Transcript: Episode 12: COVID-19 in Myanmar: Monastic Edition
Following is the full transcript for the interviews with monks on the COVID series, which appeared on June 16, 2020. This transcript was made possible by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and has not been checked by any human reader. Because of this, many of the words may not be accurate in this text. This is particularly true of speakers who have a stronger accent, as AI will make more mistakes interpreting and transcribing their words. For that reason, this transcript should not be cited in any article or document without checking the timestamp to confirm the exact words that the guest has really said.
Host 00:00
We try to fill the Insight Myanmar podcast feed with loads of thought provoking and informative content. But before we get into all that on this episode that follows, we just want to take a moment to express our heartfelt good wishes to all of you listening at the moment, wherever that happens to be knowing how challenging it is in these strange times during the coronavirus pandemic. And trying times like these, we all can use a bit more goodwill in our lives. So on behalf of the team here at Insight Myanmar podcast, I would like to say in the traditional way that meta is offered, may you be free from physical discomfort. May you be free from mental discomfort. May You not meet dangers or enemies. May you live a peaceful and happy life and May all beings be free and come out of suffering. And with that, let's move to the show.
01:21
If we are complacent and
01:22
don't do really aggressive containment and mitigation, that number could go
01:26
way up many, many millions to be
01:28
isolating patients emphasizing social distancing.
01:33
The Corona virus outbreak is now
01:37
COVID-19 can be characterized as a fundamentally one of the worst affected countries. The pace
01:44
business supply chains are being disrupted around the globe. This combination of
01:55
Coronavirus coronavirus outbreak is now a pandemic. Check
01:59
it out. We will
02:00
realize,
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 02:01
see an opportunity in situations please make your
02:05
compassion
02:08
to the people
02:12
due to COVID-19
02:15
become more supportive,
02:19
care cancer It is time to grow down,
02:24
kick out,
02:25
your negative minds
02:26
become closer to each other
02:29
be sending mid to all over the wall all over the universe. See change. Less,
02:38
work hard, more and more, be more Sandy loving kindness. People can
02:45
argue with whichever thing you
Bhante Mokkhita 02:50
see some positive aspects of this Corona crisis we all we see that in a sense that brings people also closer together. People getting closer together and watching out for each other. We have more time for families for the community. And
03:08
time to meditate, please make
03:09
your compassion and loving kindness. It was kind
03:13
of actually very warm and very angry kind of
03:19
state stabilize their heart.
03:22
This reminder of peace and certainty of life, but we don't know. See what we can do and what we cannot do, what we can accomplish and what we cannot
03:35
remember peace in the face of suffering.
Host 03:40
What happens when a pandemic explodes and disrupts our world from top to bottom? until just a few months ago? That's probably a question none of us thought we'd ever have to answer. Except maybe outside of a b rated Hollywood script. Yet today, it's everyone's reality. Much of the current news revolves around the many dimensions of this question address Seeing the more obvious financial, social and educational impacts and forced changes to professional and familial obligations. Yet the most profound dimension of this question is rarely discussed. To what extent is our life open to disruption. This gets into our attachment to things being a certain way, and other things needing to not be that way. That degree of our aversion to fear and anxiety and other negative emotions, and going still deeper, our need for stability and independence. But while a life gets disrupted in a myriad of ways, one might expect the monastic life would be somewhat less prone to disruption. Given the very nature of what a monastic life is. monastic discipline prohibits many activities that make up the worldly life. So when those things aren't possible, their lives are not disrupted. But the makeup of amongst mind is no different than that of a laypersons. One does not escape attachment merely by putting on robes and shaving one's head. Coming up, you're about to hear a very special episode in our ongoing COVID-19 in Myanmar series The third program in this series, the monastic edition tells the story of five foreign monks, all of whom called Burma their home. Although outwardly, they all might seem quite similar. After all, they donned saffron robes and shaved their heads and adhere to the same teachings. their individual experiences captured in the tails that follow, highlight a diversity of experience and outlook on the current situation. And yet, in spite of those differences, some common threads do emerge through their tails. Their palpable Donald wisdom gives them a shared perspective on these troubling times, and to surely a result of the dedication and commitment to these speakers have held. Before we play the interviews, I'd like to take a moment to highlight some of these common threads. We hear some of these monastics stress that they do not go out into the world at all. Regardless of whether or not there is a pandemic. And they go on to remind us that they are not completely immune from the disruptions impacting daily life. For example, They do not lack loving and devoted family members, who in many cases cannot now see or care for them. Additionally, four of the five monks had travel plans either cancelled or forced upon them, and had to adjust to this unexpected reality. Rather than complain. However, they've used these circumstances as a means of bringing the Dhamma more fully into their lives. One way is to contemplate instability, a core element of the Buddhist teachings and realizing that it is unavoidable. This is nothing new, we are told. And this is a persistent feature of life, no matter who you are and where you live. It's just that when things are going well, we usually choose not to see it. But now in these times seen it as unescapable. So what should we do with this truth? According to these monastics anyway, the answer is simple. Meditate, practice formally or informally, according to this or that technique. But whatever you do, devote this time to practice, then, by observing this anxiety from the surrounding instability, a seed of insight may sprout, reminding us not to worry about what we cannot control. Focus where you can exert change and where you can't let the experts and authorities take charge. Finally, all this leads to the scariest, most terrifying potential outcome of this whole scenario. As more than one month carbon self bingeing on his phones news feed, and then examining what was behind the growing anxiety, the answer became clear death, a massive death toll across society, the death of one's loved ones, and the death of oneself. So suddenly, they realize that the imperative practice of the moment was reflection on death. And through this effort, as you will hear, several of them found their Dhamma insight deepen. At this point enough for me, I invite you to listen to some engaging stories with impactful Dhamma wisdom shining throughout the following pieces by movie veca, a Canadian monk ordained Understand the rotation the actual human monastery. He got in touch with us to discuss his current practice and thoughts, as well as how the onset of the virus is affecting his monastic life.
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 08:12
I live in Myanmar. I'm French Canadian monk. And I've been staying at Davi budget and true min monasteries. Since 2013 and the teacher here is saya hotel Nia and I have to say, locked in here at wv benja. Just in Yangon, and quite happily locked in with our teacher sideout engineer and some friends. We're about 30 people here and mix of monastics female male lay people as well. So a full fourfold Sangha. And it's very quiet.
U Viveka 09:13
So we've been locked in for a few weeks together. And I think this place this meditation center was a bit early in responding to the COVID-19. And partly that's because of saya down here who's very active. He's looking at and reading a lot of news. And so he's, you know, very well informed and he was taking all the precautions very early on and he's kind of managing all the workers and Just the log down here. So making sure everybody is safe and clean. And we can just continue with our practice. So very grateful for this situation. There was a cartoon I got a few days ago and it's two images. And so the first image is Zen monk. So he's sitting in meditation. And then the next one is says Zen monk in quarantine. And then it's exactly the same image. So that represents quite well. how things have changed here in a way, not much. And it's practice as usual. It's actually easier to practice For, for a lot of us and because because it's just so quiet, and nobody's coming in, nobody's going out. So it's a it's a real retreat time. And conditions are so are just so supportive. Like, for example, side being with us for breakfast and lunch every day. We get to talk a bit and with him and yeah, and then construction projects are also on hold. So there's less noise and even the air seems pure there's less burning of trash in the village and also much less than noise. I mean, there's almost Nobody left in the village, it seems. So it's very quiet. Usually there's a lot of loudspeakers with music all the night. And now it's so quiet. So, pollution is down noise pollution and the air pollution and it's very quiet, very good conditions for practice. One of the things that become very obvious with this situation is how things are just so unstable. And
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 12:43
for myself, this means that I had to
U Viveka 12:48
to change my plans I originally intended to go back to Canada at the end of March. So by by the end of February very beginning of March already the situation with COVID was starting to get a bit more crazy you could say people were, you know, fearing maybe a pandemic, or something like this a world situation. world crisis and then so I slowly started to doubt that I could go back to Canada I wasn't sure is a good time to travel. So I, I waited quite a bit until I think mid March. And just reading the news a lot. talking with people, my family in Canada with friends, getting a pulse for this situation there as well and and decided I would cancel Going back to Canada, and it was a pretty big deal. big decision because I was also scheduled to teach retreat there in April. So it meant we had to cancel. And people who had already also planned to go to the retreat would have to be informed that the retreat was canceled. So it wasn't an easy decision not to go but I think it was the wise thing to do, especially thinking of my parents, which are older, and I would have stayed with them for some time. Especially arriving in Canada, I would have been the first place would have stayed so it would have put them potentially in a dangerous position.
