meditated intensively there because he was terrified that death was approaching…so he devoted himself ardently to the practice, and within a year he found himself completely cured of his illness. The Sayadaw later oversaw the building of the world’s largest Standing, Sitting, and Reclining Buddha statues, and was famous for his controversial weikza (occult) and alchemy practices. Zaw finally circles this discussion back to how monks have political responsibility besides their more obvious religious ones, but the key factor is the skillful way they choose to engage in this way. He specifically refers to the subtlety of Bodhi Ta Htaung Sayadaw, referencing one anecdote where he had remarked, “even a bird does not like to be caged,” which referred to the need to release political prisoners.

As you can probably tell already from the wide range of interesting topics Zaw discusses, this interview is a real treat, so sit back and enjoy it!

Shwe Lan Ga LayZaw Win Htet, Chaung Oo, Bagan, A Myint, U Wisara, Khing Kyasawa, Ledi Sayadaw, Maha Bodhi Hta Taung Sayadaw, weikza, S.N. Goenka, The Birth of Insight, Erik Braun, Powerful Learning, Michael Charney, Mindful America, Jeff Wilson, Saving Buddhism, Alicia Turner, Irish Buddhist, Laurence Cox, Brian Bocking1 Comment