“Here in Thabarwa center, over 3000 people are staying. Most people stay for their whole lives, most of them are old and sick. Therefore, over 2000 people already died within 12 years. Nearly 1000 are people old, another 1000 people are sick. People in society are difficult to accept old age, sickness and death. That’s why being old, sick and dead are the biggest problems of society, because they cannot accept the truth. Before I meditated, I couldn’t accept it. I didn’t want to be old or sick or died. This is the nature of living beings but since I meditated, I had to deal with old people. Most meditators are old but they are meditating. That’s why they can accept old aged, they can also accept to die because of practicing meditation. I can accept being old, being sick and the dying of myself and the others in my mind.

I am staying alive but I can accept what is bad. Because I have been doing good deeds up till now, I started doing good deeds in 1999, over 20 years… I started meditation as a layperson, as a business owner. Because of meditation and doing good deeds I can successfully change my mind and accept what is good or bad, wrong or right. That’s why nothing is a problem to me, I myself am not the problem so other people are not the problem. Doing good deeds including meditation changed my mind, and then my life changed. I have abandoned my belongings, apartment, car, investment for doing good deeds, not for business, not only for me but for all. In this country, doing good deeds in this country is not the best, not free. That’s why I decided to become a monk in 2002. As a monk, I’m free to do good deeds, I’m free not to do business, not to think of myself, my family. The life of monkhood is free to do all kinds of good deeds not only for me but for the other. That’s why I have been doing good deeds for over 18 years now.

In the beginning, I had nothing, not my own center, followers, permanent volunteers; I have had to do by myself. But I emphasize doing good deeds naturally not forcefully. I’m thinking to be in harmony with the present time, places, persons and conditions… I try to stop thinking from one side only, I try to see from both sides (if there are two people), from the side of everyone. If there are more people. By travelling from one place to another. I’m trying to do good deeds in harmony with different places, different people. I have been dealing with many people who are sick; I tried to do good deeds in harmony with each patient, different diseases, different ways of doing good deeds.

Now you all are doing good deeds here in this Thabarwa Center. Some are able to do good deeds for the long-term. But there are some will work in short-terms. There are many difficulties, and it is the same for me also. I started doing good deeds in other countries since 2008, but I am able to do good deeds in harmony with different countries, cultures, places, people, and conditions. That’s why I became more busy. Now because of coronavirus, I don’t have the chance to go to other countries, I will be here as long as the virus problem remaining in the world. There are 18 Thabarwa centers in other countries. That’s why this virus problem was already experienced in abroad Thabarwa center. For abroad Thabarwa center, no problem with corona, they are still running until now, now this time is for Myanmar. We are staying here so that’s why we are responsible for this center.

Besides, this organization, 15 feet – Good Will village established in 2012, it’s because of the needs of shelter accommodation. At that time, the country opened to worldwide business, foreigners came and popped the land, the estate price was rising, most of the landowners sold, the poor families had to move away because they couldn’t afford to buy it… Also, the biggest problem of poor families is the lack of regular jobs, no income, no place they couldn’t go back to their old villages. They were not able to pay school fee for their kids and aspect of medical necessaries either. They tried to enter big cities for regular income but expensive costs for everything. To solve this problem, I donated 15 feet of land for free in the beginning, but people just wanted to take it. So I required to follow guided meditation for one time to get it and many people meditated, so we rearranged for requiring a 7-day meditation retreat. Because I emphasized doing good deeds and practicing meditation the most important of all, they could not pay any fee and they had no job, they were free to meditate. I arranged for them a 7 days retreat, and then they volunteered to meditate to Thabarwa center. That was good for us. They could take the land and make their own houses. Because of practising meditation we get what we want, as a mediator, we have to meditate, we must keep precepts, at least five precepts: no stealing, no killing, no telling lie, no sexual misconduct and no intoxicants. That is good, that’s why we could get good results. Now you are here volunteering for the center and practicing meditation so you are free, you need nothing, just to do good deeds. We can support food, shelters, medicine.

The more you do, the more you can get. The living standards will be higher in the long term, that’s the way we used to establish Thabarwa center. There are many patients, but we are doing good deeds, so even if they cannot be in good health, at least they can endure the disease, and that’s why they are staying here. Medical treatment in this country is not enough; we cannot rely on that fully. In this center, we are free to rely on doing good deeds, so we can survive not only young and healthy people but also old and sick people. We don’t emphasize to have to be rich, to save money, to have good medicine, we emphasize doing good deeds. And in this way solve the biggest problem of the country. Especially in the city, everything is expensive so it is difficult to survive in a city. If you cannot work you cannot live there, if you go to work there will be stress and maybe disease because of working with attachment. Here we are doing good deeds with no attachment, no rejecting, just doing – only. This is the best way. If not, we cannot do it for a long time. In this way, you can be healthier and wealthier in body and mind for sure. What we are doing here is complete. That’s why Thabarwa center appeared from nothing but land but we are learning, we are doing good deeds here for over 12 years now, this place is developing regularly…”