Sagaing U Bo Thin - A real man

Chapter 1

My students kept calling me "Grandpa," so one day, as I was walking, I saw four young men, including Bo Kyi, talking.

"Hello... you have to pass the seventh grade, pass the matriculation exam, and pass the school-leaving certificate exam. It's just a matter of getting high scores on the exam."

"You know, English is spoken all over the world."

"You're so funny. If you go to France, what kind of person would you be, a person who can read English? Look at what they write in newspapers and magazines. One day I'll show you."

"They say it, the real big guys, the big leaders, say it."

"They say it because they know, they say they don't understand anything about nature. I'll tell you."

"What do you... say?"

"In the past, you had to be a surveyor without knowing English. Nowadays, if you don't know English, you can't pass the seventh grade. If you don't pass the seventh grade, you can't even be a surveyor or a stonemason. What use is English to them?

"To make the people in the countryside speak English, isn't that because we've been under the control of English since independence?"

"Yes, of course."

"Yes, it's over. Mandalay University is now taking an English speaking test. People who graduate from university and become officials are supposed to speak English when dealing with people in the countryside. It's ridiculous. They are all great scholars, nothing more. They are supporting foreign religious schools."

"Going abroad"

"Let's leave it alone, let's teach the people who want to go. If you speak English and go to Yugoslavia, Italy, Japan, or China, won't your English be ridiculous? The system that requires English speakers to pass the exam is neither good nor bad. It's just a trick of people who are influenced by the British and Americans."

"It's bad that there are exams."

"That's all, I need time. Take the exam. Even if you don't speak English, you'll pass if you're educated."

"I don't like it. What do you think of the people who passed the exam? Those people who passed the exam are degree holders who returned from abroad. If they don't work for a salary, they can't even carry rice bags or ride a rickshaw, so they're starving. And that's what makes real people arrogant and oppressing educated people."

"You are too beautiful."

"I didn't pass. I'll re-examine the grades of those who graduated from university and are now working as civil servants. If you ask them about ethics and history, they'll be a complete failure. If you ask them about math, they'll say they've forgotten it. But when they finally get to work, they'll forget it. What's the difference between forgetting it and not being good at it?"

"You're welcome"

"I'll tell you. If you ask a history professor who just graduated from abroad what a quadratic equation is, he'll say he's forgotten it. If you show him a quadratic equation from high school, he'll say he's forgotten it. If he doesn't know quadratic equations, if he can't calculate quadratic equations, he can't even get a high school education. What's the difference? Isn't the exam just a bonus? Otherwise, isn't it a form of oppression that oppresses people who want to study?"

"You're hiding, so..."

"Some people say that if you score high on exams, it will be difficult to get a government job. That statement is based on a slave mentality. Teaching literature is about earning a living. If that is true, the exam will be a slave selection contest."

"Your Majesty, this is too much."

"You said, 'Is it because I'm a clerk in the royal office? I want to be a good farmer, so I want to study geography well so I can predict the weather. I also have a hobby. But I failed my matriculation exam and now I've dropped out of school and opened a barber shop. I'm barely making enough money to pay the city clerk."

"Kai..." I asked "Boe" secretly..

I also said, "I'm just listening to you. I won't say anything to you, or I'll be scolded by the old man."

That's why I don't want to leave my house, and if I do, I'll find someone. Some are refusing to join the party. Some are talking about politics, administration, and politics one by one. Some are talking about business. Some are talking about clubs, people who want to be MPs, people who want to be municipal officials, people who want to be chairman or secretary of a cooperative wholesaler, and so on.

Newspapers also encourage us. Nowadays, there is sound. But it doesn't seem to be loud yet. That's why I don't dare to go out anywhere, and when I do, I deliberately look for places where people won't be seen. Between schools and schools, between pagodas and pagodas, I still meet old masters who are still in the past.

One day, after asking a friend if he was sick, he returned and found three people near the Thuparyon Pagoda. One asked, “Is this the temple where the venerable Thilawansa resides?” Another asked, “Who is Thuparyon Daka?” Another asked, “Is he still as big as he was from the beginning?”

"I don't know what life I was living in back then, are you a dog? I haven't even been born yet," he said, and was forced to return.

But in this era, it's hard to say what kind of world we want to be in. I can't say if they're trying to launch missiles or not.

In this era... the monks had gone back to the city for the water-dropping ceremony of the Zar and the flag. After the people had eaten, some of them returned. About fifteen people remained, chatting around the teacups.

“Grandpa Mya... Are there any monks these days... What is a monk like? Can you tell if you see a monk?

"Teacher Toe... the teachers asked me a lot of questions..."

"Brother Mya..... I'm not a swindler. Brother Mya is a Vipassana meditation teacher... and she teaches meditation to senior citizens every Sunday, and we would like to know about it too..."

"Your words are so clear..."

“U Mya... I think it’s worth asking this, because in this era, there are voices shouting about the era of renunciation, and where will the arahants appear? The arahants will come. Let them come, offer offerings, and welcome them. So I think it’s worth asking, teachers.

"'Sir... Teacher Toe is very close to having a B.Sc.'"

"Brother... when we meet a monk, we need to know if he is a monk or not, right?"

"That's Teacher Toe Thet's job..."

Then, a teacher who had just completed an MA and a teacher who had completed a BA in Buddhist scriptures and Pali, who were not far away, were also listening. The conversation almost ended, and they just sat there eating tea and drinking a cup of tea.

Just then, a plain, awkward man with a bald head entered and began to speak. "I'm sorry, sir..."

Tell me, brother..” “I met someone I’ve never met before... Do you know if he has a BA, an MA, or if he doesn’t know anything?” “Well... that’s another question..

He'll get a BA if he wants to, or an MA if he wants to, but whether he wants to or not, he won't. What do you think?..."

"So... is it hard to know..."

"I can't know a BA or MA just by looking at it, but I think I can know it by looking at the great Arahant Rinma, and I can't know it."

"That's right..."

"So how should we worship, what should we believe, sir..."

"I understand..." "My friend, I don't understand..."

"Okay..." "Have you ever worshipped God?"

"I used to worship..."

'Is there a god? Is that Sakyamuni statue a god?'

"That's all I want, friend..."

"Only beings with intelligence have a Buddha... In the middle of the world, Gautama the Buddha was born, and there were gods and brahmins who did not meet the Buddha, and there were many people in the lands of Varanasi and Savatthi who did not have the Buddha. At that time, there were many people, some of whom did not know the Buddha and who had committed sins. So, the Buddha was in the mind..."

"Let it go..."

"Well... leave the Buddha alone, the teacher's question doesn't include the Buddha... Let's just talk about the monk..."

"Yes..."

"An arahant is not a monk. An arahant is one who is free from defilements and vices and who, according to Buddhism, must have known the six qualities of the Sangha."

"I just need to know that there is no such thing as a defilement..."