Ingyin Bin Monastery and Vipassana: Travels in Burma
Every since I was young, Burma had intrigued me, and I wasn't sure it was because, perhaps, I was just interested because it seemed such a mysterious place because tourists weren't allowed to enter.
However, it is said that those who practice dhamma in previous lifetimes will be attracted to it in the next, and I like to think that this is the case. It certainly was the case for my best friend, who has been practicing Vipassana, or Insight, meditation for 18 years now and is a senior teacher at the centres. When her and her husband invited us come to Burma with them, we jumped at the chance. Travelling with those who have spent a lot of time in the country you're travelling to is clearly advantageous, and they were also travelling with a Burmese Nun who lived in Sydney but returned every year. We'd travel with them for part of the journey and then go off on our own to Bagan and Lake Inle. Here I'm just focussing on our trip to Ingyin Bin monastry and village.
Our journey began after a day in Yangon. We were immediately struck by how faith permeated Burmese life, from beautiful stupas or pagodas to monks going about their day to day business. The Shwedagon pagoda was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen in my life, and I've travelled quite a bit. I'll talk more about this in another post as I really just wanted to focus on Ingyin Bin, but I will share a couple of photos anyway as I can't resist.
Morning cigarettes and Facebook checking
Shwedagon at night, from about a kilometre away, taken with a phone - but you can probably get a sense of the scale of this thing!
We travelled straight up to Ingyin Bin Monastry, some two - three hours north of Mandalay. This particular monastery was part of a pilgrimage of sorts because Webu Sayadaw, who was born and raised in this town, was a wonderful meditation teacher and enlightened monk, whose teacher was U Bha Kin, who was also the teacher of Goenke. U Ba Khin had recalled the ancient prophecy that 2,500 years after Buddha, the insight teachings would return to India in their undiluted form, and from there, would spread across the entire world. At the time Burmese nationals weren't allowed to go, but Goenke was born in India, so it was up to him to fulfil U Bha Kin's wishes.
What was there to do now except to carry on? His teacher had helped him when it seemed that there was no way out of his suffering. U Ba Khin had lovingly taught him Vipassana and trained him to teach. He had appointed Goenkaji a teacher, given him a mission and sent him on his way. Goenkaji would continue this mission to the end of his life. Every day of a course, he himself declared in his morning chanting:
From every pore flows gratitude, I can never repay this debt. Living the life of Dhamma, Serving suffering people, Sharing the happiness of Dhamma with all— This is the only repayment. So that is what he did. From the far south of India to the Himalayas, from the deserts of western Gujarat to the jungles of Bengal, Goenkaji continued on his way. The landscape changed, the faces changed, he himself would change and age, but the journey went on. http://www.vipassana.co/S.N.-Goenka#EncounterwithVipassana
Some of you may have heard of Vipassana meditation because you have heard of the ten day silent retreats that are held in centres all across the world, and there are many here in Australia. The idea of silence is horrifying for some, but the practice is far more than that. Some liken their first day sit to childbirth - it's certainly painful physically and mentally as you deal with sensations that arise. Goenke Ji, the monk who brought Vipassana to the west, describes it very well in his introduction video:
The training involves strict moral conduct (it seems fairly easy really to abstain from killing or stealing in that environment, but for some, intoxicants or sexual activity might be more of a challenge) which helps calm the mind to prepare for self observation. Then, anapana is practiced - fixing the attention on the ever changing flow of breath as it enters, and leaves, the nostrils. By Day 4, the mind is calm and ready for the real practice of vipassana - observing sensations in the body, understanding thier nature, and learning not to react by practicing equanamity. Lastly, on the course, students practice metta or loving kindness toward all, sharing it with all beings. It's an incredible practice and I think everyone should sit at least one course in their lifetime. I know I'm mentioning my father alot in my steeming but I sat a 10 day course in the Blue Mountains with him and as he's struggling through chemo, he swears that this course changed his life and that he got an incredible amount of value in it that was helping him through his illness. I can honestly say the same - it was life changing, making me understand on a cellular level the nature of impermanence and the nature of my thoughts that would help me through anxiety and depression.
