“Taw Hlan Yay Nay” (တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ Resistance Day) is celebrated in March. The resistance officially started on March 27, 1945. Bohmu Ba Htoo had started the resistance earlier, but it was made to look like a random sporadic act of defiance. The town which housed the early military training school was named “Ba Htoo Myo ဗထူးမြို့”
“Lut Latt Yay Nay” (လွတ်လပ်ရေးနေ့ Independence Day) is celebrated in January. The Union Jack was lowered and the Union Flag was flown on January 4, 1948. The time 4:20 AM may have been suggested by an astrologer.
Many civilians and armed personnel put their lives on the line in their support for a Democratic and Independent Union of Burma.
Saying “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Forward Magazine
My poem “To the fallen warrior” was published in Forward Magazine.
Bohmu Ba Thaw (Maung Thaw Ka) was Chief Editor.
U Sein Hla was Assistant Editor.
I received Fifteen Kyats for my poem.
The artist who illustrated my poem received Fifty Kyats.
The Phaundaw-u Festival
Phaungdaw-u Festival
I wrote a poem “The Phaungdaw-u Festival” for the Thadinkyut Supplement of Working People’s Daily (WPD).
I visited Inlay Lake four times.
My first visit was in the summer of 1965 as Tekkatho Luyechun for the Inlay Khaung Daing Camp.
My second visit was in October, 1965. I accompanied Ko Aung Kyaw (Peter Pe, SPHS, Movie Star) and Ko MaungMaung Aye (SPHS, IM1, GBNF) to Inlay and Taunggyi. Peter’s cousins (including a medical doctor) live in In Paw Khone in Inlay. Peter’s uncle U Maung Maung Latt was Ah Mat Choke (အမတ်ချုပ်) in Taunggyi. We saw first hand the famous Phaungdaw-u Festival.
My third visit was in the mid 2010s. We took a tour package (air travel, hotel, car & boat) to Inlay. We stayed at a hotel in Inlay and then visited selected places in a chartered boat. We were sad to see the declining state of Inlay (e.g. water level). We spent some time in Taunggyi and the nearby cave in Ho Pone.
My fourth visit was in January 2020 as the final leg of the Professional Speakers Association’s tour.
The Ngapali Beach
The Ngapali Beach
My poem “The Ngapali Beach” was published in the Forward Magazine on March 2, 1970.
I received fifteen kyats for my poem.
The illustrator received fifty kyats.
Bohmu Ba Thaw (Maung Thaw Kha) was Chief Editor.
U Sein Hla was Assistant Editor.
Visits
My first visit was during my student days. My cousin and friends stayed at the Bungalow owned by U Tha Gyaw Wai and managed by my uncle. At a nearby bungalow was a movie crew by Amyotha Yoke Shin အမျိုးသားရုပ်ရှင် with U San Maung (Gerald, RUBC Gold and Coach). Ko Gerald asked me if I would be interested to join them on the way back via Taung Goke. We were hosted by a cinema owner. He offered the movie audience a free show if they could translate the Burmese titles into English. One submission was “Fly away bitter bird” (Pyan Lay dei Nget Khar ပျံလေတဲ့ငှက်ခါး)
My second visit was with my beloved spouse and two young sons. We stayed at the Bungalow owned by Amyotha Yoke Shin and managed by U Mya Maung (elder brother of Saya U Tin Htut).
My third visit was as Guest Lecturer for the Ngapali Luyechun Camp. I spent some time chatting with other Guest Lecturers including Saya U Kyaw Myint (Director of Higher Education, former Professor of Physics at Mandalay).
Hantha Aye Nylon — the parents of Than Than Yee (T71) and Sann Aung (M74) — also owned a Bungalow.
The Hotel and Tourist Corporation built the first hotel in Ngapali.
I know a few people who have taken almost yearly trips to Ngapali.
Our Unity
Our Unity
My poem “Our Unity” was published in WPD (Working People’s Daily) for Pyidaung Su Nay (Union Day). It was written as a dream.
Hlaing Phyo is one of my pen names.
I received fifteen kyats for my poem.
G Ko Lay (RUBC Gold) was Chief Editor of WPD. His spouse : Daw Nyunt Nyunt Win (Physics, RASU Registrar)
Former Chief Editors of WPD include U Khin Maung Latt (father of Saya Dr. Khin Maung Win, grand father of Maung Yit and Junior Win) and U Than Saw (grand father of KMZ’s spouse).
