Ten Days in Yangon

What I most look forward to during Vipassana is the daily lecture session, listening to Goenka’s stories about wisdom.

Yuval Harari, the author of A Brief History of Humanity, has a very interesting point of view. The reason why Homo sapiens was able to eliminate other human species and survive without any individual advantage and became ours. Ancestor’s core competitiveness is storytelling. Not only are we good at telling stories (fictional ones), but we also believe them.

As a result, a social consciousness was formed, which led to division of labor and collaboration.

Storytelling was, is, and will be an important skill in the future!

Once upon a time, a young professor went on a trip to the sea. He is highly educated, has many certificates, and holds many titles, but his life experience is relatively lacking. There was an illiterate old sailor on the boat he was on. Every night, the old sailor would go to the young professor's cabin and listen to his lectures. The old sailor admired the young man's knowledge very much.

One night, when the old sailor was about to leave the cabin after several hours of conversation, the professor asked him: "Old man, have you studied geology?"

"What is that, sir?"

"It's the science of the earth."

"No, sir, I never went to school, I never studied anything."

"Old man, you have wasted a quarter of your life."

The old sailor left the cabin with a long face. He thought: "If such a knowledgeable man If people say that, it must be true. I have wasted a quarter of my life." The next night, when the old sailor was about to leave the cabin, the professor asked him again: "Old man, have you studied the ocean. "Study?"

"What is that, sir?"

"The science of the ocean."

"No, sir, I have never studied anything." "

"Old man, you have wasted half of your life."

The old sailor left with a longer expression, thinking to himself: "I have wasted half of my life. "This is what the learned man said."

The next night, the young professor asked the old sailor again: "Old man, have you ever studied meteorology?"

"What is that, sir? I've never heard of it."

"How could it be? It's the science of wind, rain, and climate!"

"No, sir, Like I told you, I never went to school, I never studied anything."

"You never studied the science of the earth you live on; you never studied the life you live on. The science of the ocean; have you never studied the science of the climate you encounter every day? Uncle, you have wasted three-quarters of your life.”

The old sailor was very sad and thought: "This learned man said that I have wasted three-quarters of my life! Then I must have wasted three-quarters of my life." The next day, the old sailor hurried to the young professor's cabin and changed He asked: "Mr. Professor, have you studied swimming?"

"Swimming? What does that mean?"

"Can you swim? Sir."

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"No, I don't know how to swim."

"Mr. Professor, you have wasted all your life! The ship has hit a reef and is sinking. Yes. Swimmers can swim to the nearby shore, but those who can't swim will drown. I'm very sorry, Mr. Professor, your life is really in danger."

You can study everything in the world. "XX studies", but if you don't learn swimming, all your research will be useless. You can read or write about swimming, you can argue on various theoretical levels, but if you refuse to get in the water yourself, what good will it do to you? You must learn how to swim.

You get what you sow. What kind of seeds you plant, what kind of fruits you get. What kind of behavior you have, what kind of results you will get.

A farmer planted two seeds in the same soil: one was a sugar cane seed, and the other was a bitter tree seed. The bitter tree is a very bitter tropical plant. Two seeds are planted in the same soil, receiving the same moisture, the same sunlight, and the same air; nature gives them the same nutrients. Two saplings emerge from the soil and begin to grow, but what will happen to the grown bitter trees? Every part of it is bitter, while every part of the grown sugar cane is sweet. Why is nature, or, if you prefer, God so kind to the one, and so cruel to the other?

No, no, nature is neither kind nor cruel. Everything operates according to fixed rules. Nature only helps the seed to take on its properties. All nutrients only help the seed to express its own potential properties. The seeds of sugar cane have sweet properties, so sugar cane will be sweet; the seeds of bitter trees have bitter properties, so bitter trees are bitter. What kind of seeds you plant, what kind of fruits you get.

If the farmer goes to the bitter tree, bows to it three times, walks around it one hundred and eight times to show respect, and offers flowers, incense, candles, fruits, and sweets.

Then he began to pray: "Oh! God of the Bitter Tree, please give birth to sweet mangoes. I want sweet mangoes!" Poor God of the Bitter Tree, he could not give sweet mangoes, he did not have such ability. If someone wants sweet mangoes, he must plant mango seeds. This way he doesn't have to ask anyone for help, and the fruit he gets is bound to be sweet mangoes. What kind of seeds you plant, what kind of fruits you get.

