Zaw Khaing Oo - The Open Book

Spring mountain range

(1)

I have passed through Taungthaman many times. A morning covered in snow.... A morning mixed with snow and rain.... A morning with the sun shining from the east.... Now, it is just like before. As I was walking along the road, I turned off the Sagaing-Mandalay highway and entered a small road leading to Taungthaman. When I turned towards Mahagandhaya, I felt a pang in my heart. I thought I would see someone I had not seen for a long time. At the junction of two roads, I turned towards the signpost with the trees. In the empty space in front of the Nyaung Win Hran (where the road separated), two cars stopped one after the other and got out of the car. Ko Win Nyein glanced around briefly and then slowly entered the “Taung La Lone Kyaung”.... They walked closer, chatting. Every year

On November (29), a place where lovers of literature gathered. The square of the rich man's temple, a paper shop, a wooden plank, a mat, a pot of hot water. Mother Luthu Daw Amar, Dr. Than Tun, Saya Dagon Thara, Daw Pagoda Kalay Aung Zay, Luthu Sein Win, Sayadaw Ko Xinya (Amara Pura). In my senses, a flash... a flash.... I heard voices from afar. The voices of those gathered together.... The flashes from the cameras also flashed.... The warm hands of those who knew each other by "letters" but had never met in person.... The little stars were falling one by one.

(2)

"If human life is a long journey,

Now our journey is

Life is short, isn't it...

Human life is

"Those short journeys of life are structured."

(Mya Than Tint)

Under the paper flower garden, I could not see anyone in the schoolyard, so I called out. The monk came out from the pagoda square. Slowly. The monk's steps had slowed down. Curious to see who was there, he went down the white stairs. I helped him up, and when he said, "Okay, don't be too close, okay," he stepped forward. Ko Win Nyein called out, "Aw... aye... Win Nyein," and a look of joy spread across the monk's face. They sat down on the wooden platform facing each other. The monk said, "Sit down..." and he unrolled the mat that had been prepared and sat down. This wooden platform was the place where Dr. Than Htun, who always sat with a small steel cane next to him and laughed out loud, always laughed. Ko Khin Maung Aye was walking around the schoolyard, watching. Chou Ee Man (Mandalay) and Nya Lin Phyu were on the small platform for a moment. Ko Lin Naing Oo was taking a photo of the archive.... Win Win Myint (in front of the palace) sat on the wooden beam with a calm face. Even the wooden poles that had been used to support the paper lanterns that had been used for many seasons had broken. Ko Win Nyein chatted with the monk in a low voice.

"I have to come to Mandalay, but there are no people to meet."

Oh my God... The public, Daw Amar, and Daw May Shin are no more...”

The monk didn't even wait for Ko Win Nyein to finish speaking before he began to recite a poem.

"I'll just leave it alone..."

The whole group was delighted and laughed at the teacher's words. When he started talking about the "Wartime Meditations" that the teacher had written, the teacher said -

"Oh..don't keep writing..don't keep writing.."

Ko Win Nyein turned around quickly. Once upon a time, the great monk of Maha Gandharyon, Ashin Janaka Bhiwansaka, visited Sayadaw Ko Nya (Amarapura).

"Hey... scholar... writers come to my school...

"You're a writer, so you should come," I remembered. I heard some motorbikes passing by on the asphalt road in front of the school. The public was Daw A Ma.

"Kyo-yin, the great sage, came out of the great sage... From there, the four mountains of the In-harp, which were called and shouted not far from the great sage,

I only spend time at school and I love writing...

. We collect what we should collect.... We note what we should remember... After the passing of Sayadaw Shwe Kaing, who lived in the Sagaing Mountains, we have a "knowledge" to rely on like Sayadaw...

"Otherwise, there will be no replacement," came the reassuring voice.

(3)

While Ko Win Nyein and Sayadaw were having a good conversation, they set off towards the west of the four mountains. They passed by some monasteries and came across a large tamarind tree, the Bone Pot Pagoda. Next to the pagoda, they came to the place where Dr. Than Tun was lying. A star, a very reliable star in the field of research...

I vividly imagined the scene of that evening when I had to leave the teacher at the edge of Taungthaman Lake.

Below is a large row of Mayza trees. In the past, there were (103) Mayza trees. Now... due to water damage, wind damage, and the unscrupulous people who cut them down to make firewood, there are only (95) trees left. We bowed down in remembrance of our teacher, Dr. Than Htun.

Then I walked back to the four mountains. From the school, I turned around to the pagoda square and the first thing I saw was a mesquite tree and a bench facing the road. “Nyo Mya” in memory. Nyo Mya who helped me find the mountain. Nyo Mya who wrote “The big dog of hell is free.” I continued walking, and at the western exit of the Taung Mying Pagoda, there was a “Mya Than Tint” memorial.... Next to it was a “University Maung Saw Lwin” memorial... a mesquite tree.

"In 100 or 200 years, the tree will be big... There will be a seat at the base of the tree and a stone tablet with writing on it, so those who sit there will say, ' Aw... I planted this tree in memory of a person like this.'"

"You know, the big Mayza tree..." said the public Daw Ama, who was in awe. "Is it on the branches of the Mayza tree or on the leaves and branches?"

Then, "Sawinkapa" is a memory to the great Ngwe Udaw.

The poem

"A multi-layered history of the times"

"Mirror" reflects

"Life story in detail"

While painting and drawing

Journey across the common land

"The one who stretches his legs..."

Is it because the inscription was written for those who rest in the shade of the moon to meditate on? The "Daw Khin Hnin Yu Memorial Tree" and the "Maha Swe" memorial pedestal, which created "Hmu", are also comparable...

I remembered that it was revealing a piece of history of those who created it. I saw Ko Win Nyein, Win Win Myint (in front of the palace) and Ko Lin Naing Oo coming out of the schoolyard, so I had to leave the little pine tree. It was almost noon when they left the four mountains in the spring.

(4)

I have passed through Taungthaman morning many times.

Light Journal (542), February 2009