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 14:55
You know, contracting this flu Dangerous flu. So I decided to cancel everything. My first reaction to the COVID situation was first I thought it's not. Why is everybody so panicked? is just a flu. I mean, people die. I mean, how many people die of flu every year? I think it's something like 600,000 people. So I thought this is over people are overreacting. Then after a while, it got obvious that it was maybe perhaps a bit more dangerous than I you know, anticipated. And then, so thoughts of, of death you know, arose arrows in the mind. Just thinking of Should I stay in Myanmar? Or should I go to Canada? And what does this involve staying in Myanmar if you know if it really things become bad many people get infected in Myanmar. I mean, we know the health system is not the best in the world here. So it's not a place you want to be seek severely sick. But then going back to Canada, as I mentioned earlier, also had all had some dangerous, potentially.
16:35
So
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 16:37
yeah, the thought just came in the mind. Well, what's the worst thing that can happen? Well, I guess to die would be the worst thing. And then Okay, can I you know how, what if that happens, then what
17:00
And
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 17:02
being able to just accept that even on a just an intellectual level, I think okay, well if I die, I think yeah, that's, it's I mean it's natural to die right. So, and you have to die someday somehow. So, this this acceptance really helped me to have a more calm approach and a clear clear mind to towards the situation and then also thinking about other people actually everybody has to die at some point. So, it is very it can sound morbid, but in a way, it's just so natural right? And but nobody wants to die. That's also very, very much in our nature to want to live. So I think from the onset of this crisis, I just dealt with, okay, the worst case scenario, I die, and, okay, maybe a lot of other people will die. Well. Okay, I can live with that, in a way. And that made it much easier, I think on the mind. And after that, it could just deal with the situation better. I know here we are. So nothing changed so much as I mentioned before, but I think one of the things that's very useful is that we have activities So there's there are physical activities like chicken happening every day, people can participate. And we have a garden. So we're, we're very lucky. We have a bit of green space, we can do our exercise there and do some walking. And we have projects like a library, we're creating a new space for the library. And working on that every day. And also study groups. We're studying sutas and also venia, a few monks and nuns together. So, I guess in a way is just to keep busy with wholesome activities. So something that creates that's interesting for us. I think it's very, very useful this time, not to just perhaps Wake up. If you don't have, you know much to do, you're just locked in isolation. I mean, this is how monks live. Most of the times, we're just in isolation. So in a way we're very well prepared to to survive in these situations. And one of the things that's very useful is making a schedule for yourself. So waking up at certain time, then you know, having a breakfast at a certain time even then having some activities and setting limits. So I guess it's a little bit like a maybe a diet for your food. So certain things you want to you want to eat the wholesome stuff and you want to keep away from the unwholesome foods. So is I think is the same for the mind. We want to feed Our mind wholesome thoughts, wholesome activities, keep it busy with things that make it happy and interested and as inspired as possible, and keeping the intake of information that can stir up fear anxieties. For example, news. I know for myself, I've been in taking a lot of news much more than you know, in the past few years, and I've had to cut down quite a bit because I saw that the mind was getting absorbed and that the mind states it was producing was there was quite a bit of tension there and even fear or anxiety or Sometimes we read, we see the reactions of some presidents in the world and then we, we get quite angry. And so we can be careful with that. Just regulating, you know, trying to put more wholesome activities for our mind and, and if you have a practice a meditation practice, that's amazing and there's so much dumber, happening online. And this is an example but meditation groups online are many and any timezone you're in you can find when I'm sure. So I would encourage you to practice meditation, of course, this is very useful. So my basic encouragement is, in a way I could say is take care of yourself. If you're able to do that well and you have extra energy, and then you can take care of other people. And it's a great time for community and reaching out to our friends and family and letting them know where we're there. And that we care and just getting in touch and supporting each other. And also, of course, there are many organizations and all the health care workers are doing so much work, beautiful work and many people need help, many organizations. So that's also something that we can invest our time and energy in, and it's very, very positive. And also, there are some reflections that can be quite beautiful to have at this time. And one of them comes from my teacher. We have these great discussions at breakfast sometimes and they were just saying how nobody wants to die. And this is very obvious, right everybody wants to live. But then Sayadaw he asked his question, 'Why do we want to live?' And you can play around with this question. But for me, it raises another type of question is, 'what really matters most for us in life?' So at this time where our usual life schedule has changed radically, and things seem a bit uncertain. And so things are shaken up a bit. And we can perhaps see an opportunity in this situation where we can reconsider how we've organized our life, and how we've built it on certain values as well. And it might be a time for some of us, if you feel inspired, kind of going back to the essence of what really matters most for me in this life. It's quite a beautiful question to ask, and I hope it's helpful. I hope everybody can take care of their health and also of their mind to keep a wholesome mind, and keep up your meditation practice. It's a beautiful gift to the world at this point. And if you can take care of others, of course do that! And also we'll be sharing perhaps more Dhamma concerning the COVID-19 if you want to check the website at ashen tasmania.org I shouldn't take any so that's a s h INTJNIY a.org. You can check for updates there on the COVID dama. So thank you very much. See you
Host 26:57
we get a chance to check in with husana among from the Czech Republic, who was leading meditation retreats in New York and Florida when the pandemic hit, he was allowed back in the country, but had to spend extended time in quarantine before being allowed back to his monastery and illegal.
Ashin Sarana 27:13
Before I was quarantined, I actually visited the USA. I was invited to teach a seven days, yes, seven days meditation course in Florida and another seven days meditation course in Fresno in California. And actually already before I left to the US, I think it was on the eighth of March, I think so. So before I left the US, I was actually asked by the donors, whether it is okay for me to go because there may be problem with the pandemic. And I said, No, no problem. I just wanted to go to the US. I've never been to us in my life. So So Of course, I was like ready to risk very much anything. But at the time, I think like us had almost no, it already had some infections, but almost nothing. And in Czech Republic, I think there was also almost not nobody at in Myanmar nobody at all. So I had the feeling that, like, everything that's related to me is, is more or less clear. So I accepted the invitation. And we literally jumped into that. We went to the US and as I came to the US, I actually taught doctors, my students who are doctors, they're Burmese but they are medical doctors in the US, and they care for covered patients. So when when I went there to these retreats, I was like very careful to make like these rules and they were very good. They're very good in following all those roles and wearing masks and cleaning hands and I clean my hands and they clean their hands. Several times a day, and they were very kind and they also told me when they had a case, you know, like they said like now I am now caring for this problem about COVID-19. in Fresno, it was a little bit more interesting because in Fresno I actually I met with a with one of their, like superior people who are taking care of the COVID-19 problem in in the USA. He's also Burmese and he, he actually is in charge of like deciding about like, who will be distributed mass and these hand sanitizers and all these things. And he is in charge of like making important decisions in I think, in the in the California State, or maybe in the town. I'm not sure I don't know these details. So it was interesting to talk with him about about the situation, what are they doing and what difficulties he had he Almost like didn't have any time to sleep, he had to dedicate, like all of his time to, to the problem. Many of the of the students were doctors, and some of them were not doctors in the COVID-19 area in some other field. But some of them were. And I don't think anybody of them actually cared for the COVID-19 patients directly when it would be like serious, but they had some kind of contact because they had to go to the hospital and take care of something somehow I didn't get any details. Maybe they're shy about what they exactly do with the patients and whether they actually see them and what is actually there. So this was very interesting experience. And as I was there, gradually the cases where more and more and more and more, and it affected me also because I had to go and teach in New York also. But as you know, New York was one of the most critical areas. So I didn't get to New York at all, apart from flying through as a transit, and even some donations of some things, for me some useful things, whatever, were sent to New York with the idea that I will just be donated those things in New York and I, even when I came when I arrived at the airport of New York, and we were waiting for another airplane, to I think Dubai, then theoretically, the donors could come to the airport and give me those things. But they were actually scared and they didn't want to leave, leave their house. So this was, I think, maybe 23rd 24th of March. I think so. Then, at that time already, I got news from our monastery in Lego. That the said or is seriously afraid that our new Yogi who came from Slovenia, that he may be infected because he came from foreign countries. So I gradually started to learn how Yogi's who are, who are all foreigners in our center were totally scared of that disease. Although there was like, almost no case in Myanmar at all, there