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The Webu Sayadaw undertakes his first journey to lower Burma – The Cause of the Journey
The ripening of Mother Sayamagyi's paramis was the reason for Sayagyi U Ba Khin to invite the Venerable Webu Sayadaw to Rangoon. In April 1953, during the Water Festival period, Mother Sayamagyi Daw Mya Thwin, took her first meditation course at the International Meditation Centre (IMC). She was the wife of U Chit Tin (later, Sayagyi U Chit Tin), who was one of three people working in Sayagyi U Ba Khin’s department who had been selected to do the first course in the shrine room of the Accountant General’s Office. Before the IMC was founded, Sayagyi U Ba Khin taught in this shrine room. He asked his office workers to attend the office as normal, but instead of doing their work, they were to meditate. He himself would do their work for them for that period of ten days.
When U Chit Tin did his first course, he didn’t want to stop meditating when he got home in the evening, so he taught his wife Anapana meditation. He told Mother Sayamagyi, that she should think of Sayagyi U Ba Khin as her teacher and gave her the formalities. When Mother Sayamgyi started to concentrate on her breath, her mind became focused immediately and within the first ten minutes she saw a light like a glow worm. She was surprised and opened her eyes, to look for the source of this light, but the room was in complete darkness. When she reported this to U Chit Tin, he praised her, saying that this was very good. She continued to meditate at home after this, but not very regularly.
After the land for the IMC had been purchased, Mother Sayamagyi on one occasion accompanied U Chit Tin to the IMC to deliver fencing wire that U Chit Tin had picked up in the city. There she met U Ba Khin again. He asked her, “When are you going to come for a course?” She didn’t reply.
Before the Water Festival time in 1953, Mother Sayamagyi’s neighbour, an elderly lady who was from Moulmein like Sayamagyi and U Chit Tin, tried to convince Mother Sayamagyi to go with her to the IMC for the period of the festivities, to meditate. Burmese people traditionally go to their monastery during this time to observe the eight precepts and to listen to the discourses of the monks. As both of them had recently arrived in Rangoon and didn’t know any monastery there, the neighbour thought that the meditation centre would be a good alternative for them. However, Mother Sayamagyi was not very keen at first but was eventually persuaded and entered the ten-day course with forty other students. She experienced great difficulty at first in Anapana meditation, though she had practiced at home before. She even told Sayagyi U Ba Khin on one occasion that she didn’t think that she had any Paramis. Sayagyi U Ba Khin told her: “If you didn’t have any Paramis, you wouldn’t be here”.
When Sayagyi U Ba Khin taught the group Vipassana, Mother Sayamagyi couldn’t feel anything at first. After the teaching of Vipassana, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, sitting in the central shrine, moved from cell entrance to cell entrance in the octagonal pagoda and asked the students about their experiences. Only when Sayagyi U Ba Khin asked her directly, did she suddenly feel a rush of sensations from the top of the head throughout the body. In the following days Mother Sayamagyi experienced intense suffering, dukkha; so much so that she at times she thought that she was on the point of death. However, she held on to the awareness of impermanence, anicca, and this kept her in good stead and brought her eventually to the point where the dukkha came to an end and she experienced peace and coolness.
After this first course, Sayagyi U Ba Khin visited U Chit Tin and Mother Sayamagyi every morning and evening, meditated with them and kept a close watch over Mother Sayamagyi’s progress. When the next course in May came up, he suggested that Mother Sayamagyi come for the first two days of the course. In the end, Mother Sayamagyi stayed for the whole ten days. She consolidated and further developed her understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Sayagyi taught her many profound Dhammas. Sayagyi U Ba Khin was very happy to have gained a disciple with such great penetration of the Dhamma, but he wanted his conclusions confirmed by a respected meditation teacher. For this purpose he decided to invite the Venerable Webu Sayadaw to come to the IMC. The Webu Sayadaw was gracious enough to accept the invitation. After the Sayadaw had established himself in his quarters Sayagyi U Ba Khin went there with Mother Sayamagyi to receive the Sayadaw’s advice. Mother Sayamagyi described all her progress along the path in the last two months to the Sayadaw in Sayagyi U Ba Khin’s presence. The Webu Sayadaw approved and said: “Don’t stop here. Don’t stop.”
The Webu Sayadaw also spent much time meditating in the pagoda at the IMC during this seven day visit. Before travelling back to his monastery in Kyauk Hse, he circumambulated the Dhamma Yaung Chi Ceti, The Light of the Dhamma Pagoda three times keeping it to his right. He did this in order to show his gratitude to the place where he had meditated. When he arrived at the airport in Mandalay a big throng of worshippers awaited him, venerating him as an arahat. On a later visit to the IMC he declared, “My Sasana has also started from this place. My Sasana has also started from this place”
Later also the Webu Sayadaw showed his great appreciation not only of Sayagyi U Ba Khin’s Paramis but also of Mother Sayamagyi’s Dhamma qualities. When Sayamagyi went to pay respects to the Webu Sayadaw in his monastery at Shwebo, he received her graciously and he instructed the Thila Shins (lay nuns) to prepare refreshments for her and her group. The nuns took a long time over it and eventually, as it was getting late, Mother Sayamagyi had to take her leave. Only then did the nuns finally arrive with the refreshments. The Webu Sayadaw scolded the nuns, saying: ”You are really very slow!” They had not been able to acquire the merits placed within their easy reach by the Venerable Webu Sayadaw.
When Mother Sayamagyi and a group of disciples went to report Sayagyi U Ba Khin’s demise to the Sayadaw on the occasion of his visit to Rangoon, the Webu Sayadaw told them: “Your Sayagyi is not dead. He continues with his work. Others are dead even though they are still alive”.
