METTA SUTTA => Third sutta in “Paritta Pail” also referred to as KARANIYA METTA SUTTA Desirable qualities of a “practitioner” Loving kindness “meditation”
During a Dhamma Duta mission in the late 1970s, Mahasi Sayadawgyi agreed to leave U Silananda and U Kelasa to carry on the Sasana work in the US.
U Silananda taught classes and conducted meditation retreats in California.
U Kelasa did the same in East Coast of USA.
Dhammananda Vihara
Several devotees including the Khoo siblings and cousins (Eddie, Stanley, Molly) and Dr. Tin Wa established the Theravada Buddhist Society of America (TBSA).
TBSA helped set up the Dhammanada Vihara with U Silananda as the Chief Resident Monk and U Sobhana. U Jotalankara would later join the sayadaws.
The initial Vihara was a rented house in San Francisco. It later moved to Daly City. It is currently in Half Moon Bay.
Hlaf Moon Bay monastery
Resident Monks (over the years)
U Silanandabhivamsa (First Sayadaw, GBNF)
U Sobhana (GBNF)
U Jotalankara (Second Sayadaw)
U Nandisena (Moved to Dhamma Vihara in Mexico)
U Osadha
U Kondannadhaja (Uzin Chan Min)
…
U Silanandabhivamsa
Sayadaw life and accomplishments have been recorded in the Dhammananda Newsletters and the TBSA web site.
I was an Editor for the Newsletter and web site for several years.
Highlights
Sayadaw was born in Mandalay on December 16, 1927.
Father : Saya Saing (Famous Myanmar Pithuka)
Studied at Kelly (an American Baptist Mission School)
During the war, his family took refuge at the Sagaing Hills
Ordained as a samanera (novice)
Paid respect to Shwe Hintha Sayadaw, who gave the novice his robes and requested him not to leave the order
Became a Trailblazer when Mahasi Sayadaw left him to do dhamma duta in California and beyond.
Served as the Abbot of the Dhammananda Vihara, the Spiritual Advisor of the Theravada Buddhist Society of America (TBSA) and the Dhammachakka Meditation Center in California, and several other monasteries in Myanmar and Mexico.
First Rector of IMBTU.
Sayadaw passed away on August 13, 2005.
IMBTU sent Sayadaw U Nandamalabhivamsa and Dr. Myint Kyi to attend the Funeral Services for Sayadaw U Silananda.
I served as Master of Ceremonies at the Funeral Services for Sayadaw.
I was a Contributing Editor and Committee Member for the publication of the book paying Homage to Sayadaw.
TBSA consecrated a Dhamma Hall in memory of U Silananda.
Ceremonies to honor Sayadaw are done in August and December.
Additional materials can be found in the commemorative book (“Maw Gun Win Sar Saung”) and the DVDs about Sayadaw’s “Last Journey” and his lifelong achievements (including the first Rector of IMBTU).
Ceremony in memory of SayadawDevoteesVolunteers
Books
The Biography & First Sermon
Sayadaw wrote the book as a young monk
The book was reprinted as Dhamma Dana for Sayadaw’s 75th Birthday
Paritta Pali and Protective Verses
Ms. Srinuch Pongavas, a disciple of Sayadaw, published the book “Paritta Pali and Protective Verses” for Sayadaw’s birthday in 1995. The book displays Paritta Pali on the even-numbered pages and the Paritta Text (in English) on the odd-numbered pages. Sayadaw recorded the Pali and the English Text. CD was also provided as Dhamma Dana.
It can also be listened on You Tube
U Silanandabhivamsa’s Dhamma Duta Missions
by Nyaung Kan Aye Sayadaw
Nyaung Kan Aye Sayadaw is from the Dhamma Lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw.
Dhamma Lecturer
Dedicated the book to his mentor U Silanandabhivamsa
Aye Thet Scholarship
Dr. Swe Aye and Dr. Khin Nyo Thet provided the seed money for the “Aye Thet Scholarship”.
The number of young adults and children attending the TBSA Summer Dhamma Camp has grown close to 200.
The classes cover
Recitation (for very young children)
Levels 1 to 6
Some who passed Level 6 would volunteer to be Teaching Assistants.
Several donors augment the “Aye Thet Scholarship” to give prizes to the attendees of the TBSA Summer Dhamma Camp.
My Contributions
EC member (VP and/or Director)
Editor of the Dhammananda Newsletter.
Per Sayadaw U Silananda’s request, I simplified the book “A Manual of Buddhism” for use at the Summer Dhamma Camp.
I also edited the book based on the transcripts — by U Osadha — of Sayadaw’s dhamma talks (mostly at the meditation retreats).
Master of Ceremonies at Sayadaw’s Memorial Service
Accompanied Saya U Myat Htoo (then President of TBSA) for scattering Sayadaw’s ashes into the water near Golden Gate Bridge.
Committee member and Contributing Editor for the book “Homage to Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa“.
Chief Resident Monk of A Lo Daw Pyie Monastery in Apache Junction, Arizona.
Published five volumes of Q&A (Questions and Answers) about Buddhism.
Published several other books.
Gave me his books in person (during his visits to the San Francisco Bay Area) and by mail (via United States Postal Service).
