The second part of our discussion with Zaw Win Htet, in which we learn about Mohnyin Sayadaw, Hpo Win Daung Caves, Thanboddhay Monastery, and Nat Taing Monastic School.
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A discussion with Zaw Win Htet about the history of the Monywa region, the backgrounds of Ledi Sayadaw and Maha Bodhi Ta Htaung Sayadaw, and the practice of removing shoes at Buddhist pagoda sites.
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On this episode, we are treated to a reflective and introspective look at how Black practitioners have applied Dhamma wisdom through the pain of racism and prejudice.
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The story of Melissa Coats is a tale of finding balances. It relates to navigating her identity, being half-white and half-Korean, and her practice, going back and forth between being a lay practitioner and Buddhist nun, in both secular and religious communities. Melissa’s journey has already been a long one for someone so young, and it is still unfolding.
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We hear from meditators and monastics from Thabarwa Monastery to learn how the pandemic has affected their meditation practice, and how their Dhamma practice has informed their way of relating to the pandemic.
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A shocking kick reveals the nexus of race, ethnicity, religion, and culture at a Burmese monastery. Sometimes a single moment can be so profound… or so complex… that it takes hours, or even days, following the encounter to get a handle on it. In the story that follows, that “moment” has been taking years to process.
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The inaugural episode in our new series, “the Intersection of Dhamma & Race.” Here, we are widening the scope of our usual programming to examine the overlapping lines of Dhamma practice, racism and social justice. We hope that this show can be a platform for examining entrenched biases, practices and attitudes within the vipassana and mindfulness communities.
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In the “Sheltering in Place” episode, we bring you the story of four foreigners who stayed in Myanmar just as the world was shutting down. From expats living in Yangon to meditators looking for a place to practice in Upper Myanmar, with some caring for a family and others leading fundraising effort, the stories that follow are as diverse as they are compelling.
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In the “Exiled Expats Edition,” we bring you the story of four foreign practitioners who left Myanmar just as the world was shutting down. In their own ways, these four different tales convey an overarching Dhamma theme: the unpredictability of life. Each speaker faced significant instability and disruption, losing jobs or having to forego plans, with monasteries closing their doors, which for some was complicated by worried parents pleading for an imminent return. Though each one’s story is different in many details, they all point in their own way towards this sense of importance and urgency in our practice.
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Insights from a brush with death: An American forest monk faces death with awareness and insight.
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There is something special about the words of committed bhikkhus. Leaving behind the fetters of lay society in order to devote themselves to the contemplative life, monastics are often able to present a novel or fresh outlook on the “daily grind” that may be invisible to us lay folk, when we can’t see the forest for the trees. The freedom that monastics have from day-to-day necessities permits them a broader perspective through which to understand the present situation.
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The second installment of the COVID-19 in Myanmar series brings us the Women’s Edition. So often at times of crisis and at key moments in world events, it is the voices of men who make the news or provide commentary. This is certainly not untrue in Myanmar, where speeches from revered Sayadaws or male meditation teachers dominate the Dhamma discourse. In this show, we want to highlight the voices of female practitioners, as they describe how they have responded to the ongoing pandemic.
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In this inaugural episode of our ongoing COVID-19 in Myanmar series, we present the Burmese Edition, where we hear from the four local voices who present their perspectives on the ongoing pandemic in Myanmar. They reflect on how their Buddhist faith and practice has played a role in helping to them to understand and respond to the crisis.
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The story of a belligerent alcoholic who checks into an Airbnb in Yangon, and finds himself learning anapana meditation at Webu Sayadaw Monastery in Ingyinbin, a remote village in northern Myanmar.
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Swe Win, currently the editor of Myanmar Now!, has long been a fearless activist for change. A former political prisoner who endured horrendous conditions, he found Dhamma alone in a prison cell, and currently practices Vipassana in the tradition of S.N. Goenka.
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Sayalay Khanticari’s spiritual journey started in her native Colombia and branched throughout South America, and onward to India until eventually landing her in Burma. Vipassana retreats in the tradition of S.N. Goenka gave her the first taste of Dhamma, and these seeds have since taken root in the Golden Land, where she currently lives and practices as a Buddhist nun.
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Ashin Sarana is a monk from the Czech Republic who has been in Myanmar nearly a decade. Fluent in Burmese and Pali, he gives Dhamma discourses and meditation instructions to locals as well as foreigners, and has become one of the most revered foreign monks ever to reside in the Golden Land.
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Daniel is a senior vipassana teacher (Acharya) in the S.N. Goenka tradition. He was appointed a Center Teacher (CT) originally for Dhamma Santi in Brazil, and most recently a Coordinating Area Teacher (CAT) “to serve the Rest of Africa.” His interview coincided with his return to Burma for the first time in exactly 40 years, when he had first visited in order to ordain as a monk at the International Meditation Center.
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Alan Clements is an American activist, author, and former monk who trained under Mahasi Sayadaw and Sayadaw U Pandita. He has also been a supporter of the nascent democracy movement in Burma and conducted a series of interviews with Aung San Suu Kyi in 1995.
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Sayalay Piyadassii, originally from Lithuania, has been a Buddhist nun in Myanmar since 2013. Initially a long-course vipassana student in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, she took up Pa Auk practice after ordination, and is now a full time student at Shan State Buddhist University in Taunggyi.
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