was just one case of a foreigner just already like to say contained, and he apparently didn't spread anything. So anyway, people are so scared in their local area, and the chief monk of the monastery, not only that, he was scared of the Slovenian Yogi, but he was very much determined to literally get rid of us as soon as possible. Then, so I made the decision that okay that all of our Yogi's will be moved to a different monastery, which fortunately, was arranged for us by my official teacher as a monk, monk, teacher preceptor. So while I was not there, all of the Yogi's all of the students, all of the workers and everything, both people and things, all of them were moved far far away from the Haiku place while the Sarah while the chief monk of the monastery, totally locked himself down so like all of that part of the monastery the other part where we didn't stay, like totally locked down so there's like no even way to tell him like goodbye or something like he totally like locked himself. He's also a little bit older. I think he's like around 50 I mean, between 4050 so I think he was quite quite afraid. So by that time, I was backing in more I had difficulties to return to Myanmar, although I already had visa I have a multiple visa so I can always travel as much as I want without ever applying for a new visa while abroad. So when I came, I was actually told, like before I came to Myanmar, I was stoked So you need to have a certificate from a doctor that you are healthy that you don't have any of these symptoms. And we got two certificates, we got two certificates. One, exactly the form that they decided and another form created by by the doctor. And we got them from that chief doctor from who takes care of the COVID-19 cases in California. And it was very, very unpleasant because when we arrived at the airport in Myanmar, they told us that these forms are not enough that I also must have blood, no, no blood tests. I think they said that I need to have blood tests. And then they explained that I need to have tests for COVID-19. So whether it's both that's the question, am I correct? I think I'm correct. That blood test is not necessary for for COVID-19. And the problem was that I didn't have that the test I didn't have the form that they created that night. When I was in the airplane wild coming to me and so the new decision started at the moment, I was at the airplane just arriving tomorrow. So there's like no, no way in this world, maybe not even by psychic powers, no way in reality, to create that kind of form. And they didn't care about the fact that this rule was decided at the time while I was in the airplane. And so so they like stuck me there. And they wanted to meet like just to go somewhere else fly to some other country. And I was thinking like,
U Viveka 35:40
it was quite quite unpleasant. So the funny thing is that even if I knew that I needed a blood test, and I actually already presented while we were in the US, the chief doctor told me that there is no way to get blood tests. There's no way To get COVID-19 tests, because it is prohibited only those who have serious case and where it's really suspicion, only they were allowed to have tests and those days. So then when we were there at the Myanmar airport, we call that doctor and that doctor explained to the doctors who were like we came to the Myanmar Airport and all of the people from that airplane were led to a hole. And all of those people came to that hole, they had to sit down at that hole, they everybody had to give passper including me, of course, we gave all our passports, they checked a temperature of all of us, and we had to have a little paper filled with some of our information in that we don't have those symptoms. We did all that. And then they found out that I'm afraid and that I'm like, No way national or a spouse of a national and so on and so so, so they explained that I needed to have the forums and I gave them these forums and like all of the people from the airplane were waiting only for me like for that case like they were. They were basically interrogating me what happened and whether I could go to other country and couldn't I go back to us, I cannot go to the US because I'm not a citizen. And at that moment already, the US has declared that only nationals can come to the USA. So there was no way for me to come back to the USA. So they said well, but you're a national from Czech Republic. So you can go to Czech Republic, and I say, No, I don't have any sponsor, Czech Republic. If I went to Czech Republic, where it was already everything locked down, you know, like totally extremely strict I log down I cannot imagine how would I actually like survive in Czech Republic without money You know? So because I of course don't touch money. And the airport is far far away from any city in Czech Republic. So there is like no, no thinkable way How could I actually, like somehow, like survive? So I explained this to them. And then thanks to a very, very nice, very important lady in, in Myanmar door Titi where she actually called one of the person who's like, seriously responsible for I don't know, like the Ministry of Health or the main chief health, whatever, then she coated that person and then that person called to this doctor who was like holding us in that big holder like policemen and people I think nobody with the gun which was interesting, police men, people, doctors, P and people in total. What's this BP protective equipment. They're all all these people, different people, you know, to make sure that we do not run away from that hole. So there was like the chief doctor in that Hall and that you've doctor received a phone call from some patient Important Person, I think in the many Ministry of Health or something, and then suddenly everything is okay. It's like this. Just okay. Yeah. Okay, so you can stay. Are you okay to stay in currenty? And I say, yes. It just ain't guaranteed. They're very well Okay, so let's go. So immediately just, you know, Asia sit like this. And so immediately we are going to the bus and a bus is taking us to a monastery in Myanmar for quarantine, everybody has choice, either a monastery or hotel. So hotel costs money very much a lot of money. So for people who don't want to spend money, they would go to monastery but some people go to monasteries simply because there is no advantage there is no benefit in being in a in a hotel because the current in in the monasteries is so comfortable. So you know like free in terms of guarantee that it is real It makes really sense to uh to be current in in a mana monster the people actually receive meal three times a day although monks would always host laypeople and meditators and provide them with food only in the morning and noon but for currently measures everybody received actually meal three times a day even I, I was like suggested to eat dinner so then of course I refuse. And I was very well cared for the monastery canteen is so comfortable. Of course everybody is there in the room and they're not supposed to talk with the other people in the other rooms. They're not supposed to visit the other people in the other rooms. I think they certainly break the rules, but I personally didn't experience anybody like coming to my room from the other people in the other rooms. And there are pretty much no rules like people were playing their guitars and singing and shouting And laughing like it didn't feel like being in a monastery at all. But I felt that I'm following all rules. And so for me, it was fine. And the bathroom actually was behind the rooms, and it was collective and how you call that. So like everybody, the men it was, it was divided into men and women so we were like in a different building. And in our building only men were and also some of the resident monks are stating that same building, and in for the down downstairs, there is one big water tank with water, and we all from those lower lower rooms were supposed to take bath in that water tank. So there I would see the some of the other currently in people and they're like smoking and talking and just enjoying their time. So that's where we actually came into a little bit of Contact like not physical contact, but more of like eye contact would be there. Then thanks to this thanks to this like outlet because it was like outside, I could follow the veneer all that I'm not supposed to sleep with layperson for more than three nights. But the exception is if I leave the room before the morning. So that's what I would do at least once every three and three days to really keep up all of those rules. The permission was there that if somebody comes from outside and brings things, then those things can be given to the current in people. So donors would come to that monastery they would bring delicious food and the food would then be brought to me by the workers by by the current team workers are like specifically assigned workers who are wearing this protective equipment and personal protective equipment. VP, and they would every morning and every evening, but just I think the first week and then only every evening, they always came and measured our temperature. So they're like, knock on the door and open the door. They were there ready already with the thermometer, and they measured my temperature. So I always ask them about the temperature. It was funny. It was really, really funny. Because they sometimes they didn't know how to work with the thermal thermometer. So one time they send like two young girls also, like close in the BB. And those two young girls, they didn't know how to operate the thermal meter. So they took that thermal meter, they measured my temperature and my my temperature, it was supposed to be in Fahrenheit was like 80, you know, or 70 and I'm like, hey, ladies, there is something wrong Can Can you please like check the battery and then they would like leave Some, like, let's call them more adult, I don't know how to say that more adult people would come with maybe a different thermometer, and they would measure me and I got some some humanly temperature result. So this was a really funny experience. I also got a lot of work, I was almost always online, speaking with people about drama and still sharing things. So I think I was uploading things to YouTube, some of my English videos and in Facebook and trying to resolve some problems with copier that I had on the way and so so I was like always busy. I came with with this horrible jetlag, you know, like, whole night, totally awake and whole day totally, totally asleep. And it took me like one week or 10 days to get used to the The correct time because there's like no reason to change it. Because there's like nobody to talk with. It's like no problem like anytime I can be away anytime I can see because there's like nobody to communicate with in the in the real world. Then after the 14 days in the current in in the monastery, I decided that I want to take another parenting because it was so nice. It's like so nicely free and comfortable that I decided to take another two weeks of parenting in the new temporary center to which all of our meditative monastery staff and