Episode #177: Sunda Khin, Part 1
“I remember him as fair skinned,” Sunda Khin notes, recalling her first encounters with S.N. Goenka. The future meditation master would often show up at their home, arriving with his own car and driver, a sign of his family’s immense wealth. “He was a young businessman who was very attractive. He would come to the house, and my father and my mother welcomed him. He would bring gifts, a tray of sweetmeats or that kind of thing, and was very pleasant. But I also remember my father saying to him, ‘We have so many different ways of meditation centers here, why don't you try one?’”
As their friendship deepened, Goenka confessed that he suffered from severe migraines. Sunda Khin remembers that her father offered more specific advice: “Why don't you try U Ba Khin’s method? Because I have a feeling [when you get] concentration, this migraine would go away.” Little could anyone have anticipated the immense impact on the world that these words would have.
Sunda Khin’s father was U Chan Htoon, the esteemed first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Burma.
U Chan Htoon’s life had much in common with many of the other Bamar leaders of the day. Born in 1906 during a period of colonial rule, U Chan Htoon had a traditional monastic education before taking advantage of the opportunities offered (and encouraged) by a colonial administration that was eager to bring Burma into the 20th century. Her father recognized the emerging opportunities for Burmese individuals who could navigate the priorities of this new, modern society. Displaying remarkable early promise, he pursued a legal career after attending universities in Sri Lanka and England. Upon his return to Burma, he began involved in the Burmese independence movement, uniting with another notable figure, Aung San, who would become the nation’s first post-independence leader. U Chan Htoon also became a member of the Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA), an organization that played a pivotal role in the Burmese independence movement.
After Burma finally achieved statehood, U Chan Htoon was entrusted with the momentous responsibility of drafting the nation's inaugural constitution. This task was personally assigned to him by General Aung San, underscoring his formidable expertise and trustworthiness. Among his other notable contributions, U Chan Htoon played a crucial role in shaping the language around the Panglong Conference. This was the landmark gathering where Aung San successfully persuaded several ethnic minority leaders to agree to a 10-year trial period for participating in a federal democracy. This provision was a prerequisite set by England for granting independence, and therefore had to be incorporated into the constitution. Regrettably, however, due to a variety of circumstances, these ethnic groups were ultimately not allowed to exercise their right to secede, although guaranteed by the Constitution.
U Chan Htoon's life took a miraculous turn October 19th, 1947. He was slightly delayed in attending a cabinet meeting at the Secretariat building: minutes before he arrived, a group of armed individuals led by U Saw violently stormed the meeting, murdering all of those present, including Aung San. In an ironic twist, U Chan Htoon later delivered the verdict that condemned U Saw and the other conspirators to death.
Those were eventful times, indeed, both for the country, and U Chan Htoon and his family! Not long after the assassination, the Karen Rebellion erupted, and the Karen advanced all the way to Insein, in the northern outskirts of Yangon. U Chan Htoon’s wife helped provide supplies to the Bamar soldiers guarding the city, enabling them to eventually fending off the Karen attacks.
Because Sunda Khin grew up as a member of one of the country’s elite families, she developed a personal acquaintance with many individuals who would leave a lasting mark on Burma’s history, and she speaks about a few of them in our discussion. While she was too young to meet Aung San before he died, she describes how close he was to her father, and in admiration of the latter’s unwavering Buddhist faith, integrity, and sharp legal acumen. Sunda Khin did establish a close relationship with Aung San's widow, Daw Khin Kyi, however. In addition to the families' longstanding closeness, Sunda Khin primarily knew her as the leader of the Girl Scouts troop she attended. Many years later, her father would sell their family home to Khin Kyi, which would become the infamous site of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest.
Regarding Ne Win, the military dictator responsible for the 1962 coup, Sunda Khin mentions that his second wife, Kitty, was a distant familial connection. During her younger years, Sunda Khin went to their home to play Scrabble with their daughter, and Ne Win himself would occasionally join. Not possessing the same level of English education as the girls, he would demand to be given words he couldn't come up with himself—perhaps hinting at his future tendency to play by his own rules. In Sunda Khin's observations, she also noticed glimpses of gentleness in Ne Win's personality as well, and not a small amount of charisma, leading her to wonder if he might have been bipolar.
Another figure of significance was Louisa Bensen, known for her later career as a movie star, model, and eventually rebel leader, and the subject of the recent book Miss Burma. Louisa was Sunda Khin’s classmate and close personal friend, with whom she used to organize school raffles, fostering a bond between them.
U Nu shared a close friendship with U Chan Htoon, strengthened by their shared Buddhist faith. Sunda Khin fondly remembers U Nu scolding her for not being mindful of stepping on ants—a challenging task in a tropical climate! She found it remarkable—and perhaps unfair— that such a gentle and devoted meditation practitioner would find himself leading a country grappling with multiple uprisings and an impending civil war.
