Arrival
This is the 1st day of a chronicle of a 14-day meditation retreat at the Pa Auk Tawya in Pyin Oo Lwin, Myanmar. Published days are available via the links below:
Day Five — The Power Sublime Abiding
No need to read in order. Depending on what interests you, there will be days that you definitely don’t want to explore.
Note: In editing my chronicle, I have added supplemental information about Pali terms and Buddhist concepts to attempt to make the experience easier to read. Please check the links and do further research always. There is a lot to understand and I still consider myself among the Dhamma uninitiated.
2:00 AM — I am exhausted. I departed from Incheon at 10 PM the previous day. Back then, it was already way past my bedtime. Anyway… The first day of this Ānāpāna odyssey started in Kunming.
Kunming is the principal city in Yunnan Province, China. It is not the easiest location to navigate as a traveling Jamaican. In fact, it is arguably the worst city in China for a layover flight.
I started questioning why I hadn’t chosen to fly through Shanghai. Over the last fifteen years, I’ve been to dozens of cities in the Middle Kingdom. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, Shanghai rules. It is opulent. Certainly, it is the best layover city in the country. Shanghai is a sensual delight, but I am embarking on a sense fast.
Sensual Delights
The whole purpose of this retreat is to escape sensual delights. A layover in Shanghai would probably hinder my progress in training (i.e. meditation practice). I think this way because kāma cchanda is the first of the five hindrances that meditators encounter in their quest for concentration.
Kāma cchanda is a Pali word that means sensual desire. It is the desire for property or people (aka “sense objects”) according to the Pa Auk Sayadaw (aka “Sayadawgi”). Sayadawgi’s one of the cutest monks you will ever see. He is the abbot of the Pa Auk Tawya and the author of Knowing and Seeing.
I read Knowing and Seeing in brief years ago. Afterwards, I developed a strong desire to train. I’ve been stumbling over kāma cchanda ever since.
As a fledgling yogi, Kunming is a better layover city. There are few sensual delights there. Yunnan it is green. I love green. I find green calming and a calm mind is my ally in the struggle to improve mindfulness.
Moreover, Yunnan’s climate is also most agreeable. No doubt, Yunnan is my favorite Chinese province. But…
Chinese Immigration
The immigration officers in Beijing and Shanghai process me very quickly. However, the folks in Kunming always struggle. They see my blue Jamaican passport and then immediately signal to the senior immigration officer on duty.
I’m always detained by immigration in Kunming. They just don’t know what to do with this big, hairy Jamaican guy always heading to Myanmar.
This is my third pilgrimage to Burma (officially “Republic of the Union of Myanmar”) and I receive disquieting treatment in Kunming every time. I should be used to it by now, but being detained is annoying.
8:30 AM — I was excited to disembark it was almost meditation time.
Mandalay
This is my first voyage to Mandalay, the city with the closest major airport to Pyin Oo Lwin.
I was treated like a VIP in Mandalay: I got special treatment in immigration and Ko Tun was waiting outside with a sign with my name on it.
Ko Tun was driver recommended by the Pa Auk Tawya Pyin Oo Lwin (“Pa Auk” from now on) office. He’s an amiable young man and kindly allowed me to stopped at the money changers. I exchanged 75,000 MMK. Just enough Myanmar Kyat to get to the temple and back to the airport.
I am on a shoestring budget and the only thing I want to do in Burma is learn to be a yogi. A yogi is a meditator. That’s what I want to be and what you are reading is the journal of aspiring yogi with a proclivity to put too much effort into training (aka a madman).
Anyway, back to chronicling.
10:30 AM — I arrived at the forest monastery later than I’d hoped. It’s lunchtime. The Sangha Office was closed for lunch.
The Sangha Office is the office run by Theravādin monks (called “bhikkhus”). They handle the affairs of monastics and visiting yogis. Another office was open though. It is run by unordained supporters of the forest monastery and supposedly safe. So I deposited my bags there and queued with the local yogis for pindapata.
Pindapata
Monks don’t cook. That’s strictly against the code. The chef in me would have to die if I was required to ordain to “know and see”. Fortunately, none of us need to ordain to know and see ultimate reality.
We do need to eat though. In this forest monastery, pindapata is served in a dining hall. Pindapata is the humbling practice of receiving alms to sustain oneself. Bhikkhus still gather their food this way in Burma. At Pa Auk, food is cooked for us. What fortune!
Personally, 10 AM is too early for lunch. Sad, but bhikkus stop eating before midday.
I’ll just have to learn to love this routine. I am excited to be rolling with this crew. It’s an honor.
12:30 PM — While sitting outside the Sangha Office, I met a layperson from China. He was kind and offered to walk me to the meditation hall.
I deposited my things back at the main office and did a long walk up to the top of the mountain. There was more than sufficient time for me to exhaust all the Mandarin I remembered.
First Sitting
A meditation chair in the back was waiting for me. So I plopped myself in it happily. I made the request for one in making the reservation to spend 14 days at the forest monastery.
If you are a Jamaican that isn’t used to sitting on the floor, legs-crossed for several hours, I highly recommend you reserve yourself a chair. The only bad thing is that you aren’t truly training according to the Buddha’s exact instructions.
3:00 PM — That was satisfying. Folks were on the move though.
Just as I was wondering what to do, Kusala found me.
Kusala Dhamma
Kusala the name of a Burmese American monk who was kind enough to show me the ropes. Kusala is a Pali word that means wholesome. Dhamma has an abundance of meanings, but the light emitted by the Buddha upon his enlightenment is a kusala dhamma. The light that advanced meditators experience is also kusala dhamma. The Ten Wholesome Ways of Action is also kusala dhamma. Yeah… Buddhist terms are subtle!
Kusala Dhamma is not his real name of course. However, once you ordain here Sayadawgi gives you a Dhamma Name and that’s the name he received. A dhamma name is your monastic name. Ordained folk call you by your dhamma name.
From my perspective, it was a good omen. I traveled far in search of kusala dhamma.
Professor Zumbi is a certified Capoeira teacher. He received his teaching qualification in the presence of great Capoeira masters like Mestre Suassuna and Mestre Acordeon. Zumbi organizes Capoeira Retreats that conclude with an introduction to Ānāpānasati at a highly acclaimed meditation center.
Professor Zumbi is not a meditation teacher and this is not a meditation guide. Zumbi’s meditation articles are written to share thoughts and personal experiences. Please find a qualified teacher if you want to undertake Ānāpānasati. Follow your teacher and forget everything you’ve read here.