Tekkatho Moe War wrote : This is really an amazing verse to read, especially for a poetry lover, be it in any language, so to speak.
Updates
Several are GBNF. They include Bohmu Ba Thaw, U Ko Lay, U Mya Maung, U San Maung, U Khin Maung Latt, U Than Saw, Than Than Yi & Sann Aung
Myingyan Sunlun Gu Kyaung Sayadaw U Kavi (ဆရာတော်ဦးကဝိ)
U Kavi
Biography and dhamma talks
Myingyan SunLun
First KabaAye Sunlun Gu Kyaung Sayadaw U Vinaya (ဆရာတော်ဦးဝိနယ)
U Vinaya
Early devotees of Sayadaw include U Khin Maung Latt, Daw Khin Myo Chit, U Thein Nyunt and U Win Pe
Wrote a book “The Yogi & Vipassana (Buddhist Meditation : The Sunlun Way)”
Passed away in his late 90s
Book by U Vinaya
“The Yogi and Vipassana” BUDDHIST MEDITATION : THE SUNLUN WAY Author : Sunlun Shin Vinaya Publisher : Sunlun Buddhist Meditation Center 7 1/2 Mile, Prome Road, KabaAye P.O., Rangoon
CONTENTS The Yogi and Vipassana (Page 1 – 18) The Sunlun Way of Mindfulness (Page 19 – 33) Explanatory Notes for Beginners and Those Proceeding Along the Sunlun Way of Vipassana (Page 34 – 50)
KabaAye Sunlun Gu Kyaung Sayadaw U Wara
(ဆရာတော်ဦးဝရ)
U Wara
U Win Paing won Golf trophies (some with his younger brother U Kyaw Paing).
Meditated at KabaAye Sunlun.
He gave away his Golf Set. Entered monkhood after the Final exam for Chemical Engineering in 1970.
Served as Taik Oke Sayadaw of Kaba Aye Sunlun Gu Kyaung for nearly four decades.
Succeeded Sayadaw U Vinaya as Chief Resident Monk.
Passed away on August 26, 2021
Siblings : Dr. Myo Paing (Medical Research & Malaria), U Soe Paing (RIT EE, UCC co-founder, UN), U Kyaw Paing (Lawyer, Entrepreneur, Champion Golfer)
U WaraObituaryFour Paing Brothers
Vipassana Retreats
KabaAye Sunlun Gu Kyaung
Kyauk Pa Daung
Hong Kong
Dr. Khin Maung Win
Son of U Khin Maung Latt & Daw Khin Myo Chit
Retired Professor of Mathematics
Published “Notes on Vipassana meditation”
UCC
Yahan Khan
In the 1970s, the staff and students of Universities’ Computer Center hosted “Donlaba Yahan Khan” for Thingyan at selected monasteries.
The initial venue was KabaAye Sunlun Gu Kyaung.
UCC Yahan Khan 1UCC Yahan Khan 2
Updates
Sayadaws — U Kavi, U Vinaya & U Wara — have passed away.
Several devotees — U Khin Maung Latt, Daw Khin Myo Chit, Dr. Khin Maung Win, U Thein Nyunt, Tekkatho Shwe Yee Win, U Soe Myint, U Win Pe — are GBNF.
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
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.
Abhidhamma Newsletter Volume 1 Number 3 (April 1999) Adviser: Venerable U Silananda Editor: Maung Tin-Wa (Ph.D.) Editorial Board: James Cameron, U Aye Cho, Aung Khin (M.D.). Marc F. Lierberman (M.D.), Yan Naing Lwin (Ph.D.), Sarah E, Marks, Tin Than Myint (M.D.), Bach Dong Nhut, U Han Nyo, Phil Rohrer, Larry Rosenberg, Anna Spievogel (M.D., Ph.D.), Tin Myo Than (M.D.), Hla N. Tin (Ph.D.), Rita Adelman BGraphic Designer: Scott Jordan Transcribing and Word Processing: Pat McMahon Published by the Abhidhamma Study Group of Dhammachakka Meditation Center, Berkeley, C.A.
HlaMin 