Yogi's had to move so we are now far far away from Yangon. A little bit over 100 mile after Yangon. I think I'm not supposed to tell where we are now, because it's a very temporary place. And of course we we are not now expecting visitors. So I moved to that Place and immediately I currently think myself as a self parenting for another 14 days, nobody asked me for that. I had actually a certificate from the monastery from the Yangon monastery canteen, I got an official certificate that I'm healthy that I do not have COVID-19. And that was then officially given to the authorities of the region. Whereas the the new temporary monastery where I stay right now, so the authorities with that paper, they allowed me to stay here. So I took another 14 days of quarantine, that was very successful, very nice, is very useful. And then after that quarantine, I am now free if you want to save that from the current and is actually freer than non current. And so I'm enjoying my time, I believe, perfectly healthy. And the people in here are fine. The meditators meditate very hard. They're really interested in the practice. So we enjoyed the time My I think that whatever the difficulties I had, they had a lot of benefits. But I would like to mention that that many other people in Myanmar also were currently in and today until today there are various measures current current measures and various reasons for currencies Myanmar is very very strict on who is counting and how is not counting. So, if somebody has any reason to be current in their current Id like there is no talking about that. And like in in Myanmar, counting in monasteries is actually very nice like the people care care for the people. They the people get medicine and I wanted a fan I like got fan immediately. I wanted brew and what I wanted something I just like going it immediately like there was no no worries like anything I wanted. I was just get while while in the canteen in the official counting. So not it's not like Something that you should try. But it's something that you certainly should not be afraid of Indian Mark was nice. As I was in, in the canteen, in the official canteen, I gradually started to, to get a little bit of information about the people's feelings and the people's reactions to, to the COVID-19 situation in Myanmar. And first, of course, for me the most important word the Yogi's, they're my students, I'm responsible for them. They were so scared in the beginning that was incredible. They were also afraid that maybe I have some contact with people from outside. So then when I come to the monastery, I could infect them. So just like, like in my understanding, it was like, too much, you know, like, being afraid, okay, like, we need to like use wisdom and we need to accept that there are some dangers, but the way how The students were afraid. I think that was over, over the some irrational measures. But anyway, I was able to, to calm that down and I learned from the Burmese people that Burmese people are really really scared. I learned that as soon after some of the first few cases appeared in Myanmar, like the shops in Myanmar, the supermarkets were almost like empty. streets were empty. After my official canteen, we we had to go and search some things for our monastery, some food stuff with my assistant, my assistant would like carry the money and buy those things and I'll just like tell him what's necessary. And then we like the distance in Yangon, that would take usually one hour took like 15 minutes because the roads were like totally empty. There would be like instead of 100 cars, there would be like two Three. So it was so easy. I think you call that commute. It was so easy to go anywhere we wanted and to just get get what we needed in the monastery. And to go to the monastery people are so so scared, like extremely, extremely scared. But at the same time when it was about a month when it was like about me or when there was like a reason, then people like were totally opposite that I didn't care at all. They some would. Usually permis people actually care masks according to what I've seen in hurt. But of course, I can tell only about the people in my in my circle of the people who care for me and who who communicate with me. And they always wear masks whenever they go outside. Whatever they do. Apart from very rare exceptions, all of them always wear masks whenever they leave from their houses. Now in Myanmar, I think now there is a strict rule in Yangon. That Everybody must wear a mask anytime they leave, leave from their house, their own sensoji even made a competition in her new Facebook profile. She made her first Facebook profile Facebook account. And she liked within I think like one week she had like 2 million followers. And that's right, it should be like that. And she started like a competition on making masks. So she said, Hey, people, make your mask and take a photo of your mask. And those who will have most likes as the comment because they were like posting comments with their photos. And those comments which will get the most comments they will get a price. What was the price? I don't know. I didn't follow it well, but it was interesting that even the State Councilor sensoji suggested to people to make their own masks to sow their own mass. And people also shared their methods how they actually saw their own mass. And all of that was in accordance with the rules with the rules and regulations issued by the Ministry of Health of Myanmar. So this was this was a very interesting project. So today, Myanmar people usually wear masks, there are strict rules for this also, for me, I do not leave the monastery. So I so far have yet to learn how to do how to wear a mask. But there is quite a number of people coming to our monastery time to time and be like once a week, I think in average, once a week, one visitor would be coming to bring us food. And they always come with masks, some come like with masks and gloves also. So the people are really careful about the infection. They're really afraid. I however, have the feeling that government thinks that they have it under control. And it seems that these days, as you perhaps know, all around the world, people start to protest and they're starting to be fed up with with Stay at home suggestions. So in Myanmar it's also like that. So in March, they do not do any demonstrations or and so on but they're gradually start to come out of their houses, their government gradually starts to decrease the measures for employment. In the news, it seems to be a really strange but when I asked the people what they do and how they come, how they like travel and how they change, it seems that there is basically no problem like people want to go somewhere they just go people entities have, they just do that. So this might be maybe the majority they certainly there there is apparently a group of people, there will be a considerable number of people who suffer a lot and lot because of this because they do not they like lost their jobs and they do not have resources for meal. But still I see like Bernie's people like Burmese people. They just do what they want. Like there's, it's I don't know, whether I'm correct but I claim to I've heard about Americans, I think like Burmese people and Americans a little bit similar in this, like, if they want to do something, they'll just do that. And in Myanmar, this is just so. So come on for any rules and regulations. And so like, after my two weeks in counting, we actually went by the street and we saw even the street sellers, you know, we even saw like little tents selling, you know, beetle and selling water by the sides of the road and they didn't have any protective measures anything at all. It was an interesting experience, because the people are so poor, like, Can you imagine how the people are poor, they literally eat that what they get into their hands, you know, like, whatever they they earn from their salary that goes for food and that's what they eat. So if they cannot get salary, they can To get money, then they simply don't have anything to eat. I heard that there's something like this already in the USA also. But can you ever compare USA to Myanmar like this, this this is horrible, like some people are seriously poor, and I'm a little bit happy that the measures are losing. But of course, I hope that the government or the gods or anything, whatever the people's good karma will, will prevent any serious outbreak. I would really like to suggest that when somebody is wearing masks, that they make sure that the mask is helping them so instead of like removing the mask, which we see in Myanmar, like always, like if people want to speak, it was just like remove their mask just speak and suddenly like completely they remove it or, or they put it down on their chin and they just talk or they do whatever they want. So I think this is very funny because COVID-19 can be spread also by simple speaking if, if we are not too far from each other, so these preventative measures need to be well understood and followed. I would like to suggest that any of the listeners that if they were mask and I believe wearing masks is a very good idea. If they were massive, they're really careful and they remove their mask only by the little strings and the years and they do not touch the mask in the in the middle and the portion which covers the mouth and nose. And as soon immediately as soon as they remove their mask, they immediately wash their hands, and immediately they work their mouth. This this is one thing that I think is is very important. And I would like to wish everybody who's listening to this humble and very ignorant, sharing, to be happy and healthy, hopefully to get all necessary food and clothing and whatever they need, whether it be by support from the government or by renewed job or a better job. Before I would like to wish everybody that they get a better job, more comfortable, better, paid, more happy, more peaceful than they had before, as soon as possible, possibly right now, and that they're all free, that you are all free from danger from enemies from all diseases and discomfort and that you're all happy, healthy, satisfied, and sufficiently peaceful and supported so that you can progress on your noble path.
Host 57:35
We now hear from a Polish monk who was originally at mahasi monastery in Yangon when the pandemic.
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 57:45
Spring is here I spent in Myanmar with him with some other foreigner monks. And we were staying at mahasi meditation center. We were doing the meditation teacher training course. So when we start Spend extended period of time in one place without moving. And when it came to the virus situation, I wasn't really keeping track of the situation in Asia. I didn't really know how its unfolding. And it wasn't until the middle of March that we got some information from our friends that it's getting more serious and it's potential to be going to be long term. Trouble to long term difficulties also with traveling. And at that time, we actually we had intention that we all were supposed to go to Thailand in probably around April.