Our obstacle, our ignorance is: we do not care what kind of seeds we plant, so we often plant the seeds of the bitter tree, but when the time comes to harvest the fruits, we suddenly become alert, what we want It's sweet mango. So, we started begging, hoping to get mangoes. Know that this won't work.

One day, a young man came to the Buddha crying. The Buddha asked him: "Young man, what's the matter?"

He said: "My father died yesterday. "The Buddha said: "What can we do? If he has passed away, crying cannot bring him back to life."

The young man: "Yes, I Understand that crying cannot bring my father back to life, but I beg you to do something for my dead father.”

The Buddha said, “Oh? What can I do for your dead father?” ? "

Young man: "Please think of a way! You are so capable, you can definitely do it! You see, those junior wizards and warlocks will perform certain rituals for the dead. As long as they are When certain rituals are performed on earth, the door to heaven will be opened, and the deceased can enter and obtain an entry permit. Buddha! You are so powerful. If you do this for my dead father, he will not only be able to obtain an entry permit. You can even stay permanently - get a green card! Please help!"

The poor guy was heartbroken and couldn't listen to reasonable words, so Buddha decided to use other methods to make him understand. So the Buddha said, "Okay! You go to the market and buy two pots." The young man was very happy, thinking that the Buddha had agreed to perform the ceremony for his father. He ran to the market and bought two pots. The Buddha said, "Very well, fill one pot with butter," and the young man did so. "Fill the other pot with small stones," and he did so. "Now seal the spouts of the pots," he said, "and now throw them into the pond." The young man did the same, and the two pots sank to the bottom of the water. The Buddha said again, "Go now. He took a big wooden stick and broke the two pots. The young man was very happy, thinking that the Buddha was performing a very solemn ceremony for his father.

According to the ancient Indian custom, he died. The son took the corpse to the crematorium and lit it on the pyre. When the corpse was half burned, the son would use a big wooden stick to break the head of the deceased. The door to heaven was opened. So the young man thought: "Yesterday, my father was burned to ashes, and now the Buddha broke the clay pot as a symbol." He was very satisfied with this ceremony.

The young man followed the Buddha's instructions and broke the two pots with a wooden stick. The cream in one of the pots immediately came up and floated on the water; the small stones in the other pot fell out and sank to the bottom of the water. Then the Buddha said: "Okay, young man, that's all I can do! Now you invite all those wizards and sorcerers to sing and pray: 'Oh! The stone floats up, floats up. Oh! The butter, sinks. "Sink!" Let's see what happens. "

"Oh! Are you kidding? How is this possible? Stones are heavier than water and will only sink to the bottom of the water and will not float up. , this is the law of nature; butter is lighter than water and will only float on the water and will not sink. This is also the law of nature."

The Buddha said: "Young man, you are not aware of the law of nature. You understand a lot. But you have not experienced this natural law: If everything your father does in his life is as heavy as a stone, he will surely sink (fall into the lower realms). Who can make him rise? As light as butter, he will surely rise (to the good path), who can pull him down?"

The sooner we can experience the laws of nature and live according to them, the sooner we can escape from suffering.

Two poor young boys begged from house to house in the city and countryside to survive. One of the boys was born blind, and the other boy helped take care of him, so the two went out together to beg for food.

One day the blind boy fell ill, and his companion said to him: "You stay here to rest, I will go to the neighborhood to beg for something and bring food back for you to eat." Then he went out to beg.

That day someone happened to give the boy a very delicious food, which was an Indian-style milk pudding. He had never tasted this pudding before and found it very delicious, but unfortunately he had no container to take the pudding back to his friends, so he ate it all.

When he came back, he said to the blind boy: "I'm really sorry. Someone gave me a great food called milk pudding today. It's a pity that I can't bring it back to you."

The blind boy asked him: "What is milk pudding?"

"Oh! It is white, milk is white."

Since he was born blind , the blind boy could not understand. "What is white?"

"Don't you know what white is?"

"No, I don't know."

"White is and The opposite color of black.

"

"Then what is black?" He didn't know what black was.

"Oh! Try to understand it! White!" But the blind boy just couldn't understand, so his friend looked around and saw a white crane. He caught the crane , brought it to the blind boy and said, "White is like this bird." Since he could not see, the blind boy stretched out his hand and touched the crane with his fingers and said, "Now I know what white is. White It's soft."

