Saya U Maung Maung Than - To the daughters from afar

Letters from a long time ago arrived with the subject line "Father." There were more than four or five. They seemed to be in a strange and contradictory way. I had to pay close attention to see if they were the only ones. Because they were the ones who just said "Father" without saying anything.

They come from Shan State, Tanintharyi Region, and the upper reaches of the Yangon region. When you look closely, the writing style is not different. The handwriting is also different. But after reading the teacher's letters, I feel like my own father is disciplining me. That's why there are those who greet me with the words "Father" and say "Father" out of gratitude, and there are those who just call me "Father" without saying anything.

Anyway, reading all the letters with the title "Father" makes me happy. I feel happy too. I also see some sad things. I know that I trust you like a father and open up to you - I think about how to respond to my daughters who live far away, and I wonder if it would be good if they could respond to me like this...

Daughters...

The reason why a husband loses everything he does and his business fails is because of his business philosophy, his morals, his religious devotion, the way he feeds his dogs, the way he feeds his animals, and his diligence. That is something that women cannot do. They have to do it themselves. Okay, so are husbands trying to do the same? Are they trying to be miserable and have bad luck?

So... look, girls, look at the distance between the stove or the rice cooker and the row of thabibi. I've seen, in a house where rice is cooked, there is a row of thabibi next to the rice cooker. They put it in a row at the door. Every time you open and close the door, the thabibi that has been dried is already holding it. So, since you're going to eat the rice from this rice cooker...

Another place I saw it was in the bedroom. What's more, they spread onions and potatoes. They put a towel on the wall next to the onions and potatoes. After taking a shower and drying the towel a little, they would go between the onions and potatoes and dry it on the wall. If it's raining, well.....

And then -

See if your husband's washed or unwashed clothes are piled up at the foot of your bed. See if the clothes you want to wash are piled up at the foot of your bed. If they are, clean them up. Put them aside. The head of the household is the breadwinner. He is the one who provides for the family. If his fortune is low, your daughters will be low too. If his fortune is high, your daughters will be high just like a river.

If the head of the household is already in a slump, check to see if the head of the house is low. If it is low, work to fix it. That is also a sign of the head of the household.

And see if the heads of the family live above or below the parents. That's also why they often can't do anything. If that's the case, think about the best.

Another thing I saw was really bad. It was in a house. A little girl was washing clothes. When she washed them next to the water tank, the water from the washing went into the water tank. She left the clothes to wash. Oh - it was her turn to wash the t-shirts. The water from the t-shirts went into the water tank again. The little girl wrung out the t-shirts, and with the hand that was still wet with the t-shirts, she took a cup of water from the water tank, poured the t-shirts, wrung out the water, and poured it. Think about it. Soon, she was washing rice with the water from that water tank, to make a rice cooker.

Now - do you want to think about the fact that there is only one water tank? If you use one tank in a consistent manner, you will be fine.

Once, I was walking through a place and saw a very unpleasant sight. The child who was washing clothes was only ten years old, so he was not yet intelligent. He- The clothes that had been washed and wrung out were placed in the tub I was talking about. Think about where the water would fall. I saw a woman's dress that covered her whole body and reached her toes. Well, if you ask a child who is not yet intelligent to wash clothes, you have to be careful. Don't forget that, girls. Be careful, be careful.

They are.

Then I dried the clothes on the dishes. Just like before, with my hands.

Don't let your drinking water run dry. Don't forget that you're done with buying bottled water and drinking it as you wish. Drinking water is very important to us Burmese people. Even if you move house, you often put a drinking water pot after the Buddha's death. In ancient times, elders used to judge the status of the family by looking at the way the drinking water pot was placed, the lid, the cup, etc. In ancient times, copper cups were widely used. It is shiny. The copper cup shows the quality of the housewife. People drink from small copper cups. Whether the housewife makes it shiny herself or she orders it to be shiny because she knows how to manage it, the shiny copper cup on the cold drinking water pot is very elegant. It is not easy to drink and put down like modern plastic cups. As you know, copper. Always shiny is elegant. Look at the ancient elders who took care of the drinking water pot. The water that guests drink is also cold. They are also healthy. They are free from disease. So they do not get any strange diseases. They live long. The big drinking water pots are also very beautiful.