Buddha Dhamma Ah Hnit Chote
Bilingual (Myanmar and English) book
Dhamma dana by Dr. U Win (Salinas)
January, 2006
Translation to Myanmar from English By Ashin Kelasa
Buddhism in a Nutshell By Narada Maha Thera
Chapters 1. The Buddha 2. The Dhamma : Is it a Philosophy? 3. Is it a Religion? 4. Is Buddhism an Ethical System? 5. Some salient features of Buddhism 6. Kamma of the law of Moral Causation 7. Re-birth 8. Paticcasamuppada 9. Anatta or Soul-lessness 10. Nibbana 11. The Path to Nibbana
Long term memory It is analogous to disk (or similar) storage in a computer system
Short term memory It is analogous to RAM (Random Access Memory)
Photographic memory Some people could glance at documents and recall them
Associative memory Facts are easier to recall if they are associated and chunked
False memory Some innocent people were victimized by key witnesses with “unreliable” memory
Study of Memory
The study of memory transcends medical research, sociology, linguistics, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence.
It is often done by a team of multi-disciplinary experts.
Aging contributes loss of short term memory or the decline in the ability to retain short term memory. My younger cousin sister said, “I forgot what I wanted to say”.
One elderly could recall names of his primary school classmates, but could not recognize his youngest grand son that grew up in his hands.
Memory loss may be temporary. Ko Tin Oo (M87, SDYF, RITAA) temporarily forgot his name, but uttered “I pledged my donation for the YTU library, but I have not made the donation.” The memory lapse was attributed to a fall that hurt his back.
Memory Feats
Mingun Tipitaka Sayadaw
Mingun Tipitaka Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Record for his phenomenal memory that he displayed in the Sixth Buddhist Council held at Kaba Aye (World Peace) Pagoda from 1954 – 1956.
He not only remembered 8000+ pages of the Scriptures, but he could also point out the variants of some Suttas while he took the Oral tests for the Tipitaka Examination.
He passed the Oral and Written tests for Vinaya (Monastic rules of conduct), Sutta (Discourses) and Abhidhamma (Ultimate reality) with Distinction.
Sayadaw became the Grand Custodian of the Tipitaka (Three Baskets) and was the key player in the Sixth Buddhist Council.
Dale Carnegie wrote that Harry S. Truman won the presidency because his campaign manager could address 50,000+ voters by their first name.
I thought that I should try for 500 or 5000 names.
Some trained / developed their memory to compete in memory contests (e.g. recall cards, numbers).
My Memory
Hla Min
When I was in Middle School, Chauk Htutt Kyee Sayadaw came to our house to give a dhamma talk. After Sayadaw returned, I recounted the main points of the talk.
I have a built-in recorder and a reasonably good memory, but the use of association, chunking, mnemonics, and “learning how to learn” helped to make my memory better.
Not everyone appreciated my memory. One person thought that I was dyslexic when I wrote English words and sentences backwards and upside down. I also wrote a few in mirror image. Another said, “What’s the big deal? You just have to remember patterns.”
I often start a talk –tongue in cheek — by saying, “My brain is damaged. It’s easy to remember, but it’s hard to forget.”
He was listed in the “Guinness Book of World Records” for his phenomenal memory. When Burma hosted the Sixth Buddhist Council in 1954 – 56 to commemorated the 2500th year of the “Sasana Calendar”, Sayadaw acted as the “Reciter” of the Tipitaka (Triple Basket : Vinaya (Monastic rules of conduct), Sutta (Discourses), and Abhidhamma (Ultimate Reality)) and selected Commentaries. According to the Kaba Aye Edition, the Tipitaka covers 8000+ pages.
To prepare for the Buddhist Council, Sir U Thwin requested Mingun Sayadaw to take the Tipitaka examination. Sayadaw passed the Oral and Written tests for the Three Baskets with Distinction. He was the first Sayadaw to be conferred “Bearer of the Tipitaka & Treasurer of the Dhamma”. The Oral tests will fail a candidate if he needs five (or six) prompts. Sayadaw did not need a single prompt. The Written tests cover in-depth topics. During the recitation, Sayadaw amazed the examiners by pointing out the variations of the text and highlighted the preferred version.
Sayadaw received requisites. He distributed them to the monks (in the town where he received them). To help ease the monks trying to pass one or more Baskets in the [later] Tipitaka examinations, Sayadaw set up a monastery in Mingun and accepted monks who had finished their Dhammacariya.
Mahasi & Mingun Sayadaws
Memory Types
We have a short term memory and a long term memory.
When people age, most retain their long term memory, but they often experience decline of their short term memory.
My young cousin approached us and then uttered, “I forgot what I was about to say”.
My high school classmate would abruptly stop in the middle of our walk and pondered, “Did I lock the door?”
Ko Tun Aung’s uncle (GBNF) could recall his primary classmates but could not recognize his beloved grand kid.
There are books and courses about memory.
According to some authors, we could use “chunking”, “association”, “reinforced (non-blind) repetition”, … to move important and worthwhile items in the short term memory into long term memory.
Memory is not static. It is elastic. There is restructuring (reorganizing, indexing, …) every time we use it.
There are techniques (mnemonics, visualization, …) to train and improve our memory.
Thanks to the sayas and colleagues who complimented for having a good memory. I was a mini-dictionary, a micro-encyclopedia, and a reliable proof-reader & spelling checker. May be it was partly because I was born before the pervasive use of Internet and on-line tools, and there was not too much diversion.
There are a few who want to down play the importance of memory by saying, “I can Google …”
HlaMin 