"No, no, white has nothing to do with softness. White is white! Try to understand it!"

"But tell me white. Just like this crane, I touched this crane carefully. It is soft, so the milk pudding is soft. "

"No, you still don't understand. Try it!"

The blind boy touched the crane carefully again. He touched the crane from its mouth to its neck, body, and all the way to the end of its tail. "Oh! I know now, it's curved! Milk pudding is curved!"

The blind boy couldn't understand because he didn't have the ability to experience the color white. Likewise, if you do not have the ability to experience truth as it is, truth will always be crooked to you.

Once upon a time there was a wealthy old man who left behind two sons after his death. The brothers lived together under the same roof for a while, as per traditional Indian custom. As time went by, they began to quarrel, so they decided to divide the family and divide all the property equally, with each receiving half. But after the brothers had divided it equally, they found a package of things that had been carefully collected by their father. After opening it, I found two rings, one was set with a valuable diamond, and the other was an ordinary silver ring worth only a few rupees.

As soon as he saw the diamond ring, his brother immediately became greedy, so he told his younger brother: "I judge that this diamond ring was not earned by my father himself. It must be an heirloom left by his ancestors. This is my father's diamond ring." So the reason for keeping it is because it is a family heirloom that has been passed down from generation to generation. I am the eldest son, so naturally it should be kept by me, and you can take that silver ring!”

< p> The younger brother smiled and said: "Okay! I am very happy to have a silver ring. I hope the diamond ring can make you happy." The two of them put the rings on their fingers and went back.

After returning home, the younger brother thought: "It is understandable why my father kept the diamond ring, but what is the reason for keeping this worthless silver ring?" So he carefully inspected the silver ring. He found a few words engraved on it: "This too will change." "Oh! This must be the motto left by his father: 'This too will change!'" He put the ring on his finger again.

Both brothers later faced the ups and downs of life. When faced with good times, my brother became arrogant and lost his mental balance; when faced with adversity, he became extremely depressed and also failed to maintain his mental balance. He became easily nervous and developed high blood pressure; he suffered from insomnia at night and began to take sleeping pills, sedatives, powerful drugs, and eventually even required electroshock therapy. This is the brother who took away the diamond ring.

As for the younger brother wearing the silver ring, when good luck comes, he enjoys it without deliberately avoiding it. He had good luck, but he would look at the ring and think, "This, too, is going to change." When the luck changed, he smiled and said, "Well, I knew it would eventually change, and it did. Nothing." So worried." When facing adversity, he also looked at the ring and thought, "This will also change." He understands that adversity will also change, without sorrow and pain. Sure enough, the adversity changed and passed. He realized that the various encounters in life are not permanent and that after everything arises, it must disappear. He did not lose his balance of mind and therefore lived a peaceful and happy life throughout his life. This is the younger brother who received the silver ring.

A mother asked her son to go to a nearby grocery store to buy oil with an empty bottle and ten rupees of money. The boy took a bottle of oil, but on the way home he fell and knocked over the bottle. Half of the oil drained out, leaving only half of the bottle. Finding that half the bottle of oil was missing, he went home and cried and told his mother, "Oh! I knocked over half the bottle of oil. I knocked over half the bottle of oil." He was very unhappy.

The mother asked another son to bring another bottle and ten rupees to buy oil. He also bought a bottle of oil. On the way home, he fell and the bottle tipped over. This time too, half the bottle of oil was lost. He picked up the bottle and went home, telling his mother happily: "Look, I saved half the bottle of oil! When the oil bottle fell and the oil started to flow out, it was possible that all of it would be gone. But I saved half the bottle of oil!" Two The brothers came home under the same circumstances and gave their mother only half a bottle of oil left. One weeps for the lost half of the bottle; the other rejoices for the remaining half.

So the mother asked another son to bring another bottle and ten rupees to buy oil. He also fell on the way home and the oil bottle fell to the ground. Half of the oil was gone too. He picked up the bottle, just like the second child. After returning home, he happily said to his mother: "Mom, I saved half the bottle of oil." But this child is a Vipassana child, not only optimistic, but also very practical. He knew very well: "Well, although I saved half of the bottle of oil, the other half has been lost." So, he told his mother: "I will go to the market to work for a day and earn five rupees to fill this bottle." Bottle, I can definitely finish it before evening. "This is Vipassana.