As we entered the monastry we were greeted by children, one of which was wearing the most incongruous shirts I'd ever seen (look closely at the kid on the far left) The children were fed and schooled in the monastry and it was an honour for the villagers to send them there. They were fascinated by the new arrivals - as the village is remote and they don't see many westerners (my friend estimated they have about 40 - 50 foreigners arrive each year, not as conventional tourists but meditators) they followed us around laughing and joking.
Althugh Webu Sayadaw died some time ago, his spirit is very strong in Ingyin Bin, where they deeply venerate and practice gratitude toward the Sangha or the monk community. The villagers loved him because he was loyal, as even though attained spiritual greatness, he still came back willingly to help the villagers get established in dhamma. This was seen as compassionate, as it helped them out of karmic suffering that had resulted in their poverty. The entire landscape seemed to celebrate and honour events from his noble past, vibrating with deep reverence.
The Venerable Webu Sayadaw was a great Theravada Buddhist meditation master. He lived a strict meditative life, impressing on his students that it was important to walk the path of Buddha to the final goal of Nibbana right now, in this lifetime
My friend had taken the nun's robes whilst there in Ingyinbin. She had to adhere to the 5 precepts (of which there are over 200!):
Refrain from harming living beings
Refrain from taking that which is not freely given
Refrain from sexual misconduct
Refrain from wrong speech; such as lying, idle chatter, malicious gossip or harsh speech
Refrain from intoxicating drink and drugs which lead to carelessness
She also had to follow two more, which were not eating after midday and not handling money - her husband Jamie would do that as they travelled through Burma. It was strange seeing my Australian friend of over 25 years don robes, but she was so at home in them that I could see her shining. I could see the truth that she had indeed been a nun in a past life.
Life at the monastery was simple and beautiful. We stayed on mattresses under mosquito nets in the quarters set aside for Westerners, ate simple meals with the monks at night and a simple breakfast. Although the monks do not have a midday meal, they kindly prepared some for us. We spent the days meditating, reading, walking around the village or the monastery. Our meditator friends undertook more serious meditations, and our nun companion undertook a 24 hour meditation under the tree that was a cutting from the tree that Buddhist achieved enlightenment under.
The beautiful patterns of the fabrics made by the villagers on giant looms
The monks on their alms rounds
The life of Webu Sayadaw on stone tablets in the village
I can't tell you how blessed I felt to be able to go to this extraordinary place, and am grateful for the hospitality of U Mandalay, the head monk there.I'll finish off this post with a few quotes from Goenke. May you have a peaceful day xx
“When a problem arises in daily life, take a few moments to observe your sensations with a balanced mind. When the mind is calm and balanced, whatever decision you make will be a good one. When the mind is unbalanced, any decision you make will be a reaction. You must learn to change the pattern of life from negative reaction to positive action.”
"If there is no peace in the minds of individuals, how can there be peace in the world? Make peace in your own mind first"
"It is a basic human need that everyone wants to live a happy life. For this, one has to experience real happiness. The so-called happiness that one experiences by having money, power, and indulging in sensual pleasures is not real happiness. It is very fragile, unstable and fleeting. For real happiness, for lasting stable happiness, one has to make a journey deep within oneself and get rid of all the unhappiness stored in the deeper levels of the mind. As long as there is misery at the depth of the mind all attempts to feel happy at the surface level of the mind prove futile."
Have you been to Burma? Where did you go? I would love to go again and am hoping to go next year.
Have you practiced vipassana meditation? What were your experiences? Please do comment below - I love the steem community and the interactions between us are what make this platform truly great.
Burma is def on our list too. But Nepal first. Just like you and Burma, we have a calling for Nepal. Not sure why we'll see.
Yes I'd love to go to Nepal too! India is definately next as I'd love to go to Rishikesh. But I think we'll get there by travelling through Burma again first!! Thanks for stopping by xx
How lucky to be able to travel there with people who were well experienced either the area!
This was key for sure. No way would we have learnt so much or even discovered it @cahlen 🖤
I know a couple of people who've done the 10 day silent retreat. I'm in 2 minds about it myself, although I've never heard anything bad about it.
Oh its definately worth doing at least once in your life!
Awesome post! My wife and several other friends of mine have done it and have nothing but great things to say about it! I appreciate you spreading the good word and giving honor to those that have carried the tradition forward!
It really is the ultimate truth. I loved how it gave me an experiential understanding of Buddha's teachings, and once you have experienced that truth, you can never go back. I'm glad you liked the post! Thankyou!