Many people are not aware that there is a thing called a Meditation visa. If you would like to meditate for more than 30 days, a meditation visa is the way to go. Otherwise, a tourist e-visa is more appropriate. Follow the link here for a tourist e-visa and don’t go to any other place. A meditation visa is actually a…
Racism in Asia, Myanmar and Monasteries I remember when I came to Sri Lanka, in 2007 and I met a monk who said he was from Slovenia. “Slovenia? What kind of country is that?” I told him that I had memorized the world map in school, but I didn’t remember any “Slovenia.” There happened to be a large world map…
A Brief Return to Pa-Auk Maymyo (pyin oo lwin). In 2012 I had left my home at Nauyana, Sri Lanka to reconnect with my teacher Pa-Auk Saydawgyi in his spank’in new meditation center. It was built by a Myanmar Billionaire, and was still being finished as we were coming to the grand opening retreat. The climate was nice and cool…
I cannot believe that I am writing an article that explains how the monks are fighting over food. It is very awkward to hear isn’t it? On the other hand human nature is human nature. We have six monks who sit at each table and sometimes there is not enough of the special items to go around. And that…
In the eight plus years that I have lived in Myanmar, I have never seen the Thingyan Water Festival festivities happening in the street. I normally spend my time in the monastery and normally, if I went on alms, it would be early in the morning. However, our Kyownpine monastery goes out on alms round a little later so we…
Kyownpine Pa-Auk Branch Monastery in Mudon, Myanmar. I have moved to Yorgo Sayadaw ‘s new monastery called Kyownpine. The Yorgo Sayadaw read my first ordination transaction 15 years ago and invited me to come. He speaks no English, but we have fun together. Such a lovely place, lots of Metta here. Good views, cool at night (75 degrees), nice kuti.…
I am back in Myanmar from Kauai, Hawaii. I will begin the Bus trip to Pa-Auk Meditation Center this morning. What a long transit back that was. Here is a picture taken from Pa-Auk Lookout point that friends and I had fun taking a while back. I will begin the Bus trip to Pa-Auk Meditation Center this morning.
Some wish for peace, I did something (story below) I thought I would repost this on my blog due to the recent events. We must strive for peace. Originally posted on WithMetta.net I just got back from inviting 2 Muslims to serve at the head of the meal line for Tomorrow’s lunch at Pa-Auk. Everyone thought I was crazy and that…
I made this video from 55 minutes of nearly silent footage. I cut it us and added a script to it. The titles in English are from the original and are misspelled in some areas. The monastery is more or less the same except a new health clinic which i had posted pictures of earlier. I finally got a higher…
The website Http://TimeAndDate.com is a “must-know” and “must-have” for Buddhist monks, especially when they travel abroad. It calculates the Moon Phases and Solar Noon for a specific area. One thing that was very enlightening was how the Western calendars were off from the Buddhist calendars for the new and full moons. Why? Well… pick a place in the East, like Yangon…