If you want to imitate, you have to take it.

How did our ancestors stay free from disease? How did they live long? How did they stay safe? If they are worthy of imitation, they should be imitated. Daughters, imitate them.

And then -

In the letters from the two daughters, I can read the cruel descriptions of their parents. I also saw that they wrote that they don't know if their father feels it. He does. He understands.

But I want to tell my daughters.

No matter what you say or do, defying your parents is like banging your head against a brick wall. Parents are parents. You can't replace them. Daughters, you can't replace them for any reason. You can't replace your parents. As mothers, you will understand more. You will know more about how you have to think about food and behavior since you were a baby, how you have to avoid spicy foods, how you have to control what you want to eat, and how you have to fight for your life and death when you were born.

So don't see your parents as cruel.

Know that your past is bad. Daughters, don't worry about carrying that bad past. Break that bad past. No matter how your mother treats you, no matter how your father treats you, look at the grace that has been given to you from the time you were a little child, from the time you were a

What a lovely mother! What a lovely father! Let your daughters love you with joy in their hearts.

You must have heard of enemy weapons not firing or bullets missing because your mother tied her cloak in seven knots.

You've probably heard of big businesses that were so incredibly successful that they were able to succeed by following their mother's lead.

I don't know if I'll be writing this letter today. I'll tell you a couple of things that I've been feeling in my heart for a while.

One is a mouse.

As you know, rats run away when they see people. They are very afraid of people. Oh - One day, a rat jumped out of a pile of blankets on a bamboo chair in the middle of the house and ran away. I was surprised and looked at the blankets one by one. Three red rats were squirming around. Between the blankets, two pieces of blankets had been bitten and were already growing.

Aw- I was thinking about giving birth to a baby mouse, but while I was looking at the babies in the nest, the mouse suddenly ran back. It was watching the person carefully from a distance of two or three feet. So I thought maybe it was not safe for its babies, so I pushed it aside. What should I say? It bit me quickly and didn't know where to go. It was carried away by a thump.

Look, the mouse, which is very afraid of humans, is not afraid to attack him. He doesn't see the danger in himself. He carries the children to safety. Move them to a safe place. Look.

Next time, there was a black dog near the end of the road. Usually, when I went out on the road, they would surround me, so I would feed them and leave. Since that black dog was heavily pregnant, I fed her more. She ate more. It didn't take long. The black dog gave birth.

One day, he came to the top of the road with the dogs. As usual. He was a glutton, a glutton. And since he had a baby, I fed him more. Do you know what he did? He bit the bread. He didn't eat. The dogs were in a hurry. He didn't eat. He bit it, looked around, and then turned away. The people around him said that he was feeding his children, so I went to see. Yes, I fed the children a big loaf of bread. The dogs licked the little ones with their tongues as they ate them. When I got to him, he looked up with his tail wagging. He didn't say anything. But his eyes seemed to be saying silently, "I want my children to eat." I felt sorry for him. I even shed tears. I thought that if I were to feed my children, I would be hungry.

I mean, motherly love.

I am telling you this because I remember the love of the big mouse and the love of the black cat. These are just animals. How do you, as daughters, value the love of a human mother who cherishes the Three Jewels? By what yardstick and scale? Think about it.

Daughters are the ones who have strong ideas. So I want mothers and fathers to have a clear vision. So that the obstacles that are blocking our daughters will be removed. If these obstacles are gone, our daughters' fortunes will be open. Their honor will be open. Their families will be comfortable. And that's not all.

Recite the Deewatapati. Recite with full faith. You will definitely feel better.

Daughters encourage their husbands to wake up early in the morning and worship God with auspiciousness and grace. It will happen.

Don't touch a wallet that has holes in it. Don't touch a patch. Don't break a makeup mirror.

I will also answer the question of the daughter from a faraway land who asked about the ritual of offering fire and wind to the Buddha. Take only the Friday calculated in that country, at that hour. It will be successful.

Now - I believe that you will be satisfied to some extent with what you want to know, what you want to happen but don't, and what you are feeling overwhelmed by.