“We need to be patient for the mistakes of ourselves and the others. It is difficult to correct the mistakes. This is not a good time. That’s why it is very difficult to continue doing good deeds. Most of the meditation center is closed because of the virus attack. Everything is stoped, everything is closed. But here we try to do good deeds continuously, all the time. We emphasize doing good deeds all the time. We’re skillful in our job. We don’t need to close the center. In this way in the long term, more and more people will have the chance to do good deeds continuously. By using in Thabarwa Center around the world, staying there. Even if they can not participate, they can study what we are doing, what is happening in the center. And then they can understand by their experience, by their witness.

We’re trying for the drug addicts also. There is one center in Tachileik in the Golden Triangle area. We accept drug-addicts, they change to monks and volunteers, but they can not detach. So they are going alms round, volunteering, they are still using drugs. But we accept it. If we see from the side of laypeople, we’re losing, we don’t get success. But we don’t give up, we will continue doing good deeds. This is the method I use. We’re learning about drugs addicts by our own experience. So also the drug addicts are learning about doing good deeds and meditation by staying in our center. The more we know about them, the more they know about us. In this way, the knowledge about Dhamma or doing good deeds will change their habits and life, for sure. It will take time. Loss, there’ll be many losses because of mistakes by the drug addicts in our center. But if we don’t give up, if we can accept, if we can sacrifice, if we can endure, we’re sure to get success. If they’re not staying in a meditation center, they can not know about doing good deeds and then they can not change for sure. This is working together, competition all the time by staying in the meditation center.

Because of the drug addicts we have to move from one place to another. The environment can not accept, can not endure the drug addicts. That’s why they complain to the local authority, that’s why now we already move about four places, but we don’t give up, we continue doing good deeds. Now it became stable. In the beginning a lot of difficulties. We had to make a new building and then we could not use it. We had to move to another place. We tried to settle, but because of them, we had to move to another place. But we accept, we continue doing good deeds, we don’t reject the drug addicts. In this way we became friendly. We can work together, we can understand more and more. If someone can detach from drugs, that person will be on our side, side of merits, good deeds and then he will be the leader of that project for sure. We just need to change only one leader from the drug addicts. We just need to try to get one leader to appear from the drug addicts and then it will not be difficult.”

Question:  Hello Sayadaw! Listening to your teaching I understand the importance of changing from the wrong view to the right view. But how can someone who has no self-discipline even to detach from a cigarette can be able to understand the truth?

“The theory or disciplines or rules and regulations should be complete because that is the aim, the destination. The practice is just practice. Even if we know what is good, what is right, it is difficult to practice. So, it will take time. If we can practice fully, completely, no need meditation center. This is a training center. Because most of the people can not understand what is right. That’s why there are teaching schools. Besides most of the people can not practice what is right. That’s why we have to open this kind of meditation center. So, it will take time. Time after time, more and more people can practice. The practice here has developed. In the beginning, it was really bad, but we continued doing good deeds.

This is a competition between good and bad, right and wrong action. If we are able to do what is good and right more and more, there will be less and less wrong action and misunderstanding for sure. Not grasping. Keeping precepts is to use only, not to grasp. I’m not grasping. There will be breaking precepts for sure, that is for all. For all organizations, even for politics, they have rules and regulations, but also they are breaking the law, all the time. But if we can accept this, it’s ok. If the power of obeying the law is stronger than breaking the law, it’s enough. That is what we should understand: no one is complete, nothing is complete, so that’s why no need to be complete, for sure. No organization is complete.

So, we should not reject the truth: nothing is permanent, nothing is complete, in this way we can continue doing good deeds like this. Some may understand what is right, some may not understand the truth, some may be able to do what is good, some may not be able to do what is good, but we should emphasize both: good and bad, right and wrong. What we should try, what we should emphasize is to get a stronger power of right understanding and right action. That is enough. That is complete!”

Question: I know, we have to look at ourselves and not at the others. But the most difficult to accept that some people don’t care about others’ health and impose others to endure the cigarette smoke in the building. Whatever we say, whatever we request and explain, but is it the right thing to just endure?

“If we’re really practicing what is good, there will be disturbances for sure. The more we’re serious in doing what is good, there will be more difficulty, it’s nature. Without the difficulty there will be no success. Actually, in the society, people may not have a chance to do good deeds seriously, that’s why they don’t have much difficulty. Here at this place, we’re helping people seriously, practicing meditation seriously. That’s why a lot of annoyances, disturbances, opponents for sure. Because we are really doing what is good. If we’re not practicing seriously, there will not be many disturbances for sure. Besides we should understand that we have to pay back for what we have done before. Now you’re disturbed by smoking, by noise because that action is not concerned with everyone. That person may do it now, but you might have done before.”