“When you are volunteering or meditating in Thabarwa Centre, you may have problems with the other volunteers or meditators. What is the cause of facing difficulties with the other volunteers or meditators. Surely because of the wrong view you may experience this kind of problems. If we don’t know the reason, we cannot solve the problem. Most of the volunteers or meditators went away because of this experience, not because of the volunteering or meditation practice, but because of the people who are dealing with us. I continuously opened meditation centres since 2007, therefore I have many experiences of having problems between these volunteers or meditators or donors. In fact the practice or action of doing good deeds is really good, but the people who are volun teering or meditating are not complete, not at the best. Therefore there is fighting between each other. The answer is that we cannot accept the mistake, we cannot accept the wrong action, wrong speech, wrong view. We cannot accept that person. We cannot accept what is bad, what is wrong, that is our weakness. Actually we are making mistake for sure, physically, or verbally or mentally. If we don’t meditate we will not accept this theory. Only when we meditate seriously, we can accept that making mistakes is the nature of living beings. We must be able to see from the side of cause and effect only. There is no one or nothing which is making mistake. There are also right action, right speech and right view, but no one or nothing is doing what is good. There are only right and wrong action. And also good and bad result. This is right view. But most of the living beings cannot accept this theory. To accept both good and bad is really important for all of us. Most of the people can accept only what is good, cannot accept what is bad. That is why we have problems with each other, because of making mistake. We may be able to forgive our own mistake but it is difficult to forgive the mistake of the others. We used to accuse each other that person is bad, that action is wrong. Actually, we all, most of the people are doing the same thing. We can forgive our own mistakes but we cannot forgive the others.
In fact there is no one, nothing, just cause and effect of impermanent nature. If we see from the side of cause and effect of impermanent nature, we don’t need to emphasize someone or something, or limited time and place. ‘Today’ is a limited time. This ‘meditation centre’ is a limited place. Each of us is a limited person. Everything here is limited thing. All these created truths are to use only, not to grasp as real something or someone. In fact, we should keep nothing in the mind. We can use everything, everyone, but to use only, without grasping in the mind. This is like when we are in need of a car, we can hire a taxi. When we are not using we can give it back to the owner. This is using only, not keeping in the mind, not keeping in the mind as our own car. We are always using living beings and non-living beings with ignorance and attachment. The real problems concern with our own ignorance and attachment. We need to change from ignorance and attachment to mindfulness and detachment. In the society, nothing is complete, no one is complete, because all living being and non-living beings are created by attachment. Attachment in the mind is creating our past, present and future experience. Because of incompleteness of ignorance and attachment, no living beings and non-living beings are complete. That is why we are doing both good and bad, right and wrong actions, by using our body and mind. We used to think ourselves as being good. That’s why we think someone special created us.
Traditionally and habitually we are using wrong view or misunderstanding. The real meditation is changing our view to accept good and bad action and result, experience or consequence. If we can accept both good and bad in cause and effect as Nature, we will be free from problems between each other. The cause of problems between each other, the men, volunteers and meditators and donors is because of making problems to each other. Because of making problems to the other meditators or volunteers, we have to experience the same as we did before. Cause and effect may not happen at the same time. If someone is making problems to us, it is sure that we have done the same mistake to someone in the past, that’s why we have to pay back for what we have done before. It will be the same for the person who is making problems in the present moment. He is sure to experience the same in the future. In this cause and effect we should not emphasize the person, this man or that man. We should emphasize only the action and consequence or result. This law of nature is complete except it will give result at the right time, right place, and right condition, right person for sure Therefore it is necessary to endure and forgive the mistakes of others. This is paying back for the mistakes we have done before. If we cannot endure and forgive, we are sure not to get success in our practice of doing good deeds. Through paying back, enduring and forgiving the mistakes of the others, we can reduce our bad kamma, our bad actions, our bad deeds. It will reduce the power of bad deeds concerning with us. In this way it is sure to get success in our practice of doing good deeds in the future.