Sunda Khin also had the opportunity to meet Sao Shwe Thaike, Burma's first president after gaining independence. In his elder years at the time, Sao Shwe Thaike was also a dedicated meditation student of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. As a child, her primary memories are of his pool, which she got to enjoy on particularly hot days. Tragically, Sao Shwe Thaike was arrested and killed following Ne Win's coup in 1962. Then in the aftermath of the 1988 events, Sunda Khin actively collaborated with Sao Shwe Thaike's two sons, and worked together in Washington, DC to find a way to support the emerging democratic movement.
“I noticed that they were building a very young democracy, and I'm so sorry that all of this crumbled, because the military wanted the power,” Sunda Khin reflects when looking back and this period. “We used to say, even when we were young, ‘Don't ever put two or three Burmese together, because you're going to find out that they will sit there and argue!’”
Thanks to her father's influential position and contacts, U Chan Htoon and his family also met prominent individuals from around the world; for example, Sunda Khin recalls how they once received a formal invitation to London, courtesy of Lord Mountbatten. At other times, U Chan Htoon was called upon to host the families of visiting dignitaries. Being one of the few children fluent in English, she was often called to intervene when Western children unintentionally entered U Nu's meditation room to play, reminding them not to touch the Buddha image's head!
On another occasion, they had the privilege of being guests of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. Despite facing disapproval from some Thai citizens who viewed them as an ancient enemy responsible for plundering national treasures from centuries earlier, the king warmly welcomed them. Her father and the king engaged in discussions about their shared Buddhist faith, fostering a shared sense of understanding and connection. She explains how U Chan Htoon learned about other Buddhist cultures during his time studying law in Sri Lanka, broadening his understanding of the religion. Throughout his life, he held significant roles such as the head of the Buddha Sāsana Council and the World Fellowship of Buddhists. He also played a crucial part in organizing the 6th Buddhist Synod, held in Yangon in 1955.
During their travels together in Asia, her father actively sought out renowned Buddhist monks and scholars in each country they visited, and encouraged Sunda Khin to take in their wisdom. She recalls that her father's proudest moments stemmed from his efforts to launch Buddhist outreach initiatives in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. These efforts eventually led him to invite Buddhist monks from beyond the Iron Curtain to study in Burma.
“Just listen to the Buddha, you have to practice yourself,” her father would advise her, reflecting the growing lay agency in meditation practice that animated the country during these years. He would go on to dismiss the work of fortune tellers and the associated superstitious beliefs that many Burmese would often turn to. “If you want to have a better life, you practice, and you look into your own mind.”
Which leads back to her father playing the role of matchmaker between S.N. Goenka and Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Sunda Khin expands on her father’s relationship with the young Goenka, who he initially met through his work on inheritance laws with the Muslim and Hindu communities. At one point, Goenka was particularly concerned about the slaughter of cows by Muslims on Eid, and U Chan Htoon worked with him to show a documentary about a cattle slaughterhouse, with the hope that this would save the lives of cattle and other animals.
It was noted above that Goenka was a frequent guest in their home, and that during one of these visits he revealed how debilitating his frequent migraines were. He said that doctors had begun to recommend morphine to lessen the pain, and he confessed his fear that he might become addicted to morphine as a result. This is when U Chan Htoon advised him to seek out Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
Goenka, himself, had this to say about that encounter, which he shared many decades later. “U Chan Htoon always wished me well and thought of my welfare. But it was unacceptable for me to practice the teaching of the Buddha, which would lead me to Hell. So I hesitated to sit even if it meant enduring the migraine. When I did not heed his advice, he insisted on my meeting the Vipassana teacher at least once. I accepted his advice, as there seemed to be no harm in meeting him.”
Sunda Khin remembers how her family would often go to International Meditation Center to make donations or offer food, but their main practice was the technique as taught by Mahasi Sayadaw. She felt the Mahasi center was much more family-friendly (and especially kid-friendly), which contrasted to the rigid discipline and timetable required at IMC.. Because U Chan Htoon knew Goenka as a hardworking and successful businessman, he felt that he would be more likely to thrive in a place that required a rigorous commitment, and one that emphasized discipline. She adds, too, that U Ba Khin had a better command of English than some of the other leading monks. And finally, U Chan Htoon knew that U Ba Khin placed an emphasis on the scientific results of meditation practice over its religious connotations, which he felt would be more appealing to Goenka.
The results, as we all know now, are the stuff of history, as this friendship of Goenka and U Chan Htoon became the seed for the worldwide vipassana mission of S.N. Goenka. As the great meditation master would later recall, “My good friend (Kalyan Mitra) U Chan Htoon… guided me to Sayagyi U Ba Khin. I shall always remain grateful to him and shall keep on sharing with him all the merits that I accumulate while treading this Noble Path.”
As for U Chan Htoon, he would watch in amazement at what Goenka would become. “Look, anything is possible,” he would tell his family. “You can look at Goenka, this man who was not Buddhist, he was a leader of the Hindu community…” and he would trail off in describing just how amazing the scope of Goenka’s mission had become.
This concludes Part 1 of our conversation with Sunda Khin. In the next episode, she goes into more details concerning Goenka’s relationship with U Ba Khin, her brother’s role in the 1974 U Thant crisis, her involvement with the 1988 movement, and more.