I visited and paid homage to Venerable Dhammadutha Ashin Sekinda at the International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University.
I have to ask the monk to tell me about his life.
Sayadaw Ashin Sekinda was a civil engineer who passed the AGTI Civil Engineering exam in his lifetime. | He had worked in government for a while. Sayadaw's nickname was Maung Soe Min.
Maung Soe Min was born and raised in Sotapan Township, Sagaing Hills. His father was U Aung Than and his mother was Daw Sein Kyi.
My mother is from Mon State. She is of mixed Mon and Karen blood. | My father is the son of Inspetaw.
Both parents had to endure the wartime Japanese occupation. As a result, they did not receive a formal education. His father was taught English and mathematics by monks.
Maung Soe Min, who would become Sayadaw Ashin Sekinda, studied at the school of Sayadaw U Tinna, the new monastery in Sagaing Mountain, when he was young.
Maung Soe and his children called Sayadaw U Tinna “Bone Bon Tin”.
Phon Phon Tin was Maung Soe Min's young assistant.
“I will teach you to write beautifully. Handwriting needs to be beautiful from a young age. For a person’s life to be straight and beautiful, their handwriting also needs to be straight. It needs to be beautiful.”
Phone Phone Tin gave Maung Soe's children special instruction in calligraphy.
One of Maung Soe Min's teachers, Phon Phon Tin, was very harsh. "You guys, lie on your stomachs," Phon Phon Tin ordered, and they did. "Turn your feet around," he said, laughing.
The blows of the tyrant were so severe. The blows sank into the flesh of the legs. The red bruises were visible. There were even drops of blood.
Maung Soe Min's mentality doesn't like being beaten. He resists. His mind resists. He doesn't respond.