Not a pessimist, but an optimistic, practical, practical person.

I am fortunate to be born in the land of Buddhism: Myanmar. The extraordinary Vipassana technique has maintained its original appearance here for more than two thousand years. My grandfather immigrated from India and settled here about a hundred years ago, so I was born here. I am very fortunate that I was born into a merchant family, and I am also very fortunate that I have been working to make money since I was a teenager. My goal in life at that time was to make a lot of money, and I was lucky enough to make a lot of money at a young age. If I had not known how rich people lived, I would not have experienced firsthand the emptiness of rich people's lives. If I had not had such personal experience, then in a corner of my heart, I might always have this idea lingering: true happiness lies in wealth. Once a person is rich, he will enjoy a special status and high status in society and hold important positions in many different institutions. I have been pursuing fame like crazy since I was in my early twenties. Under these pressures, it is natural to develop psychosomatic symptoms: severe migraines. It happens every two weeks, and medicine and stone have no effect. Suffering from this disease is also my blessing (so that I can come into contact with the dharma).

The best doctors in Myanmar were helpless about my illness. All they could do was to inject me with morphine to relieve pain when symptoms occurred. He had to take an injection of morphine every two weeks and had to endure the side effects: nausea, vomiting and depression.

After suffering like this for several years, the doctor warned me: "Now you are relying on morphine for every headache attack. If you continue, you will become addicted and you will have to inject morphine every day." No. "Then my life is over? The thought shocked me. The doctor advised me: "You often travel abroad for business, so just go abroad for your own health! We can't cure your disease, and we know that foreign doctors are the same, but they may have new painkillers. Then You no longer have to rely on morphine. "After listening to the doctor's advice, I went to Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan, and saw the best doctors in these countries. Fortunately, they could not cure my disease. I had no choice but to return home, and my condition was even worse than before I left the country.

After I failed to seek medical treatment, a well-meaning friend came to see me after returning to China and suggested: "Why not try to take a ten-day Vipassana course taught by Teacher U Ba Khin? Teacher U Ba Khin He is a saint-like figure, he is a government official, and he is a family man like you. In my opinion, your illness is caused by psychological stress. Maybe you practice it. After using this technique, I can cure my disease." Seeking medical treatment everywhere was ineffective, so I decided to at least go see this Vipassana teacher. It would not hurt me anyway.

I went to the Vipassana Center of Master U Ba Khin to talk with this extraordinary man. I was deeply impressed by the peaceful and peaceful atmosphere of the Vipassana Center and the serene demeanor of Master U Ba Khin. I said: "Teacher, I want to take one of your courses. Are you willing to accept me as a student?"

"Of course, anyone can learn this skill. You are welcome to take the course."< /p>

I continued: "I have been suffering from severe migraines for several years, but there is no cure. I hope that after learning this method, my disease can be cured without medication."

"No!" he said suddenly: "Don't come to me. You don't want to take the course." I didn't understand what I had done wrong to offend him; but then he explained compassionately: "Dharma is not for healing. Physical pain. If you are seeking to cure your illness, you'd better go to the hospital. The purpose of Dharma is to cure all the pain in your life. In fact, your illness is only a small part of the pain in your life. The pain will disappear, but this is just a by-product. If you regard the by-product as the main goal, you will belittle the value of Dharma. Don’t come for the cure, come for the inner liberation!”

I was convinced by him and said: "Teacher, I understand. I will only come here to purify my heart. No matter whether my illness will be cured or not, I will come to experience the peace I see here." Xiang Uba After Teacher Qing made the promise, I went home.

But I still put off going to class. Born in a stubborn and conservative Hindu family, I have recited these verses since I was a child: "I would rather die believing in my own religion and my own Dharma than convert." Other religions." I said to myself: "Look, this is another religion: Buddhism; these people are atheists, they don't believe in God and they don't believe in the existence of souls." (As if just believing in gods or souls would solve the problem. Like all our problems!) "What will happen to me if I become an atheist? No, I would rather die believing in my religion and I will never be close to those people."

I hesitated for a few months, but luckily I decided to give it a try and see what happened. I went to class and sat through it in ten days. Fortunately, I have benefited a lot. I have learned about my own Dharma, my own path, and the Dharma of others. The "Dharma" of all mankind is our own "Dharma". Only human beings have the ability to free themselves from suffering by observing themselves. Lower creatures do not have this ability. Observing one's own inner reality is the "dharma" of human beings. If we don't make good use of this ability, we will live the life of lower creatures and our lives will be wasted. This is of course extremely dangerous.