58:47
And
Pabhassaro Bhikkhu 58:50
when this information came, I also checked it my visas due to expire in just a couple of days. So with my Friends with other monastics they could easily stay in Myanmar but for myself quite rushed decision and two quite quick action to to make all the arrangements and leave me in Marana to get into trouble with the pieces intended government. And when they arrive in Thailand that because there was not so much time it happened that I go to a secluded place into my own day it was arranged by my friends. I arrived there and the local government after you know I arrived in this really nice for us place a secluded place and everything was just perfect for for this condition and perfect for a secluded solitary practice. But after two days of staying there, I got information from the local Government, they don't allow any foreigners to stay in that province. And you come in for rayners. So my whole plan collapsed and I had to find a place and at that time, everything was center lockdown. So, I mean, it was a bit kind of a bit of difficulty. But to Indian I managed to find a place say I finished the quarantine and after the quarantine, I moved to one of the monastery, so I just chat rotation. So that's where I am right now. So, in short, yes, there were some small challenges and difficulties. But I wouldn't say that it was very, very, very difficult and most importantly in this process, a experienced a lot of support and kindness of people. It was really
1:01:04
very encouraged that
1:01:07
people rather than being afraid or just taking care of themselves that they were much they were ready to offer their support in whatever capacity whether transportation or finding this kind of a backup place last minute. This year as I said, it was almost like a lockdown. I barely left a meditation center for extended period of time. So it's part of our lifestyle of monastic lifestyle that we find a place that is suitable for the present conditions for the practice and to least pay there and apart from going down this route, we don't really walk around the city. or do anything like dead. So we are more or less used to staying in compounds of ammonius theory. Now in this particular case, and and I really feel it's very similar, like apart from those that actually when they arrived at this really wonderful secluded place in mountings. And when it all collapsed, I was laughing It was very joyful. I was very happy because I was I could see Oh, yeah, it's, I just got invitation to stay here for like, one year in this very nice forest and all the conditions for for security practice are so perfect and suddenly this information comes in I was so happy that this uncomfortable circumstance arises that I will not be able to stay here and that something is Pushing and something is kind of there's a circumstance that is forcing that test of patience and test of how easily I'm able to let go of this good conditions to practice this nice secluded place and move to basically unknown as I didn't know where I'm going to stay. And again, I feel that to the lifestyle of a monk we are more or less training in this way we are preparing for that. And we also with that practice of mindfulness and concentration with the basic practice of Sati putana, we are more grounded to to deal with those changing conditions easier. So in short, I feel that our lifestyle is very supportive to prepare us for any changing conditions that whenever we See, news that I have to read is very suitable this very nice secluded place and that was bringing all almost forcing to, to challenge whether I have enough patience, whether I have enough renunciation and when enough capacity to let go of this condition and go into unknown as I didn't know, we're going to stay I didn't know how am I going to get there and it's always very much unknown. But then that's part of the practice that being among we tried to renounce whatever is known to train ourselves how to put all the only effort all the attention in our own heart, and therefore trying to balance our own heart, record and focus on the external condition. And, you know, staying in this country or discount or that country and this monastery or that monastery, and that's the basics of the practice, the more we are able to let go of those preferences and our and attachment to those changing conditions, the easier did practice flows naturally. And I tend to look at it as a as a equation when you have, you know, like x plus y equals to that and of course, you have many variables, the more you can let go of other variables and just let them flow, the more possible is for you to get that heart to be one and pure. But the more you try to control other variables, let's say, I want to stay in this country, I want to have this kind of
1:05:56
this kind of requisites. I want to have For for laypeople I want to have this kind of card is kind of why this kind of job. The more we focus on other variables, the the less possible, the less profitable is for us to get this peace of mind and heart. So that's the basics and fundamentals of the practice. And I see that we have certain training so that all monastics we have some preparation, but in general, every meditator who's serious about their path, they have this understanding and they have tools. And during this time, I find it the dose meditators who are more mature and sincere with their hearts. They can certainly can use this time to, to grow in Dhamma, to grow, basically, being forced to stay in certain conditions and to learn how to accept that you don't have a choice. We don't we cannot control certain things we can go against the government we can go against certain policies, we we just don't have a choice and then we can see how when we don't have a choice, we don't try to run away escape and manipulate. How actually it is not that very difficult for us to adapt to new conditions to new environment to us scheduled to you, and can you live and right now everyone is soon more or less experiencing a different lifestyle. Some people more some people, well, that's different. And this capacity to adapt to change to changing conditions is a result of practice is what this whole path is. About, we are not able to control anything outside we are not able to control our body we are not able to control other people, we are not able to control the weather the environment that politics, we cannot control anything. And the more we are reminded of that through the external conditions and the less we try to control and manipulate, which is more in line with them, the more we can just focus in their own heart and more focus on our own reactions and responses to those changing conditions. here where I am in, this is a small monastery and there's just two of us, me and the abbot. So there is not so many people and it's also a small village, which is a few kilometers away from the monastery. And to we do go for alms round We do go. We didn't stop during this period of time not even for a single day, basically in the local community were the people who were very very persistent than they really say day by day, so much want to offer food and they want to offer us varieties that they will not accept that they will not come to the village and it was kind of naturally very warm and very, very kind of dead. So we, we continue, we try to contain social distancing, and we use the masks everyday fresh mask. We received the food and go back to the monastery and also try to maintain the basic hygiene and in the monastery world as we don't really have any better centers so for, for us a few This is what we are here for it is local community, that's where we can do that at least we can
1:10:12
go every single day and just
1:10:17
because Amsterdam is such a profound and such a deep practice, it's like it's an amazing exchange that on one hand, people that it is ladies, they can open their heart and they they open up to so much humility and so much generosity. And it's really such a beautiful thing to practice daily and for us, it's it's a daily reflection. We always reflect on who we are really worthy to receive that offering where we are worthy to receive the food and or condition Any requisite from the supporters. And it's also very humbling and very touching. So we still maintained it daily. And I consider that a very important aspect of the practice. And then during the daytime, we don't have visitors at the monastery. We don't have our daily chantings or anything we also rotter just to separate the chores that we have to attend to in the monastery. So when it comes to the local community and the local situation that's about it, and I did, too, during this time, I started reaching out to some communities. So we have there's one community of practitioners in my hometown and polls started during my first visit to Poland, almost six years ago, and there has been people who, who has been practicing during all those years right now. And during this situation right now the group more or less grew to around 20 people who are practicing meditation daily and doing reflections on their intentions on their morality and trying to align their life more and more. More and more in alignment with the teaching of the Buddha. So that's one group and it's from what I heard. It really depends some people basically they still go to work. They do the same thing that they did. And they just have some restrictions with shopping.
1:13:09
And with going out and
1:13:14
and some other people. Yeah, I heard that some people lost their jobs and it's quite difficult. Not in particular from that group, but I heard that it did happen. So that that group of people because they already have been exposed to the practice for a couple of years, so they do have more diligence and more inspiration to practice during this time. So my intention was to offer them an opportunity as they they don't have the possibility to go to any meditation center or They're there actually, there's no monks in Poland. So I decided to offer dentists regular Dhamma sharing and into guided meditation. They get a lot of inspiration from debt and that's what keeps them with different motivation to practice. And there is also another group in Italy also a group of practitioners I met a few years ago during my visit in Italy. And likewise It was a group of five people but during this situation it grew to around 17 right now. So they also they are more mixed in their experience. Some people practice a bit more some people just started, but just because of this whole certainty right now they are more willing to investigate the teaching the practice. And it's it's quite actually this is the good side of the whole story that that people are starting to notice to be aware of how all the things in life that they normally depend on that they normally rely upon, are unstable are so easily whether this is the job are in the context with friends and family or beer held, its own just so fragile and so and beyond our control and people, some people from from those two groups they came to their own reflections of the the hurt from the other practitioners that are tools that help to stabilize their heart that help to build more stability even with those unstable conditions and they become inspired to practice. And again that I would say that for monastics we are more used to this uncertainty we we don't to store food, we don't have much requisites and we don't really use money. So, very often even when we do go to another place, we basically arrive and we have to start over everything you know, we have to rely only on the generosity and kindness of owners. So we we are more prepared and trained in a way to to accept a changing and uncertain conditions. And then I find it really interesting that many people through this conditions right now because they had to adapt to something completely different. Some people and adopt stayed the whole family at home and they suddenly have to spend more time that they used to. And many, many years, like maybe the first time in their lives that actually they spent so much time together. So of course, there are frictions, there are things that come up and because there's no escape, in some cases, there's no possibility to go outside or to do anything else. So of course, those frictions are helping us to see our own problems and those people who do practice who meditate and who have sincerity to reflect in your hearts. They do make amends to those changes. Like one of the meditators
1:18:03
was actually quite experienced in going pet tradition. And we shared with him a bit of how how to move his Vipassana practice also to different objects in different areas. And eventually to help him to open up more to his parents and to start to like, he said that in the past, his father would ask him to do some chores, and he always would respond with a lot of anger and with a lot of stubbornness, but because right now, they have to be more close to one another.
1:18:37
And because also this reminder of this uncertainty of life, when we don't know... some of us may actually not survive this whole circumstance.
1:18:49
So those reflections of uncertainty of life and of an okay own previous anger helped him to reach out To his monitor, to reach out to his father and to start doing more good deeds to, to, to help them to serve them to really with a heart of humility in the heart of humbleness, to express his gratitude for all the years that he was so raised and even supported by them.
