A : Achievable / Achievable ပြီးမြောက်နိုင် / ရနိုင်
R : Realistic / Relevant အမှန်မြင် / အသုံးတဲ့
T : Time-bounded / Timely အချိန်ကန့်သတ် / အချိန်မီ
SMARTER (which extends SMART) is a lesser used acronym.
Smart Card and Devices
I worked for a Defense Contractor. My assignment was at DMDC (Defense Manpower Data Center). Every employee and contractor was issued a Smart Card, which has a processor and memory to hold Biometrics (e.g. fingerprint), Photo ID, and Cryptographic Keys. One has to use a Smart Card to (a) enter specified areas of the building (b) logging on to a computer system. Smart cards were not cheap at that time, and there were limitations in the resources (e.g. memory on the card)
Smart devices (e.g. smart phones) are ubiquitous.
Smart cars (e.g. driver-less) are available.
Smart Car / Autonomous vehicles
Smart Monitors
SMART Group of Companies
Founded by KK (Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing) about 25 years ago
Started with Technical Services
Currently 7 companies in the group
SMART Sar Pay / Publishing
published several award winning books
latest : reprint of Maung Aung Mon (U Win Aung Gyi)’s collection of short stories from the 1950s : to celebrate RU Centennial
SMART Media
Talk shows
Interviews
Documentary
Sponsor for 5th ILF (Irrawaddy Literary Festival) in November 2019
Diamond Sponsor for PSA 2020 Tour to six (or so) cities in Upper Myanmar in January 2020
U Aung Myaing added:
Work smarter. Not harder. ဆိုတာနဲ့ပတ်သက်ပြီး ကျနော့်အမြင်ကို လက်တွေ့ ဥပမာနဲ့ ပြောချင်ပါတယ်။
ကျန်တစ်ယောက်ကတော့ KPI ကို အကျအနပြင်တယ်။ အပေါ်က approval ရပြီဆိုတော့ အဲဒီ KPI ထဲက အလုပ်တွေကို ပီပီပြင်ပြင်လုပ်တယ်။ both hard and smart, but not as hard as the first one. နှစ်ကုန်တော့ scores ကောင်းကောင်းရတယ်။
သူတို့နှစ်ယောက်က hard က မတိမ်းမယိမ်းဘဲ။ Smart ကတော်တော်ကွာသွားတယ်။
AD stands for Anno Domini / “In the year of our Lord”
Also known as CE (Common Era)
Usually differs from the Burmese Era by 638 Note : Burmese New Year falls in mid-April. So, the Gregorian year will span two Burmese years.
BC
BC stands for “Before Christ“
BE / ME
Burmese / Myanmar Era
Started off with Sasana Era
Now differs by 1182 due to “Thet ka rit phyo” (adjustment by two Kings who believed in the astrological “kain khan” sayings)
SE
SE stands for Sasana Era Sasana is usually rendered as “Dispensation of Buddha”
SE is reckoned from Maha Parinibbana (Death of Lord Buddha)
In the mid 1950s, the Sixth Buddhist Council was held at the Kaba Aye (World Peace) Pagoda to celebrate the 2500 year of the Sasana Era.
Sample Conversions
Suppose the Burmese Era is 1382 BE, then Sasana Era = 1382 + 1182 = 2564 and Common Era = 1382 + 638 = 2020
Note:
January, February, March and early April of 2020 AD will correspond to 1381 BE. The latter part of April, and May to December of 2020 AD will correspond to 1382 BE.
February has 28 days in a common year, and 29 days in a leap year.
April, June, September and November have 30 days.
January, March, July, August, October and December have 31 days.
January : 31
February : 28 (or 29) February is the shortest month in the year with 28 days in a Common Year and 29 days in a Leap Year.
March : 31
April : 30
May : 31
June : 30
July : 31
August : 31
September : 30
October : 31
November : 30
December : 31
Days in a year
A common year has 365 days, while a Solar year has 365.2422 days.
A year which is not a Century year is a Leap Year if it is divisible by 4. The discrepancy of .9688 days is rounded up to a day.
A year which is a Century year is a Leap Year if it is divisible by 400. This ensures that there are 97 leap years in four centuries.
Grapevine
February initially had 30 days, but one day each was transferred to July (honoring Julius Caesar) and August (honoring Augustus Caesar) to have 31 days in those months (worthy of Roman Emperors).
February was left with 28 days.
Ripley’s “Believe it or not” illustrated a grave stone which had February 30.