I used to consider myself a religious person. After all, I fulfill all my religious obligations, I observe moral principles, and I donate generously.

What's more, if I am not truly religious, how can I possibly become the leader of many religious groups? I think I must be a devout believer. But no matter how much charity and service I give, no matter how careful I am in words and deeds, when I start to examine the dark corners of my heart, I find that they are full of snakes, scorpions and centipedes. This is the reason why I had to endure so much pain before. Now, as the impurities in my mind are slowly removed, I begin to enjoy true peace. I realize how lucky I am to be able to learn such a wonderful Dharma, the treasure of Dharma.

During the next fourteen years in Myanmar, I was fortunate enough to be close to my teacher and continue to practice Vipassana under his close guidance. Of course, I still shouldered the worldly responsibilities that a lay person should bear. At the same time, I continued to meditate every morning and evening, went to the teacher's center every weekend, and sat in a course of ten days or more every year.

In early 1969 I had to go to India. My parents had moved back to India a few years earlier, and my mother had a neurological disease that I knew could be cured by practicing Vipassana. But no one in India could save her at that time, because Vipassana had been lost for so long in its country of origin that even its name had been forgotten. I would like to thank the Myanmar government for allowing me to go to India. At that time, ordinary Myanmar citizens were not allowed to leave the country. I also thank the Indian government for allowing me to enter the country. In July 1969, I held the first course in Bombay with my parents and twelve other people. I am very happy to be able to help my parents and teach them the Dharma so that I can repay my parents for their immeasurable kindness.

After my trip to India, I was ready to go back home to Myanmar, but the people who took the course started asking for another session, one after the other. They hope that their parents, couples, children, and friends can come to class. So the second, third, and fourth issues were opened, and the teachings of "Dharma" spread like this.

In 1971, when I was teaching in Bodhgaya, I received a telegram from Yangon and learned about the death of my master. This is really sad news. However, relying on the Dharma taught to me by my teacher, my mind can remain stable and peaceful.

Now I have to decide how to repay the kindness of the saintly Sayaji Upa Khan. My parents gave birth to me as a human being, but I am still a human being trapped in the cocoon of ignorance. It was not until I received the help of my mentor that I was able to break out of my cocoon, observe my inner reality, and discover the truth. Not only that, he has continuously enabled me to grow and thrive in the "Dharma" over the past fourteen years. How can I repay this "Father of Dharma"? All I can do is practice according to the methods he taught me and live a life according to the Dharma. This is the correct way to pay tribute to my teacher. I will try my best to cultivate a pure heart, love, and compassion. I am determined to dedicate the rest of my life to serving people. This is also my teacher's expectation for me.

He often quoted a traditional Burmese prophecy, which said that 2,500 years after the death of the Buddha, the "Dharma" would be spread back to India, its country of origin, and spread throughout the world from India. It was his lifetime wish to go to India to teach Vipassana and make this prophecy come true. "Twenty-five hundred years have passed," he said, "the bell of Vipassana has sounded." Unfortunately, he was unable to go abroad in the last few years of his life due to the situation of the Myanmar government. When I was allowed to go to India in 1969, he said to me very happily: "Goenka, it is not you who are going, but I am going!"

At first I thought this prophecy was just a sect. Belief. After all, why would something unusual have to wait 2,500 years for it to happen, instead of happening earlier? But when I arrived in India, I was surprised to find that in this vast country, although I knew less than a hundred people, thousands of people from different backgrounds, different religious beliefs, and different races began to attend courses. Besides Indians, there are thousands of people from different countries.

I understand clearly that there must be a cause for every effect. People who come to attend the course must have a reason. Some people may have planted good karma in the past, so now they have the opportunity to receive the seeds of "Dharma"; others have received the seeds before, and now come here to cultivate it and make it grow. Whether you come to take the seeds or to cultivate what you have already There are seeds. For your own benefit, your own benefit, and your own liberation, please continue to grow in the "Dharma", and you will find that you will also benefit others. Dharma is beneficial to all.

Moving bricks is completed! Thank you all for your feedback and support, which allowed me to fulfill a small wish.

Have a great weekend!