Sacca Dhamma and Middle Way
Teachings of ThaBarWa Sayadaw U Ottamasara
Mogok, 1st February 2014
Question : I
don’t understand how to do good deeds. Difficult
to apply in practice.
Sayadaw : It
needs time. With the time you will be able to do more and more difficult good
deeds. Now you all are doing good deeds.
This is why the power of doing good deeds will be higher and higher,
will improve with the time.
There will be more and more questions like this in the
future (talking about an email question to Sayadaw) so you all can help to
answer how you understand. Not to represent me, just to answer the question.
Try to share your understanding to others. It is very necessary. It will be very useful for the people.
This is why you need to meditate like this and you need to
read and write a lot. This is solving
the problems of the people in the world. If you can share the experience of
your meditation practice, it will be useful for other people like him. In this
way we can solve the problems of the people anywhere.
Four or five years ago when I went to Singapore and Malaysia
there are also people from other countries who wanted to ask questions but I am
busy with my meditation centre and for the patients. This is why I cannot reply the letters. Now
it is time for me to teach the people by using email. So you can help. The more
you will do like this, the more you will understand. Because it is necessary
for me to do like this. This is also helping the people from foreign countries
as they cannot come to visit to our centre so this is teaching by internet.
I have been doing like this for over 14 years as I started
meditation amongst other meditators. When I became a monk, over 11 years ago
and then I have to deal with many people in this country and then I can tell
them how to detach from their houses and from their family problems.
By doing this for over 11 years, I already saved a lot of
good deeds. This is why I became a
leader to establish a meditation centre and to build a pagoda (in Mogok). Now
here we must commence the construction of one new pagoda. The foundations are
already finished but the construction (of the pagoda) was stopped half way. Now I am restarting again.
Beside this I must establish 3 meditation centres here (in
Mogok). Because I am doing a lot of good
deeds, people believe in me. Because I have been establishing meditation
centres, people donate their land, and also the donations for building as much
as they can.
Most of the people know nothing about meditation even in
this country. That is why I am very busy by teaching like
this. It will be the same for other countries. Now you all are learning how to
meditate. This is the progress for everyone.
Now, Sayalay Khema Randi (Sayama Ma Chit Myiet Noe) is doing (conducting) 15 days or one month retreat. She is also trying to establish her own meditation centre. We are in the same way. She can do a lot. This is why she can follow my way.
I am establishing one after another meditation centres. She will also do like this and you also
should try to do like this. Not everyone
can do like this. This place is also one of the monasteries but there was no
daily meditation, not doing other good deeds, not doing good deeds every day.
Our centre is a lot about doing good deeds every day this is
why it is developing. You are helping me in what I am doing. This is why you will also be able to do like
this and in this way, your life and your actions will be very useful.
Question : When
you are teaching people to do good deeds, is it a different way to explain the Paramis
or is it something completely beside?
Sayadaw : Fulfilling
paramis leads to Nibbana. Doing good deeds
alone is not the way to Nibbana, not the way to enlightenment. What I am guiding is to do good deeds with
the aim of enlightenment.
Question : Do
you mean the way you teach to do good deeds will lead to enlightenment?
Sayadaw : Yes.
Now what I am doing is fulfilling the desire of other people. This is why this
is the same cause and effect. Whatever needs to do will be fulfilled by these
actions. So also you will understand
about the middle way by what you are doing every day? What you are doing every
day is the way to understand the middle way. What we all are doing is not only
fulfilling the desire of other people but also fulfilling the necessities of
Buddhism.
When I started my meditation centre in 45th Street, one
American girl came and stayed at 45th street for about two years. She had a lot of difficulties at that time. She was the only foreigner at the centre. At that time I was very busy with 45th Street
Centre and Thanlyin Centre so I cannot care for her.
This is why I cannot teach her so much. Her mother and
sister visited at the centre and they worried about her health. What she was
eating was not suitable for her. Beside this, when she was sick we couldn’t
care for her. At that time there were not lot of doctors and physicians like
this. Because she stayed like this,
later when other foreigners like you come to the centre it is not that much
difficult anymore compared to the formal time. So also in future there will be
other foreigners and it will be more and more convenient for other foreigners.
At that time there was not much place to stay. At the present there are many places, many
branches of ThaBarWa Centre. What you are doing now is also for the benefit of
the future foreign meditators (yogis). If you continue like this it will be
easier in the future, not only for you but also for other meditators. Now we
are solving the problems, the real problems of attachment.
(Sayadaw asked
her earlier to answer an email about his teaching. The following is with regards to the email):
Sayadaw : “Everything
is arising and passing away, everything…” … if you say like this, you accept the
idea of something, everything … the truth is: 'just ever new impermanent nature'
or 'arising and passing away process'. Believing something or someone is wrong. The truth is not something, not someone, just
ever new impermanent nature.
Keep on trying.