Special Days
We were aware of
Father’s Day
Mother’s Day
Labor Day
Christmas
Easter
Thanksgiving
Independence Day
Presidents’ Day
Valentine’s Day
Differences
For a long time, we were not aware that some special events are celebrated on different days (depending on the country and religious order).
Most Christian denominations celebrate according to the Gregorian Calendar.
The Orthodox Church celebrate Christmas and Easter according to the old calendars (e.g. Julian).
The Theravada Buddhists celebrate the Full Moon Day of Kason as the “Thrice Blessed Day”.
The Mahayana celebrate the events (Birth, Enlightenment, Maha Parinibbana) on dates different from those of Theravada Buddhists.
Some Thoughts
We later learn about
Kabyar (Poem) Nay
Myat Saya (Teacher) Nay
Secretary Day
Friend Day
Pi Day
Some wonder why there is no Grandfather’s Day, Grandmother’s Day or Grandparent’s Day.
Holidays
Not all special days and events are holidays.
Even among holidays, there are Public Holidays, State Holidays, and Bank Holidays.
There may be good reasons (social, commercial) for having the designated days.
Thanksgiving
For us, every day is Thanksgiving (time to repay to our parents and mentors for their unbounded love and care).
Adeline Hpyu Hpyu Aung wrote :
Yes Saya. We should be thanking God, Parents and teachers everyday, without them we will not be who we are.
KMZ wrote :
My left brain at times over-analyzed many of these days.
Many of these holidays are the work of “Holiday Industrial Complex”.
As Ma Adelyne Hpyu Hpyu Aung posted, some of these days like Mothers’ Day/Fathers’ Day should be 365 days a year, not necessarily just the designated day a year.
Believe it nor not there also is a ‘National Splurge Day’ which is June 18th. US Congress eventually passed a law to stop creating those days.
Many monasteries have libraries with texts in Pali, Burmese/Myanmar & English. Some have indexed the library collection.
It is difficult if not impossible to read all the books in a library.
Libraries in Monasteries (Northern California)
Dhammananda Vihara, Half Moon Bay
Kuthalakari, Fremont
Mettananda Vihara, Oakland (formerly at Fremont & Castro Valley)
Mudita Shwe Kyaung, Hayward
Tathagata Meditation Center, San Jose
Training and Teaching Centers
Mingalar Byu Har (မင်္ဂလာဗျူဟာ), Dhamma Byu Har (ဓမ္မဗျူဟာ), Dhammacakka Society (ဓမ္မစကြာအသင်းအဖွဲ့ ), Pathan Sar Thin Taik (ပဌာန်းစာသင်တိုက်) and the various training and teaching centers have helped sustain, promote, and propagate Sasana.
Theravada Canon
Theravada means “Way of the Elders”.
At the First Buddhist Council and at the subsequent Councils, the sacred texts are reaffirmed. The Teachings are not added, deleted, or modified.
Burma hosted the Fifth & Sixth Buddhist Councils.
Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa initiated two projects: one to digitize the marble slabs inscribed during the Fifth Buddhist Council in Mandalay, and the other to compile a CD of the Tipitaka texts that were re-affirmed at the Sixth Buddhist Council in Rangoon/Yangon.
The Pali-Myanmar Tipitaka Dictionary was compiled under the guidance of the Sayadawgyis (e.g. Mahasi Sayadaw) and the [then young] Sayadaws (e.g. U Silananda). Myanmar translations of the Tipitaka texts were published by the Department of Religious Affairs.
Mahagandaryone Sayadaw U Janakabivamsa
He wrote texts for both the sanghas and the lay people. They include
Ba Tha Thway ဘာသာသွေး
Yadana Gone Yi ရတနာ့ဂုဏ်ရည်
A Na Gut Thar Tha Yay အနာဂတ်သာသနာရေး (Future of the Dispensation)
Ko Kyint Abhidhamma ကိုယ်ကျင့်အဘိဓမ္မာ (Abhidhamma in Daily Life)
Shin pone shin kyint wut ရှင်ပုံ ရှင်ကျင့်ဝတ် (rules for the samanera/novices)
The Illustrated History of Buddhism (with drawings by Sayagyi U Ba Kyi)
Dhamma Recording
Tape Recorders
In the 50’s and 60’s, the Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS) used mostly Ampex tape recorders for high fidelity.
The general public used less expensive brands such as Akai, Grudig and Sony for recording.
Sixth Buddhist Council
During the Sixth Buddhist Council (1954 – 1956), BBS broadcast the sessions where Mahasi Sayadaw served as the Questioner and Mingun Tipitaka Sayadaw served as the Reciter/Expositor.
