Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Monk Who Brings Peace to the Suffering
MANDALAY—Bhaddanta Ariya Vumsa Bhivunsa, 63, pointed to the emblem consisting of three lotus flowers on the gateway to the Myawady Mingyi Monastery on the outskirts of Mandalay. "Those three lotus represent the three steps of Buddha's teaching—Learning, Practicing and Peace," said the monk.
As abbot of the monastery, Ariya Vumsa teaches over 100 monks and novices the art of meditation as part of their Buddhist training. But he also goes above and beyond the standard role of a presiding monk by teaching another group of students how to meditate: HIV/AIDs patients.
Abbot Ariya Vumsa said that 15 to 20 HIV/AIDs patients, mostly poor women, walk or bicycle to the monastery on occasion to receive a one-day meditation course and a healthy meal.
"They are poor and don’t eat properly, so we attract them to the training with nutritious food,” said the abbot. “But just providing food and medicine is meaningless. We must also help them enjoy peace of mind and understand the value of life.”
One patient who received training at the monastery was a dancer and singer in a traditional performing troupe. At the peak of her career, she was infected with the HIV virus from her husband, who then died from AIDS.
At first, the pain and sense of injustice the dancer felt caused her to seek out men and purposefully spread the virus to them in order to destroy their lives as she felt hers had been destroyed. But then she befriended another HIV-carrier who brought her to the monastery.
"When infected with HIV, a carrier sees the HIV as part of her ‘I’ or ‘self’ and thinks that she alone will face the death. I have to explain that they are not the only one who will face death. Nobody can avoid age, illness and death. We all are going to our graves. That is the truth," said Abbot Ariya Vumsa.
"When the patients see each other, they find that they are not the only one infected with the disease, and this provides some relief," he said.
The dancer experienced a sense of peace during her initial training, then went home and continued to practice meditation for 40 days, said the abbot. She spent her last days at the monastery, meditating until she passed away at the age of 23.
“In the end, the dancer thanked the disease because it resulted in her enjoying genuine peace,” said Abbot Ariya Vumsa.
The monk explained that if a person is attached to or grasps someone or something, that person will suffer when it is lost. If you want to enjoy peace, however, you have to practice meditation by yourself, because it is difficult to explain, he said.
According to the abbot, just before the dancer passed away, she asked her mother: “Are you still attached to this body?”
Abbot Ariya Vumsa teaches that meditation is the Buddha’s way of achieving cleanliness of mind. Those who are not practicing meditation are living in the outer world. Those who are practicing meditation are living in the inner world.
“In the inner world, your mind is smooth and light,” he said. “In the outer world, your mind is rough and heavy. If you continue, your physical and mental sufferings disappear. That is ground zero and you are totally living in the inner world and can enjoy peace. Peace is in your inner world. Your vision is clear causing right decisions and actions.”
He explained that at the beginning of meditation, a person is on the margin of the inner and outer worlds. People who can stay in the inner world will feel that they are staying in space and free from gravity and can escape from all mental and physical suffering.
“You can see and feel the cessation of all physical and mental suffering in the inner world,” the abbot said. “That is wisdom “
Thin Thin Moe, a 39-year-old mother who was also infected with the HIV virus by her husband, is one of the women learning meditation at the monastery.
"When I found out that I was carrying HIV, I felt that I was discriminated against and was ashamed when others saw me," she said. "I couldn't sleep for days and became a crazy and attempted to commit suicide."
"After doing meditation at the monastery, I found peace of mind, and today I am satisfied with my life," said Thin Thin Moe, who now educates others about HIV/AIDS and operates a Mandalay business sewing robes and making fans for Buddhist monks.
“Disasters or diseases are not the only causes of human suffering, there may be many causes,” said Abbot Ariya Vumsa. “ If you are wise, you can stay free from suffering in the unsafe world. The wisdom in your mind is the art of living.”
In Burma, there are an estimated 240,000 people infected with the HIV virus. According to the Ministry of Health, there are about 17,000 new infections each year and nearly 20,000 die of AIDS-related diseases, while more than 100,000 HIV carriers are in need of anti-retroviral treatment.
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