Many people and organisations are doing what is good, but most of them cann ot get success, because they are not paying back for the mistakes they have done before in the past. So this is really important to get success in doing all kinds of good deeds. For Thabarwa Centre we have done many kinds of good deeds, but we were able to get success when right time came. Most of the people in the society emphasize to pay back only the debt concerned with money. They rarely emphasize the debt from bad things they have done to the others. I have been helping many people who are helpless and hopeless. Most of them are old and sick. They are sure not to give back to me. But in my sight, I understand that because of helping others, I will be dealing with the people who are helping the others. Besides, because of helping the others, I receive the help of others. Not the same person, but the same action I have done before. For Thabarwa Centre we are helping the old and the sick people in the society together as the organisation of Thabarwa Centre. That’s why the meditators or volunteers in Thabarwa Centre will not get into trouble such as not having food to eat, or having no one to take care of them, or not having funds for medical treatment. In Thabarwa Centre, there are many different people, some are volunteering but some are not volunteering. Some are meditating and some are not meditating. That’s why the result will also be different from one from the other. In fact we get what we give. We don’t get what we don’t give. If we don’t share the knowledge about the truth like this, we will have difficulty to understand the truth. This is sharing about the knowledge of the truth. So, by sharing like this, we can understand more and more about the truth.
We just need to practice all kinds of good deeds. Besides, we need to share our experience to the others. In this way we can always understand more.There are many Thabarwa Centres around the country and around the world, because we share what we have. We share our land, our buildings, our food. We are working not only for us, but for the others. That is why we get many things back in return. If we are not helping someone that person won’t help us, that is wrong view and action. If we are not helping, we will not get help. The action of not helping is the cause of not getting help back. So, the more we are helping, the more we will get help from the others. In this case, we should not emphasize the person. We need to detach from the person. There are only cause and effect. If we do good, the action of good deeds will give us good results for sure in the right time, place, and condition. Therefore, when we are doing what is good, we should try to detach from time, place, person and condition. We should not emphasize whether we want to do or not, whether we understand or not, we must be able to do good deeds freely without thinking of something or someone. We open the centre full time. This is using the limitless time. In this way we are sure to get good results all the time. If we are helping the people regardless of age, gender, nationality, religion, education, we will also get good responses from all kinds of people. This is the way of doing good deeds in teamwork without limit.
I’ve been sharing dhamma experience all the time for over 17 years as a monk. Therefore, I can always understand more. As a leader of Thabarwa Centre organization, I received many complaints from the meditators and volunteers asking punishment for someone, a person doing what is bad. But I used to solve the problem by explaining cause and effect. I want the people to detach from something or someone. Most of the people are complaining about someone or something. In fact, there are many people who are doing what is bad. There are many things which are bad. Because of attachments on someone or something we are trying to solve only that person or that that problem. That is doing with ignorance and attachment. We should try to detach from that person and action, from that person who is doing what is bad. Even the government cannot solve this problem for sure. This is concerned with ignorance and detachment, not concern with law, regulation, or government. The natural law is working exactly, surely. You cannot change the natural law, so we should try to accept it. We should try to make use of the natural law in the right way to be using only. As a leader of an organization, I have been dealing with many organizations and many people, so I have experience with many good people, as well as bad people. I have been experiencing a lot, many good things as well as bad things. If we try to solve only one person or one problem, that person may complain that I am impartial, I’m not giving punishments to the others.
In fact, the time, the weather is influencing the living beings. If the weather is not good, the mind will not be good and the action will not be good. If the time is not good, the mind will not be good and there will be many wrong action. If the weather changes, the time change, the result will change for sure. We just need to understand we need nothing to do. We just need to understand this cause and effect and we should try to do good deeds continuously to endure a bad result. If we are doing good deeds, we are sure to lose even our life, we are sure to be able to lose everything including our life. If we are not doing what is good, we cannot lose anything, anyone. So doing good deeds continuously is essential for all. I’ve been helping not only the meditators but also the old and sick and mental patients in the society. That’s why I get help from most of the old and sick people in the world. Actually they are not taking help from me. I have been helping only a few thousand old and sick people, but I get help from most of the old and sick people around the world. In this way I can survive doing good deeds without limit. Now, many international volunteers are volunteering and meditating in Thabarwa Centre, ThanLyin. This is the cause. The results will be the same, because of helping to the others, helping to the foreigners, you are sure to get help from the foreigners, when you are opening meditation centres in your country. This is cause and effect. If you are not helping the foreigners, you are sure not to get help from the foreigners. If you are helping for long term, you will also get help from the foreigners for long term. You are creating your future by doing good deeds like this. This is teamwork. This is the same for the Italian nun, Khema Cari. As a European, as a Westerner, she had stayed in Myanmar for meditation and volunteering for many years. Now there is Thabarwa Centre in Southern Italy, so she gets help from the Myanmar monks, nuns and meditators also, not only from the Westerners, but also from the Easterners. She gets the same result she did before. For the wrong action we are doing now, we will also get the same experience in the future.”