The archives are being offered as dhamma dana in Audio CD and MP3 formats.
Kudos to those who are trying to preserve, practice, and propagate the Sasana (Teachings of the Buddha).
Teachings of Sayadaws
Individuals and organizations have provided access to their dhamma archives.
Sun Lun Sayadaw
Sunlun SayadawBook about Sunlun Sayadaw
Recordings (dhamma talks, kammavaca, …) of Myingyan Sun Lun Gu Kyaung Sayadaw U Kavi were made by his disciples. They can be downloaded from the Sun Lun web site.
Mogok Sayadaw
U Sway Tin and his team recorded 500+ talks of the Mogok Sayadaw U Vimala. They also transcribed the tapes for distribution as books. The advances in technology make possible the redistribution of the archives as Audio CDs, MP3s, and e-Books.
Dhammananda Sayadaw
Recordings of Sayadaw U Silananda (Abdhidhamma, “Words of the Buddha”, …, dhamma talks given at the meditation retreats) were made by his disciples at Dhammacakka Center, Theravada Buddhist Society of America (TBSA), Tathagatha Meditation Center (TMC), and Zen Buddhist Temple. Some works are available as Audio CDs, MP3s and books. I was honored to edit the dhamma talks (transcribed by Sayadaw U Osadha) before presenting them to SayadawU S ilananda for final review and editing. The book was published in 2003 by the Malaysian yogis organized by Pauline Chiong.
Taya Oo
TMC Publications
Tathagata Meditation Center
TMC was founded by the Vietnamese disciples of Sayadaw U Silananda.
TMC is located at 1215 Lucretia Avenue, San Jose, CA 95122
Conducts about six long-term meditation retreats per year.
Offers two week-end retreats for months when there are no long-term retreats.
Holds summer classes : one for children and the other for young adults.
Published several books for Dhamma Dana distribution. They include teachings by Mahasi Sayadaw, U Pandita, U Silananda, and books to study Pali.
Pali
For the past few years, U Dhammika-bhivamsa (Tharmanay Kyaw) taught Pali courses using selected Suttas to interested yogis to have an appreciation of Buddha’s teachings without delving into the details of Pali grammar.
The course materials were prepared by Som Tu (Director of TMC, Retired executive in Technology) under the guidance of Thamanay Kyaw Sayadaw.
Reference Books
I used to volunteer as Translator/Interpreter for Meditation Retreats at Tathagata Meditation Center (TMC).
Beelin Sayadaw U Pannadipa (then Resident Sayadaw at TMC, currently Padana Nayaka Sayadaw at Panditarama Shwe Taung Gone in Yangon) gave me the book “A Pali Myanmar-English Dictionary of the Noble Words of the Lord Buddha”.
The book was compiled by U Myat Kyaw (Myanmar Sar Ah Phwe) and translated into English by U San Lwin.
TMC gave me the book “Buddhist Dictionary” by Ven. Nyantiloka.
It is subtitled “Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines”.
The first edition was published in 1946.
The third revised & enlarged edition was edited by Ven. Nyanaponika in 1970.
U Hla Myint, who had passed Dhammacariya & several monastic exams as a monk, gave me a PDF version of his manuscript “An Introduction to Pali” for study and review.
The book is available as Dhamma Dana distribution from TMC.
He studied Pali under the guidance of Mahagandayone Sayadaw U Jananabhivamsa (one of the greatest Pali scholars in the 20th century) and with the outstanding teachers U Vijaya-lankara and U Dhamika-bhivamsa (with pen name “Thamanay Kyaw”).
He studied English under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita-bhivamsa and with the eminent teachers such as U Aung Myat Thut, U Aye Maung and U Hla Maung.
He has written, translated and edited several books for TMC.
U Hla Myint
Triple Gem Publications
Founder Members
Harry Than Htut (Canada)
U Htay Aung (Victor, Australia)
Dr. Maung Maung Lwin (UK)
U Tin Htoon (USA)
Daw Tin Tin Myint (Emma, Singapore)
Sample Publications
Emptying the Rose-Apple Seat A day-to-day guide to Buddhist meditation methods as taught by a renowned meditation master by Aggamahapandita Bhaddhanta Dr. Rewata Dhamma Foreword by Joseph Goldstein
The Buddha’s Prescription A selection of talks and essays by Dr. Rewata Dhamma
Inward Path Publisher
Background
IPP is in Penang, Malaysia.
Aims at disseminating the noble teachings of Wisdom and Compassion of the Buddha to a wide segment of readers through the printing of Dhamma books and booklets.
