While in Bangkok with our friends Paul and Julie, we were able to get meditation visas for Burma. So we flew back to Yangon and went to the Shwe Oo Min Monastery. We are shown here with travel agent Kalayar who became a friend during our cycling trip in Burma.
Shwe Oo Min was an accomplished Buddhist monk and scholar who learned from the Burmese teacher Mahasi Sayadaw. Several of our US meditation teachers also studied with Mahasi Sayadaw, and we wanted to "go to the source" in Burma. Shwe Oo Min built this monastery in the early 1990s. When he died in 2002, his kuti (the small hut where he lived) was turned into a memorial hall covered with photos and a life sized statue of him.
We practiced seated meditation in the meditation hall for about six hours each day. On the first floor are the women and nuns.
This is the altar on the second floor where the monks and lay men meditate.
The empty hall shows the mosquito nets. It works well to sit under a net while meditating.
Our beds were also under mosquito nets. We had very basic but adequate accommodations.
During the cool season there are lots of foreigners who come to the monastery. People can stay for up to three months.
The head of meditation at the monastery now is Sayadaw U Tejaniya. He has written a number of helpful books and gives guidance to the lay practitioners. One of his roles is to lead the morning alms rounds. He is at the front of the line of monks who are preparing to leave the monastery.
Here Sayadaw U Tejaniya is touching the offerings of food, which shows he is accepting them and blessing the givers.
It's very important to the Buddhist Burmese people that they give food to monks. They believe this practice of generosity earns them merit.
Everyone is barefoot to show their humbleness and respect for Buddhist tenets.
It was moving to see how sincere and focused the children were as they gave food to the monks. The yellow color on their faces is thanaka, a natural sunscreen
This boy stood on a stool so he would be high enough to reach the monks' bowls. This made both Sayadaw U Tejaniya and the boy laugh.
The man on the left lives at the monastery. He is handing out candy to the kids.
Nuns from a nearby monastery also give rice to the monks. The rice has just been cooked, so it is still hot as it is put into the bowls.
Once the alms bowls are filled with rice, the monks empty them into a giant pot, which is wheeled back to the monastery.
Some Buddhists offer soup or cooked vegetables to the monks. This food is put into smaller pots and brought back to the monastery by one of the attendants.
The alms rounds take place near daybreak. It is mostly a quiet affair, providing an opportunity for reflection.
Some of the monks are from outside of Burma. The man at the front of this photo is American.
Here the monks are returning to the monastery and are passing by a new meditation center that is being built by Sayadaw U Tejaniya. The new center will be for international students who want to stay longer than 3 months.
On Christmas morning, a few of the western students waited for the monks to return to the monastery and gave them special treats.
And some students from France and Vietnam gave the monks milk and honey drinks. We were told that this is a very rich and delicious treat.
There are two meals served each day at the monastery. These soup bowls were part of lunch. No one eats after noon, so lunch is the main meal of the day.
Meals are paid for by people who want to offer food to the Buddhist practitioners.
Christmas lunch included cake for dessert.
The dining hall is segregated. The monks eat by themselves upstairs. Downstairs is where the lay practitioners and nuns eat; This area is also segregated, with the nuns in the center and the male and female lay practitioners on either side of the nuns.
After a meal, everyone washed their own dishes.
Connecting the dining hall, the dorm rooms and the meditation hall are wooden covered walkways. This way we could walk barefoot while at the monastery.
There are quite a few dogs and cats that live there too. These little puppies were so cute and fun to play with when they weren't nursing or sleeping.
One afternoon we visited a nearby nunnery and a school. Our guide was Viranani, a US woman who has been a nun in Burma since 2007. We are wearing our monastery outfits which are baggy and long enough to not show our bodies.
Viranani runs an organization called Metta in Action (MIA) which gives financial support to a dozen nunneries and schools in Yangon. This nun is one of four adults who runs a nunnery for 20 children.
Shown here are the novice nuns who live at the nunnery and go to school. At age eighteen each will decide if she wants to continue being a nun or not. The little boy is one of two orphans living here.
This little girl is the other orphan. She is too young to ordain as a novice nun. Once she is old enough to eat only two meals a day, she will have her head shaved and wear robes. We were told that she is eager to become a nun and to go to school, so she can be like the other female novices there.
The nun on the left is running a secular school to educate the local children. MIA makes donations to help support building new classrooms and housing for the teachers.