1:19:19
So I am also witnessing this kind of good and very encouraging stories of sincere practitioners.
1:19:32
I always feel the most important is to see what we can do and what we cannot do, what we can accomplish and what we cannot. So, in this case, there are a lot of things that are beyond our control right now. We don't know how long the situation is going to last. We don't know what are the next steps in different countries and what are going to be our living conditions or restrictions. And as far as the life is concerned, it is of course uncomfortable and it's not something that we want in our life. But as far as the practice is concerned, this is actually a really great opportunity. And if we take it as a temporary, impermanent path, to really learn how to let go, to learn how to take responsibility for our own hearts and our reactions.
1:20:35
So let's say we have news tomorrow, and there's some new restrictions, how easily and how quick are we able to adapt, to adjust and to let go of whatever was earlier and maybe next week, there's another change, another unfolding, and how quick how fast we are able to adapt and let go and, of course, the easiest We are able to let go of whatever else was before and the depth, the more comfortable the more at ease we feel in our own hearts. And whether this is right or wrong with the government will, if some of you are really into government are and are in control and have any power, any capacity to make any changes, that's wonderful. But for for us for monks like a very, very grateful bit to we are more or less completely not involved in politics. So we know we have no control over this site, we only accept whatever conditions are being presented and take all the effort in our own hearts and the more and more someone can take this attitude to okay if I have any control over something there is possible possibility for me to bring any change for myself or for others, bring any wholesome skillful and good change, then certainly act upon that and do good deeds and do good actions upon that. But if we cannot do anything, it's perhaps better to just stay in our own hearts and stay with our own individual practice and use this time really to, to sort things out in our own smaller circle, how we can graduate and involve in what is happening on the country scale. How can we sort out things that are happening you know, own household, you know, family, how can we be more flexible, more kind, more gentle, more compassionate to our friends, to our neighbors, to people that we interact with on a daily basis, and how can we be more embracing knowing that everyone is right now going through different challenges and stress, how can we give rise to even more compassion and more kindness, so that we are really at bottom, like a water that is cooling down whatever fire is occurring around us. So I really wish that everyone can take this kind of attitude to really bring some kindness and goodness in their own hearts and in their environment.
Host 1:23:40
We hope that you're enjoying the special podcast series, bringing you updates during this time of global pandemic, from Burmese monasteries and meditation centers, as well as for meditators around the world. As we are all sheltering at home, experiencing the anxieties associated with these challenging times. We hope that this content helps allay at least some of your concerns. And provides insight and inspiration. As you may have heard, we diverted our limited funds designated for the normal sit down interviews to bring you this series, which has put a strain on our finances going forward. We know this is a difficult time for many, and that there is an added financial strain as well. That being said, we appreciate any amount of generosity you're able to give to keep our engine going. While all of our podcasts volunteers are meditators, who are either volunteering their time in full or providing substantial discounts, there is still a baseline financial need to cover overall expenses. Whatever funds we are able to collect now will be used solely for producing these new episodes. Any additional donations will allow us to increase our run. Thank you for your support, stay safe and be well. We welcome your contribution in any amount denomination transfer method you may give via patreon@www.patreon.com slash Insight Myanmar via paypal@paypal.me slash you Insight Myanmar are by credit card by going to Insight myanmar.org slash donation. In all cases that's Insight Myanmar one word i en si gh t, m y A and M AR. You can also go on the GoFundMe site and search Insight Myanmar to find our current campaign. If you are in the country and would like to give a cash donation, please feel free to get in touch with us. Next up, we have a shin de Masada, a German monk who is studying at the International Theravada Buddhist missionary University in Yangon, at the time that the Coronavirus hit, as he was not able to conduct an interview at the moment, he took time away from his remote monastery routine to read from an essay that he composed last month.
Ashin Dhammasadho 1:25:46
So while most of the world had been going wild for a few weeks, positive cases of the virus had not yet been confirmed in Myanmar, and life continued pretty much as normal. At the international Theravada Buddhist missionary University short it bmu where I studied in Yangon, we did have an emergency meeting about the virus at one point before exams. But since there was no officially confirmed cases yet, the board decided that we should remain and complete the exams, and then afterwards think about what to do. However, a week into the exam period, the first two positive cases in Myanmar were announced. Starting that very night, people began panic buying wherever possible, and several international schools closed the next day. So to add it DMU the very next day during my summertime exam, the dean came into the classroom and announced that the university would also close one day later, and all remaining exams would be canceled. Then more information arrived soon after all foreign students needed to return to their native countries by April 1, or in case that there were are no flights available or their country once owner locked down, they were required to stay at the university in strict self quarantine until the opportunity to leave arose. We were not allowed to go anywhere else in Myanmar. By that time, however, I had already been making plans with some monastic friends at mahasi sassenach ada in Django, to either join them there after my exams, or together find another place to practice. So I talked to the seller and explained that there was no point for me to go back to my native country in Germany, because I did not live there anymore. Where would I even go there anyway. Plus, it would even be difficult for me to find food and shelter in Europe as a monk, as I had done in Myanmar for over two years. I said that Nima was now my country, my home. Besides, since the beginning of the outbreak, I had not worry too much about contracting the virus myself. Since I'm young and have no pre existing medical condition. Recognizing the apparent impossibility of containing the corona virus in Myanmar, I had already accepted that if the virus came here, it would certainly spread and I would simply get it fall ill recover and be done with it. So I told the seller that I was resigned to contracting the Coronavirus if it took root in Django, since I didn't see any chance that it could be possibly contained here. He agreed to relieve himself of any responsibility for me, and allowed me to leave the university to join my monastic friends. Now, the situation at mahasi Sasson ieta was very different than at my university for the previous month, and had been on lockdown. No new foreigners nor locals were admitted. And at one point, I could not even visit anymore during the day, as I typically did after my university classes finished, nor could my friends leave the monastery even For a day trip inside the jungle, the monastery committee had begun instituting social distancing measures, along with checking the temperature of all Yogi's and monastics before lunch. If anyone showed symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, or a runny nose, they would be sent directly to the wynberg emergency hospital, which had been repurposed as equipment inside. At one point, even workers and other monastery visitors were sprayed with disinfectant from head to food as soon as they cross through the gate. As I mentioned at the university in contrast, no measures of any kind were being undertaken during that same period. The gates were wide open, anyone was welcome to come and go as please. There was no hand sanitizer anything else provided. And even when it finally was set out at the dining hall entrance, it was not obligatory to use it. In my years living in Myanmar, I have come to know rural Burmese culture as well as its city life. Simple hygienic measures, such as washing one's hands with soap before handling food, covering one's mouth to cup, not sharing cutlery dishes or cups with strangers using fresh and clean water with suds for washing dishes, and the clean towel to dry them, etc. We're just common sense to me as a European, but well, such precautions are rarely seen here. Then there are the public labor reports which are commonly set out for any passerby who wants to take a sip on top of the pot, they're inevitably rest just a single metal cup used to scoop out water and of course to put up to the mouth to bring from these cups almost never get washed. It seems so strange to me when I first came here that no one had introduced the idea of pouring the water from a certain height without touching the cup. Like you see throughout India. I usually try to avoid drinking from these Public waterpots but when it is the only way for me to get water, I at least tried to wash the cup beforehand. However, there is usually a smeary film of filth that won't come up without scrubbing with a brush. When doesn't even want to think of all the beetle spit that must have mixed with the water after someone used a cup to rinse his mouth, touching it with red lips smeared with bitterness. So back to the corona virus. If just one of the workers at the university caught it. Within just the day all the other workers would get infected because they are all using the same cup at the water station. And it is almost never washed. All the more reason I'm surprised at all the government suggestions I've seen so far concerning hygiene, especially in this age of COVID-19 focus only on washing hands. No one seems to have addressed this larger problem of sharing drinking cups at practice that is ubiquitous across the country and culture. The same holds true for The one and only bowl. This lack of awareness around basic hygiene, unfortunately is not only present throughout regular society, but also at institutions, which you think would actually be the experts in basic hygiene practices. By that I mean hospitals. Several times when visiting public general as well as private hospitals in Myanmar, nurses have put me at risk of infection while taking blood or giving a blood donation. I have observed them not following the simplest of protocols, such as keeping their hands and utensils away from unclean surfaces during the process of inserting and removing a needle once when I gave a blood donation, and nurses use scissors that were covered in dried blood from prior patients to cut the pipe, and then with the same hands reach for some cotton wool and wanted to remove the needle and put the contaminated cotton wool on my open wound. So to be clear, here in Myanmar, I'm much more fearful of being forcefully sent to a hospital, then of getting the corona virus. I along with everyone else, I'm at risk of catching even more severe infections at the hospital than what I came there with in the first place. So all this had saved me thinking.
