“Tomorrow is the 5th of April, Water festival is coming, for 7 days, it will be very dangerous. It is better to stay by ourselves, in our place. Activities, going out and doing something is inviting the virus to be here. You should be quite more and more. Especially for this week or the next ten days, it will be the most dangerous time in this country. Because many people believe there will be dangerous in April. People are trying not to operate the virus during this week. This is why; the problem already arrived in the mind of the people here, so we need to solve the problem in the mind. No virus in this center but in the mind of many people, there is the virus in the center. This is why many people are concerned about this center; they want us to stop the activities. To stay by ourselves. If we continue our actions and going as usual they believe there will be the virus. This is the reason we should not go, not because of the virus but because of the view of the public. People here in Thanlyin and the government officers. Because it is the most dangerous time from now on so we need to be very careful. If we can overcome this situation we will be able to do more slowly and steadily. We need to solve the problem of the virus in the mind of the people in this area, not from this center but around the center there are many villages and people are worried about us. For not doing against our environment we need to stop everything. Not too long, just for some time. We need to solve the problems in the mind concerning with this center. Different views from inside and outside but there are connections between in and out. The problem is not inside but outside, so we need to solve the outside problems by doing nothing.
Meditation is okay; you can meditate by yourself or with others at Dhamma hall. This is safe. The other activities are not safe. You are not Myanmar national so you don’t know about the mind of people here, but I know this is why I can do many good deeds here in this country. In normal situation activity is essential but in this situation the silence of body and mind is essential. This is the time to be silent both in body and mind. Myanmar people can accept it, but the international volunteers cannot understand the people and the country. This is why local people think foreigners are dangerous. Because you cannot fully understand this country. If you see from the side of the material, not much danger. But here in this country, the mind is more important; if they believe that it will happen in this way, it is really dangerous.
The mind is more important in Buddhist countries. not because of the virus but because of the mind we need to do like this. You are not much skillful to solve the problems in the mind this is why you are easy to make mistakes here in this country. If you see the truth of this virus, this country is not the same as in China, the USA or Italy, it is not that dangerous. But worries, fears, ignorances about the virus in the mind of the local people here is very dangerous so we need to emphasize on solving this mind problem, not the material problems.
Most of the people here are afraid of experiencing the virus in their place; this is not because the virus is dangerous it is because if the virus comes into their place they will be blacklisted. the country is changing, many people are trying to get a good reputation, they don’t want a bad reputation so if the virus arrives at their village, that village or town will be blacklisted and this is very fearful. In fact, the virus is not much dangerous compared to other diseases. But this is the nature of people here, they don’t want to have a bad reputation, they want to have a good reputation. Even if they are not famous, they don’t want to be known with a bad reputation. Many people are afraid of this and don’t want to make mistakes in this case. Because these are concerned with the whole world, not only within the country so they don’t want to be known over the world for the virus. So we need to solve this problem. Now we are lucky, the virus is in Myanmar but not in Thanlyin. Not at Thabarwa center. It hasn’t started here but in Chin State, in Yangon division. That is better for us but for those places, it is really bad to be famous for the virus. As you are just a visitor here, most of you are not permanent volunteers in Thabarwa center so you may not worry much even if something happens in this country. But local people worry a lot.”
Sharing: There is a lot of misunderstanding about the nature of the virus; it is just a piece of DNA, nothing can protect us, even quarantine is not a solution. What I see is that people in the center are just avoiding facing reality.
– ” It is not strange in this country. It is a Buddhist country so many people rely on Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Not much on science, technology, medicine and more on Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are not easy to understand but they can accept Buddha as reliable although they don’t understand really. They may understand only a little but they believe a lot. That is the power of the mind. They are not educated or rich but their mind is healthy and wealthy because of believing in Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. There are many happening like this. You are westerner this is why you may not know about this kind of happening. Not scientific, not reasonable but Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are beyond science. Beyond thinking.
This is not strange for us. if you see the material or appearance it is not safe, the country is not safe. Because not enough clinics, schools, electricity, no good roads or streets, no skillful drivers but people are safe because of believing in the truth, in Dhamma. This is why it is difficult for you to understand. If you were a local person you would understand. Same for us, we are not Westerners so when we go to the west we cannot understand what this is. There are many new things, we don’t know, not much in the country but we cannot understand how they are working, the system of the westerners so also you cannot understand the system of the easterners, Buddhism. We are safe by ourselves; we can survive by ourselves because of believing in the truth: cause and effect. You need to detach from the western mind, in this way you can understand the nature of the people here.
Even in small villages they are very poor but they believe in Dhamma, in the truth of cause and effect; this is why they can survive without electricity, without jobs, school, clinics. But they can survive by relying on their intelligence about the truth. Like the forest monks, they stay in the forest. not much facilities but they can survive. They rely on their practice of mindfulness and detachment. if you are not practicing like them you cannot understand. This is the same. This is a meditation center so we emphasize the truth, on doing good deeds especially with the mind. We emphasize to be healthy and wealthy mind. This is why we can survive with these conditions. in the society people would not survive with such conditions for sure. Because they emphasize on material. Here in the center we emphasize mindfulness and detachment, meditation; we emphasize doing good deeds, this is why we could survive with these conditions during all these years.
We are safe by ourselves for sure. Not much protection. No police, no fences but we can endure, we can detach, and we can sacrifice for the truth. This is why we are safe in the mind. We may not be safe in the material but we can detach. Buddha guides us: let the body be painful, don’t let the mind be painful. People in the society won’t let the body be painful; they will let the mind be painful. It is the opposite of the truth. Here in this country, nothing is sure, no information is sure. This is why we cannot rely on the information like in developed countries. Not much skillful in the material. Not exact data. if you are thinking like in the west you can be wrong for sure. You are staying here but you don’t know about the people here. You can know about the west but not the east for sure. ”