We had a wonderful experience during our twelve days at Shwe Oo Min Monastery! Next we fly to Hong Kong.
Shwe Oo Min was an accomplished Buddhist monk and scholar who learned from the Burmese teacher Mahasi Sayadaw. Several of our US meditation teachers also studied with Mahasi Sayadaw, and we wanted to "go to the source" in Burma. Shwe Oo Min built this monastery in the early 1990s. When he died in 2002, his kuti (the small hut where he lived) was turned into a memorial hall covered with photos and a life sized statue of him.
We practiced seated meditation in the meditation hall for about six hours each day. On the first floor are the women and nuns.
This is the altar on the second floor where the monks and lay men meditate.
The empty hall shows the mosquito nets. It works well to sit under a net while meditating.
Our beds were also under mosquito nets. We had very basic but adequate accommodations.
During the cool season there are lots of foreigners who come to the monastery. People can stay for up to three months.
The head of meditation at the monastery now is Sayadaw U Tejaniya. He has written a number of helpful books and gives guidance to the lay practitioners. One of his roles is to lead the morning alms rounds. He is at the front of the line of monks who are preparing to leave the monastery.
Here Sayadaw U Tejaniya is touching the offerings of food, which shows he is accepting them and blessing the givers.
It's very important to the Buddhist Burmese people that they give food to monks. They believe this practice of generosity earns them merit.
Everyone is barefoot to show their humbleness and respect for Buddhist tenets.
It was moving to see how sincere and focused the children were as they gave food to the monks. The yellow color on their faces is thanaka, a natural sunscreen
This boy stood on a stool so he would be high enough to reach the monks' bowls. This made both Sayadaw U Tejaniya and the boy laugh.
The man on the left lives at the monastery. He is handing out candy to the kids.
Nuns from a nearby monastery also give rice to the monks. The rice has just been cooked, so it is still hot as it is put into the bowls.
Once the alms bowls are filled with rice, the monks empty them into a giant pot, which is wheeled back to the monastery.
Some Buddhists offer soup or cooked vegetables to the monks. This food is put into smaller pots and brought back to the monastery by one of the attendants.
The alms rounds take place near daybreak. It is mostly a quiet affair, providing an opportunity for reflection.
Some of the monks are from outside of Burma. The man at the front of this photo is American.
Here the monks are returning to the monastery and are passing by a new meditation center that is being built by Sayadaw U Tejaniya. The new center will be for international students who want to stay longer than 3 months.
On Christmas morning, a few of the western students waited for the monks to return to the monastery and gave them special treats.
And some students from France and Vietnam gave the monks milk and honey drinks. We were told that this is a very rich and delicious treat.
There are two meals served each day at the monastery. These soup bowls were part of lunch. No one eats after noon, so lunch is the main meal of the day.
Meals are paid for by people who want to offer food to the Buddhist practitioners.
Christmas lunch included cake for dessert.
The dining hall is segregated. The monks eat by themselves upstairs. Downstairs is where the lay practitioners and nuns eat; This area is also segregated, with the nuns in the center and the male and female lay practitioners on either side of the nuns.
After a meal, everyone washed their own dishes.
Connecting the dining hall, the dorm rooms and the meditation hall are wooden covered walkways. This way we could walk barefoot while at the monastery.
There are quite a few dogs and cats that live there too. These little puppies were so cute and fun to play with when they weren't nursing or sleeping.
One afternoon we visited a nearby nunnery and a school. Our guide was Viranani, a US woman who has been a nun in Burma since 2007. We are wearing our monastery outfits which are baggy and long enough to not show our bodies.
Viranani runs an organization called Metta in Action (MIA) which gives financial support to a dozen nunneries and schools in Yangon. This nun is one of four adults who runs a nunnery for 20 children.
Shown here are the novice nuns who live at the nunnery and go to school. At age eighteen each will decide if she wants to continue being a nun or not. The little boy is one of two orphans living here.
This little girl is the other orphan. She is too young to ordain as a novice nun. Once she is old enough to eat only two meals a day, she will have her head shaved and wear robes. We were told that she is eager to become a nun and to go to school, so she can be like the other female novices there.
The nun on the left is running a secular school to educate the local children. MIA makes donations to help support building new classrooms and housing for the teachers.
We had a wonderful experience during our twelve days at Shwe Oo Min Monastery! Next we fly to Hong Kong.