Ashin Sarana 1:33:18
Initially, it might have seemed that the Massey monastery will be a safer bet than staying at the university. However, although the efforts mahasi sasana ADA is making to keep the virus out of its compound, are impressive, praiseworthy, exemplary, and possibly unprecedented mimma I simply did not want to be put at risk of being sent to the hospital due to a flu or runny nose, or even due to COVID-19 for that matter. And so my monastic brothers and I opted for trying to find the rural monastery where they would allow us to just nurse each other back to health should one of us fall ill, instead of waiting out the crisis in Django, either at the university or the mahasi Monastery. But it wasn't easy to find such a rural monastery at this time when almost all the international meditation centers and monasteries in Myanmar had stopped accepting newcomers, especially foreigners since the onset of the pandemic. Although the virus does not discriminate against nationality, certainly xenophobia has recently taken place in Myanmar, and the presence of foreigners in a local setting now sets of alarm bells. locals are even required to report merely seeing foreigners in their community otherwise they risk arrest. Moreover, the government has recently issued a ruling that monasteries were not allowed to take in any new guests at all, whether local or foreigners. So even though some sellers initially accepted my request to reside at their monasteries, when we inquired further and they checked with the local immigration authorities, they ultimately found that they unfortunately could not get permission to receive us. The country's closing then unexpectedly, one of the families near my university That supported me on my daily Armstrongs decided on their own initiative to help me. They located a place in the north of Django that will be willing to take me right away. So we went and I spoke to this arrow to request permission for my two Western monastic brothers to come and stay as well. At first, he was reluctant because he said there might not be enough space during the water festival meditation course, when he was expecting 500 participants. He suggested my friends could join after one month, once the water festival was over. Incredible. Living in this somewhat remote location, the saddle did not yet grasp the severity of the situation, more than the government of Myanmar had already announced the suspension of all festivities during this year's danger. Yet in this case, it was to our benefit that he didn't know the severity of the situation for otherwise he would probably not have accepted us in the first place. So after asking a second time, he said That if we could not find another place, we were welcome there, on the condition that we took a daily arms walk since there might not be enough food otherwise. Happily, we took this opportunity and on the very next day, my friends arrived there. So now I'm passing my time in a nice little forest monastery on a hill, very quiet, away from the village with greenery and all sides and the resident monks have been very kind and welcoming. We now stay in a simple room, three of us together. The seller on the day we arrived told us we could stay for one month, but I am confident that by then the seller will like us and allow us to stay longer. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the unlimited generosity and untiring support of the Burmese who adopted me as a foster son into their hearts and who keep supporting as foreign monks through this health crisis. While many are around the world, including my family in Germany and Italy, are struggling. I was reflecting how people these days are touched by fear and are seeking a safe refuge. And I remembered from the dhammapada that the real refuge is indeed the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. seeking refuge there one can see with true wisdom, the Four Noble Truths, suffering, its cause, its passing, and the Eightfold noble way leading to the tranquilizing of it and thus become free unsafe from all suffering. So I find it really a precious and auspicious opportunity that we can stay together during this period as three kalyana meters through them are brothers and support each other in developing our practice as our true refuge. I wish everyone well
Zach 1:38:03
And lastly we have Bhiku Makita,
1:38:05
updating us on the charitable efforts
Zach 1:38:06
of the mudita Foundation in claw Shan state Mima. If you'd like to make a charitable contribution or donation to the mudita Foundation, please visit www dot WEIU data foundation dot d. Again that's www dot m u di ta foundation dot d
Bhante Mokkhita 1:38:30
the Morita foundation is an NGO founded in Germany and 2016. And we have two projects in Myanmar. One is school in Saigon hills. There are over 3000 children and we're just supporting there with teaching English and running the clinic there and then a caretaker program taking care of the little ones there. And we have around 10 Volunteers they're in a management team of three, three managers. And the main project that we're the monitor foundation is running is here on the inlay leg. That's in the Shan hills mountain. And we're have here is school with 250 children and management team of over 50 people, we 20 employees and then over 30 volunteers and we're are running the school the running the monastic Education School. And we're have a normal normal government schools normal government school just with the monastic components together so that the children's coming from poor area of Myanmar it's mostly ethnic groups Shan and Korean and Other ethnic minorities. And so they're either orphans or children from poor families. And we're giving them a new home here and giving them medical support, they get food accommodation, and they get education. And this, we're running since 2018. And it's not only a monastic school, but it's also Ico projects. So we have in our own eco farm, we have our building our own cool buildings with mud bricks and Bumble. And we're also started a meditation center. Currently we're doing just a second half of the month living out there. We have regulary just coming doing retreats. So it's a place for volunteers to come in to do some meditation. And doing yoga and Tai Chi, all different kinds of spiritual practices with him giving Dhamma talks virtually on a daily basis. And meditation which are running just a beginning, state for that. And mainly we're supporting the children were running the farm and teaching and this this the school called Tango and it's a monastic Education School. These are the schools and, and Myanmar they're around 1500 monastic education schools. The base of them are more or less some monastery and they also have a government school included in in these schools. Most of the schools are where the children are living directly in like in an orphanage like a boarding school. And here also the children most of the children living here and get supported. And most of the children are also ordained, especially the boys are all novices except just a few, maybe like five to 10% are late children. The rest are monastics novices or nuns, we call them the asylees. The children have a basic monastic training here. They have stand up early in the morning, four o'clock 430. And then they have their chanting, they do chanting and they do short meditation period every morning. And they do go on pin the putter. That means they go on AMS round, they're collecting their their AMS food about an hour, one and a half at the morning. And they have their regular duties, like cleaning, and they're eating out of the arms balls, and of course they're wearing the robes. So there is some monastic training here. But that's very little, I would say like about 10 20% of the day is just for the body monastic training. And most of it is that just being students be normal kids also playing football doing other activities and playing with their with their friends. So mostly they're just being like normal kids living here, but they have some gnostic framework. When the corona virus hit me and man, then as I as I see from the numbers of infected people or numbers of deaths, we are luckily not been to heart. Like in you can see this and other countries in Europe or in USA. So, it's doing too, they also don't collect here. Don't they do too many tests in Myanmar. That's one of the reasons so we don't really know the real, the real high numbers, but we don't care. masses of people in the hospital so there is good grounds for that the virus isn't so strongly spread in Myanmar. And I see that in our school that we are also had a quite good situation for when the virus spreading started. That was about end of the school year when the children are anyway going for their summer break. So we have a summer break of two months, three, three months it's in an April when they're when they're leaving and they're returning in June. Normally nowadays, the school opening has been pushed back most be most probably July. So when normally we had to just send the children home when when the corona virus started but there went already home because the school was closed and this is also a time where there is the Miramar New Year in April. And it's very hot time in Myanmar. So during the hot season and around the new year's time anyway, Myanmar goes in a standby mode so people staying at home. So holiday kind of atmosphere is too hot to dry on the fire to do many things. So I think for this situation anyway, we was we didn't have much volunteers here because we close the project. We only have a couple of chips here and a few few teachers, volunteers normally 35 before now we have only 15 volunteers who maintaining the garden, farm and make making new classrooms new buildings we're working on but we don't have children here at the moment have the children so that God with it doesn't have to In the schools or so, because we are we just don't have too many children. That's one situation what what the we are affected in our village what was just surrounded by the monastery because in the Lake area where we are the is the hotspot for tourism so they have the most the highest touristic area and Myanmar is here on the Indian lake. So everything is around the on the tourists. Now at this time there is no tourists coming in. So all the hotels are running out of business. All the shops had to close like everywhere in the world. business travel should small businesses need to shut down and here's the same just people and they are normally working construction or in the hotel. Even cleaners are there. lost their jobs to then have a different situation. Don't have any financial resources, some savings, where they what we see with people to build up on toes here, people just dipping my hand in the mouth so to say there getting daily dollars for for the daily rate on their work and the next day they were not not have much more savings to survive so when they all finishing for their for their jobs or many of them, then they had difficult situation for them to sustain themselves and their families. So we did run a fund. We have about 100 families here in our village 400 people and the fundraiser collected donations from all over the world. And then we are bought materials food package of rice And oil and soy beans and put it all so that they can sustain their life. We are running also other objects building activities here in the monastery so we employing more people from the village that they have some work and and some money. So that's our main focus at the moment is to support the village because the children are at the homepage on their on their families. Other than