Dhamma Dana
Inward Journey Books (free Dhamma books) include the following :
One Truth Only A Compilation of Passages from Mahasi Sayadaw’s discourses
The Way to the Happiness of Peace Understanding the Basics of Insight Meditation By Sayadaw U Pandita
Paritta Pali and Protective Verses A Collection of Eleven Protective Verses & An English Translation By Sayadaw U Silananda
Volition An Introduction to the Law of Kamma By Sayadaw U Silananda
No Inner Core An Introduction to the Doctrine of Anatta By Sayadaw U Silananda
Idriya The Nine Causes which Sharpen the Controlling Faculty of a Vipassana Meditating Yogi By Sayadaw U Kundala
Vipassana Bhavana Basic Principles of Mindfulness Meditation By Sayadaw U Kundala
Time and Priceless Treasures of Thabyekan Sayadaw Compiled by Tharmanay Kyaw
Triple Gems Publications, in collaboration with Suki Hoti Publications, have made available dhamma dana books. See the relevant postings.
Theravada Web Sites
Thanks to the websites (such as those listed below), the Teachings of the Buddha and His disciples can easily be studied, practiced, and propagated.
Nine Cousins, Two in-laws, Two nephews, Two niecesU Tin U & U Ba ThanU Ba Than & Family Ma Ruby & Kim Ma Ruby, Peter & Ye MyintMa Ruby, KimMa RubyMa Ruby, Ma Betty & Cho ChoRUBC Captains : Tin U, Myo Tint, Tin Htoon, Thaung Lwin (all brothers) & Sein Htoon (cousin, cox)U Tin Htoon & U Tin Htut U Tin Htoon & U Sein Htoon : RUBC Captains & ARAE ChampionsU Myo Min with his MomU Myo MinPeter Tun & FamilyPeter succumbed to Covid : First NIH doctor to pass away due to lax Health Protocol Win Mar & Khin Sandy TunEmmy & GraceTin Tin Hlaing & Tha HlaingHtay Aung, Tha Hlaing, Tin Tin Hlaing Dr. Myo Tint, Dr. Tun Oo, Dr. Tin Kyi Wn, RaymondU Mya Thein, Khin Win Than Htay Aung, Tin Tin Hlaing, Tha Hlaing, Daw Mya Mya Win / Allison Daw Myint Thwe, Tha Hlaing, Daw Mya Mya Win / Allison
Rangoon University (Established on December 1, 1920)
Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing (Founder of Peace Movement and Principal of National College)
Bogyoke Aung San (Architect of Burma’s Independence)
U Thant (United Nations Secretary General)
U Thein Han (Zawgyi, Chief Librarian of Rangoon University Central Library, Laureate Poet)
U Wun (Minthuwun, Professor, Head of RU Translation Department, Lexicographer, Visiting Professor at Osaka University)
Dr. Maung Maung Kha (Rector of Rangoon University)
Dr. Maung Maung KhaDr. Maung Maung Kha & Family
Ludu Daw Ah Mar (Amar, Author and Publisher)
U Khin Maung Latt (Taught English at RU and at his private school, Chief Editor of Working People’s Daily)
Daw Khin Myo Chit (Participant in the struggle for Burma’s Independence, Award winning Author and Translator)
RU Jubilees
The University of Rangoon was established in December 1920. The Jubilees include
Silver Jubilee (in 1945) Most of the schools were closed for three years. The University of Rangoon reopened in 1946. There were make-shift classes on Mogul (Shwe Bon Tha) Street during that period. Saya U Ba Toke was lucky to receive his Masters during the war (thanks to his supervisor).
Golden Jubilee (in 1970) I used to have a commemorative issue. I also had a small part as a volunteer of the “Zay Nay Yar Cha Htar Yay Ah Phwe”.
Diamond Jubilee (in 1995) Saya Dr. Soe Win has posted a picture.
Centennial (in 2020) EC Members of the “Tekkatho Kalaung Ah Thin (1958 – 1962)” will publish a Kabyar book and a commemorative issue.
The Engineering Education was established in 1923. Rangoon University Boat Club (RUBC) was founded in 1923. The Centennial Celebrations could be held in 2023.
At the centennial celebrations of some universities, the alumni and staff were asked to nominate events and people to be honored as the 100 items associated with the school. The Group members could propose a list of memorable items about their alma mater.
Worked for Joint Venture Corporation (JVC) formed by relatives
Found an advertisement in a newspaper to apply for a Government Scholarship.
