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Letters from Burma

As some of you may already know, I spent January in Burma, on a meditation pilgrimage. The original catalyst for my deciding to go was Jarrod Newell, one of my best mates from NZ last year. Jarrod, John and a few other Kiwi friends were making the journey to Asia, so when I left NZ we all agreed to rendezvous in Bangkok in late December to make the final hop to Burma together.

The pilgrimage was incredibly profound, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (All the pictures are here if you're interested.) After Burma we flew to Bangkok, me with the notion of extending my ticket in order to see Cambodia, and Jarrod intending to return to Burma and ordain as a monk. Sure enough, these intentions manifested and this was the last time I saw him.

Since then, he's been living the 227 precepts and meditating at monasteries and caves all around Burma, hard-core as ever. I've received two letters thus far from him, the second yesterday, which included the above credit-card sized image of the Buddha. "Hang the Buddha from your rear-view mirror," it said. Before leaving Burma I'd asked him to find me a poster of one of these, see. Thanks brother!

Here are a few other notables/quotables from his 2003/06/01 letter:

"Myself, John & Bianca have been 2 monks & a nun for almost 8 weeks. I can now say I feel very relaxed and rather at home in robes. We have been meditating pretty full-on since I last saw you. In fact, it seems like life has become a constant state of meditation."

"Had some pretty powerful and prolonged storms, but the wisdom is growing and there is a powerful inner peace growing inside which is like a very solid rock."

"John and I got permission to sit the first Sanga course held in Mogok (details | photos: 1, 2, 3). Full-power, about 80 monks sitting like rocks (except for the tall white skinny one)."

"I'm sure our worlds don't really compare at the moment... But I'm sure you are growing in Dhamma every day. Rare is the life as a human. Rare is the human who gets pure Dhamma, don't waste any moment. It takes just one breath to be with the truth."

And a few from his 2003/07/24 letter, which arrived yesterday:

"I'm at Shew Taung Oo. You will remember it from the Yatra, it's the monastery with the Ledi Sayadaw cave. I'm just having a rest day after sitting 3 10-day self courses in the cave. Nobel silence isn't a problem, as no one speaks English! I feel very blessed to spend time at such a great place."

"I've received a lot of Dana in the last couple of weeks as when the rains start (full moon of July 13th) it's tradition to give new robes. I guess the chance to give to a foreign monk out here doesn't come too often, so now I have 6 sets of robes. (the Buddha made a precept to have only 1 set, looks like I've blown that one)."

Evidently he's flying to India to sit a 20-day Vipassana course on September 18th, but hopefully I can convince him to stop in California afterward, on his way around the globe. Take care, brother.