this, we don't have too much of getting not too much infected or affected by the virus only that we're shut down. We're closed everything is closed for the last six weeks or so we're just staying here or do we have a large area large compound with forest and the mountain area just next to us we have our eco Park. So situation is not too bad to stay in here in the monastery for us. We just focusing on Building classrooms and keep the monastery running to the school children come back. And then regarding the meditators, they think that as part of meditators interested. So what we're using it also with the community here, what 14 volunteers are here, we're doing more meditations, more different meditation techniques are offered, we have yoga offered. I'm giving a Dhamma seminar where we are talking about the basic knowledge. What is knowledge about the Eightfold noble path, four noble truths, five hindrances and so on just the basic the basic stuff for the volunteers for them to know. So they can grow in the Dhamma and the theory and the practice. And so we have nice community activities going on during the time. We also Giving a course of permaculture so we have been permaculture farm. And they also going more into the hairy backgrounds and then applying those changes directly on our farm. So we basically building building up on the knowledge and building up on the buildings, classrooms, foundations for children volunteers, keep the retaining the monastery and that's what we're doing at the moment. What we're seeing here, when we are when we went in the village and when we did a, we did a survey when we went to the village to collect the information to see how we can help the villagers best through the fundraiser to to find out what's what's their needs. And by that time, people here the volunteers in here they could see how things are going out simple there villager living in Small huts and what life threatening situation they're facing. And also with with sickness. And we had also the last month from some deaths not directly connected with Corona, but for old people sick people and novice also died from some some actions. So there we have had situations here with all members of the community, but reflect on that world simple situation villagers living in and they've been grateful for their situation and thinks that we are my planing something was our situation that is being put in perspective by seeing this hard realities of service naturally get incorporated and when we're making Taking, then we practicing metta meditation focusing on those, make it out for for other people in the world or all over for people suffering in the world. So we are integrating it into the meditation. We are integrating it. Also in the Dhamma discourses we're just looking situation visited world situation what we're doing and reading nature. But Jen, where we don't see that suffering just around us here regarding directly from looking for the virus, so much. We had the situation the village here in town of cause more hotels and shops are shut down in the mass and with with gloves around, but I think As we see it, as I hear in the West, from my parents and other friends in Europe, there's much more sense of energy going around and people afraid of dying or being sick, then it's here. So this is also something that we can, we can learn, we can see from the dumber that people are taking it much more, much more easy, much more like this and I'm taking care of we are closed down the village, nobody allowed to go out chart in quarantine period. We do the measures, but people don't pay anything as much because they're accepting these situations in life. If I die, then I'm dying. Dining is part of our life. And we can see this attitude of people in the village or village and not generally and this is also a teaching by itself and accepting decay in that way. We have to die at a point and no need to panic for for that situation. I do see some positive aspects of this Corona situation Corona crisis in the world. One. One is that this, the virus is not selective and it doesn't only infect a certain group of people here in EMR we can see at certain races are only more effective than others or certain social classes we see that the virus is here in Myanmar and basically everywhere in the world is threatening the life of everyone. So, we all sitting in one boat, that's something what we are realizing here, it's it's a global crisis we never have seen in the world so far. All over and we see that in a sense, that brings people also closer together. So we're seen this year in the village that we are all looking out for each other. When we're before we're taking here, the Morita Foundation, take care of the children, and mainly focusing here in our monastery to build this up. Of course, we're working with the villages together, we are employing them we are teaching their children. We also have a clinic running here where they can come be treated. But we didn't have so much close contact with the villagers before with this groaner crisis, and brought as more closer together and really looking out for the villagers and seeing what are their needs and how was their life situation. I can see that positive deviation and see this also updated the world of people getting closer together and watching out for each other. This is one one benefit maybe not everywhere, the same thing, this case But certainly I've seen that here in other place. And the second benefit, and it's also something I can see from for myself. I've been there's not too many people and organization of we're managing in the West with the donors with other schools. We are having cooperation with other schools in Germany and Switzerland, online class students going into the service and to the world. We are having international volunteer to national donor groups. So there's it's very, very busy times here. And many of the I'm organizing this and also go over to Germany and give the talks and giving the seminars also in Germany that vegetation forces so here in Myanmar, Germany, and been always Busy for me that last year's and it won't really I was looking for a period where I can press the stop button and just have a few ups of maintenance of installing more on and off the corona device. lockdown has brought its situation not only to me, but to many, many people all over the world. They are we are forced to stop and we have more time for our families for the community and time to meditate and time to focusing on the things of life. And sometimes you may see that for having a like a romantic idea about this, the corona crisis. Of course, there's a lot of suffering going around. I see this everywhere in the world, people they just opened their restaurant or their business and then they have to stop everything and there Businesses need to close down and they losing their existence and losing money cause this is not that romantic, they're having difficulties but luckily here in our and situate me from other friends as well. They been benefits going down getting more and have more time for family friends and meditation and other things. So that I could see that benefits also from all volunteers being here that we're having time to focus on the dumbest seminar and yoga classes and we otherwise wouldn't have this is time for that something. See, I think that's that's about it that was good last last sentence what I what I had before so that these two end with these two positive aspects that live we have difficult situations and we are all all face them, especially with the corona crisis with we sitting on all in one. And we need to face them. So that's our vacation. But we also should look out for the positive aspects of those situations, the best out said or done over this period by now so panicking, panicking and worries doesn't make things better. And some people say are when you're taking things more easy for them, you're not worrying in global crisis Come on, gotta worry or looking for that. And I think that's not the right attitude towards this situation and anywhere, anywhere. crisis into the world suffering always been part of life. That's samsara. That's what we know from Buddhist, were we facing it or the other. And by accepting it is that this is part and then second reflecting about what what can I do with this situation and the best to make it better not just to accept it and then just thing and don't do anything. It's not the right attitude, but we're looking at how we can help each other how we can get better. But on the other hand, also take the things out of this, having more time for yourself for me for meditation.
Host 2:00:50
And now a message about these special Coronavirus episodes. First caveat about our current podcasts that are being produced during this expanding global pandemic. In this new age of social distancing, face to face interviews are of course no longer possible. An obvious consequence of this is technical. None of the guests we interview have access to a professional recording studio. Indeed, as some are living remotely in the Burmese countryside, they have little more than their phone's microphone to record and send messages. Our experts sound engineers have done their best to improve and enhance the quality. But there was a limit even to their magic, and a time when major network programs resort to home recorded in Melbourne content. We are also trying to adjust to these new rules and limitations. So while we apologize for any difficulty you may experience as you listen to these episodes, we appreciate your understanding the challenges we face in producing them. On another note, please keep in mind that the interviews on this episode were recorded at some time in the past, maybe just a few days to perhaps even more than a month ago. As a result, some of the factual details conveyed in these interviews may be outdated by the time you hear it. We hope you Find some light and wisdom and the voices to follow. We're greatly appreciative for the time that all the guests generously provided to share their words and perspective. We wish all our listeners to stay safe and mentally sound, and use this challenging experience to grow in Dhamma. We'd like to take this time to thank our generous supporters who have already given, we simply could not continue to provide you with this content and information without the wonderful support and generous donors, listeners and friends like you. Because these episodes are fully funded by listeners. Without your generosity, and particularly the meta behind such generosity, we wouldn't be able to continue producing these podcasts. So we'd like to thank you upfront for your continued support. We welcome both one time donations and monthly pledges, whether large donations of $100 or more or smaller ones, $10 $5, even $1. every donation of any size is greatly appreciated. It would mean so much to us, of course, but we hope to you as well, to help us make merit by providing access to the voices of our Dhamma community from every aspect of Myanmar, and to more and more listeners like you. Every meritorious donation helps towards access to one more voice one more perspective. We greatly appreciate your generosity and of course we share our merits with all of you. Thank you. If you find the Dhamma interviews, we are sharing the value and would like to support our mission. We welcome your contribution, you may give the patreon@www.patreon.com slash Insight Myanmar as well as via paypal@www.paypal.me slash Insight Myanmar. In both cases, that's one word Insight Myanmar i en si gh TMYANMAR. If you are in Myanmar and would like to give a cash donation, please feel free to get in touch with us.