Selected to study Agricultural Engineering in USA
Received Masters from Virginia Tech
Came back to Burma on an Ocean Liner with Saya Allen Htay (GBNF), Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF) & U Than Pe. They became close friends on the two-month long journey.
M/Agri Saya at RIT
Upon his return, he was assigned to Agricultural Institute in Yezin. Before reporting for duty, he visited RIT.
Sayagyi U Ba Than asked if he would like to join Agri Sub-Department of Mechanical Engineering. Sayagyi said that some students were not at ease following lectures given by visiting Soviet lecturers via interpreters.
President, RIT Thaing
Played Defender on RIT Saya Soccer team
Life after RIT
Worked in Thailand & USA
USA
Attended RIT Alumni Gatherings
U Tin Maung Nyunt 1
Donated $500 for the Training Component of YTU Library Modernization project.
U Tin Maung Nyunt’s Donation
He is a day older than Saya Allen. Their birthdays are December 30 & 31.
Monthly Breakfast Gathering with Saya Allen, U Ko Ko Aye, Ko Thein Naing (Patrick) and me. Saya Allen & U Ko Ko Aye are now GBNF.
U Tin Maung Nyunt & Saya Allen
Saya U Soe Paing visited him in Milpitas, California. We had a lunch gathering at a restaurant.
U Tin Maung Nyunt 2
He enjoyed Hiking & Tennis, but had to suspend due to Jara and Byadi
Volunteer for establishing Taungpulu Kaba Aye Monastery in Northern California.
He had operations (one quite early and another a few years back).
Mechanical Engineering from Rangoon University in 1960
Worked for JVC run by relatives. Read news about State Scholarship
Masters in Agricultural Engineering from Virginia Tech in the USA
Paid respect to Saya U Ba Than. Saya asked if he would like to join Agri Dept. (sub-dept of Mechanical).
Later moved to Thailand & USA
Books
Saya and I used to exchange books (dhamma and general).
He told me to keep the ones that I want.
He bought books. He got books when his dhamma friend Saya U Soe Kaw (Mining) passed away. He got books when a monastery undergoing renovation gave away the old stuff.
Saya’s books include Ludu Dawlove Ah Mar, Theikpan Maung Wa, Tha Ka Doe, and Kyemon U Thaung.
Ludu Daw Ah Mar
She took part in the 1936 RU Student Strike.
Spouse : Ludu U Hla (Writer & Journalist)
Many journalists & writers worked at Ludu Newspaper founded by U Hla & Daw Ah Mar.
Saya gave me the book written by Ludu Daw Ah Mar about notable people from Mandalay.
Daw Oo Zun (founder of the first Lu Oh Yone လူအိုရုံ) and Kyar Ba Nyein (Boxing & Checkers) are some of the Mandalay Thu မန္တလေးသူ and Mandalay Thar မန္တလေးသား featured in the book.
Book by Ludu Daw Ah Mar
Theikpan Maung Wa
U Sein Tin was an early student who took Burmese Honors.
Became ICS.
Co-founded “Khit San Sar Pay” with U Thein Han (Zawgyi) & U Wun (Minthuwun).
Wrote a journal during his study at Oxford University and published a book.
Wrote semi-autobiographical accounts featuring Maung Lu Aye မောင်လူအေး and Maung Lu Hmwe မောင်လူမွှေး
His collection of “Wut Htu Saung Par ဝတ္ထုဆောင်းပါးာwas prescribed as a Burmese text for high school.
Saya gave me the book written a book by Theikpan Maung Wa about pets.
Theikpan Maung Wa succumbed as a victim of a robbery (gone wrong).
Memories
Health & Fitness
President of RIT Thaing
Member of RIT Saya Soccer Team
Hiking & some Mountaineering (before having medical problems)
Had operation
Social & Religious Activities
Volunteer for constructing the pagoda & monastery at Taung Pulu Kaba Aye (first in the SF Bay Area & later at Boulder Creek)
Member, Kappiya Karaka ကပ္ပိယကာရက
Supporter, Team that compiled & converted Mogok Sayadaw’s tapes into CD
Donated $500 to YTU Library Modernization project
Donation
Used to have monthly လဖက်ရည် နဲ့ စကားဝိုင်း with Saya Allen Htay (GBNF), U Ko Ko Aye (GBNF), Ko Thein Naing (Patrick) and me.
Visit by Saya U Soe Paing (EE, UCC). They spent over a month on an Ocean Liner to return home after studying in the USA.
Visit by U Soe Paing
Saya and U Sein Tun were roommates at Mandalay University in 1955. They met again at a Fundraiser in Newark Pavilion on June 22, 2025.
HlaMin 