U Thukha - Thukha and Thukha

Return to the land of the gods

This time, I will go to Zalun City to give a lecture.

Since it was called Zalun, I remember the history of the Pyidaw Pagoda. We had heard when we were young that when the British invaded and occupied Lower Burma, the large bronze statue worshipped by the people of Zalun was taken away by an English soldier. When they arrived in England, they melted it in a furnace to make cannonballs, but the furnace did not melt and the workers died. Every night, the Buddha shone brightly. The British were not satisfied and melted it again, but the furnace broke and they died again, just like before. They were afraid and sent it back to Zalun, where it had been brought. Therefore, it was given the title "Pyidaw Pagoda".

It is said that the main Buddha worship mantra is contained in the Sammachan of that great statue. Sammachan means the place where the ascetics sit and spread out their mats. The mantra is as follows.

The first is the Pitaka, the cessation of suffering, the sevenfold enlightenment, the eightfold path, the fourth, the sevenfold indow, the sevenfold sūryo, the eightfold love, the sevenfold rajabhaya, the sevenfold sārābhaya, the sevenfold sāttabhyaya, the sevenfold zayāja

Except for his face, his entire body is covered in gold. His chest is very proud. Even our lecture group is wearing gold robes.

The Gandhakutthaya was opened and I was allowed to admire it up close. When I got up close, I felt the essence of the film like a chicken's egg. When I looked for the Sammachan Gatha, I couldn't find it because the gold was spread all over the place. Even the thinnest spot of gold would be about a grain of gold.

We ourselves, the Sahatthika, were allowed to offer a gold plate, but since we did not dare to climb the throne, we only offered it to the Gopaka Sayadaw and paid homage. We wanted to get the image and history.

During that time, a member of the Trustees of Saya Myat Than and the Old Testament said.

"Major, if you want to see something no one else has seen, come with me."

The person led the way and they entered the Gandhakuti building with Saya Myat Than. They climbed the stairs behind the throne and looked closely at their faces, which were aligned with each other, with a magnifying glass. He pointed out the dove's eye to Saya Myat Than and made him look carefully.

“When the person asked, ‘Did you see it?’ Sayar Myat Than said, ‘I saw it.’ They were both in a daze. I couldn’t help myself, so I went to them. Look, look, there are small flowers embedded in the lower eyelid,” he said, and gave me a magnifying glass. When I looked at the lower eyelid, which was covered with a small piece of rice, I saw a bright, colorful flower, about the size of a grain of rice.

"One flower, two flowers, three flowers, four flowers, five flowers"

There are five flowers in the right eye, and five flowers in the left eye. Moreover, it is not embedded in the copper, but it seems to move with the direction of the mirror as you move it left and right. I told the trustee and Sayar Myat Than and asked them to look at it again through the mirror.

"Yes, sir, yes, sir," they said happily in unison.

"What do you think about that?" the trustee asked.

"The monk must have seen that too."

"We're used to seeing each other with our new faces and our faces are always open."

"What is the order of the Master?"

"I thought this body would have been there since they cast it."

"Yes, I guess so. Who wrote and carved the great Sammachan Gatha?"

"It is possible that the monk Khin Gyi Pyu's teacher Khin Gyi Bong wrote it, but it is our opinion that it was not engraved on the bronze."

'How do you think the five petals are evenly spaced on each side of the eyelash glue?'

"I can't say for sure, but I'm a note-taker, so I remember it being in the "Asayintaeyya Pagoda Shikho" of the Kyithelayta Sayadaw of Shwetaung."

"How are you?"

"He who is able to clearly see the distant universe, the infinite realms, and the worlds, with his five eyes: the eye of the mind, the eye of the body, the eye of the universe, the eye of the Buddha, and the eye of the universe, sees infinitely."

"What you say makes sense."

'It would be good to apply to the monks as well.'

When we returned from the temple, we each received a picture of the Buddha and a book of history.

When King Sandathuriya, the ruler of the Rakhine state of Dhanyavadi, was on a pilgrimage to the land of Dhanyavadi, he made offerings to the Buddha himself, the first being the Mahamyatmuni, the second being the Shinkyaw, the third being the Shwebonsa, and the fourth being the Mara Ayuthaya.

Those Buddhas, as always, were of different levels of knowledge. The body of the Buddha, Mara, is two cubits and ten inches without the Samachanta. It is three cubits and one inch with the Samachanta. It weighs 666 pisas and 6 kyats of copper. It is the right side of the great sage.

In the year 1146, the crown prince, the son of the Golden Buddha of Amarapura, brought these Buddhas with the great sage.

At the entrance of the golden city of Amarapura, a large golden pagoda was erected, and successive kings, including Bodaw Min, Bakyidaw Min, Konbaung Min, Bagan Min, Mindon Min, and Kanaung Min, worshipped it. At that time, there were only low-class houses in Mindon and Kanaung.

U Shwe Pwint, appointed as the governor of Zalun by the secretary of the Zalun city, King Thato Ming Mahamin Hla Nawrahta, was a relative of the Queen of Bagan. He asked the Queen of Amarapura for permission to cast a statue of the Mara-Ming Buddha with the jewels collected and donated by the people of Zalun, and while he was casting it, the British began to attack and occupy Lower Burma.

Then, due to the situation of the country, U Shwe Pwint was urgently sent back to Zalun, and he asked the queen to bring with him the Mara Aung Myin Buddha statue that was worshipped in Nan U. At that time, the Bagan king, Minton and the Kanaung princes were already rebelling against him, so U Shwe Pwint's wish was granted and only Zalun was urgently regained control.

Thus, the victorious Mara arrived in the city of Jalun.

In 1214, the Bagan king fell and King Mindon ascended the throne. In that year, the British conquered Lower Burma. At that time, they confiscated all the bronze statues, bronze furniture, and bronze objects found in the cities and towns, and ordered them to be used to make bronze coins. The great Mara Mawung was also taken to Bombay in 1217.

When the Buddha was placed in the Bombay warehouse, he was facing east. He could not be broken with large hammers to melt it, and not a single piece was broken or damaged. Then, just like the image, he was put into a large melting furnace and heated with a strong fire. The furnace burst and many people died. It was decided that it was due to the defect of the furnace and another one was cast. His face remained intact, but the furnace burst and many died. Every night, his radiance was so bright that no one dared to touch him, saying that he was a witch or a ghost. In this way, he remained in an unsuitable place for a long time.

After Queen Victoria was crowned in England, she traveled to Delhi, India, to be crowned Empress of India and hold a grand Durbar.