Yo, sit back and let me notify ya a story bout One of the more wild and respected dudes inside the Burmese Theravāda scene. We talkin bout U Thuzana Sayadaw. If u by no means heard about him, u likely livin beneath a rock while in the Kayin Point out or sumthin. This male was much more than simply a monk in a saffron robe; he was just like a pressure of character, a real-lifetime legend who altered The full vibe in the borderlands.
U Thuzana, he was the center and soul with the Myaing Gyi Ngu space. Born while in the late 40s, I feel, but Truthfully, his age didnt make a difference cause he experienced that aged-soul Vitality from the beginning. He wasnt about that extravagant metropolis everyday living in Yangon. Nah, he was a jungle guy. He liked the mountains, the trees, and buildin matters. And when I say buildin, I signify buildin. He experienced this obsession with pagodas. In all places he went, BAM—One more pagoda. White kinds, gold ones, significant kinds, modest ones. It absolutely was like he was tryin to pin the earth down with holiness. People say he constructed hundreds. Can u consider? Many of us cant even end a LEGO established, and this monk is out in this article constructin monuments in the middle of a war zone.
Talking of war, thats the place items get serious messy and actual exciting. U Thuzana wasnt just sittin in a very temple chanting all day long. He was deep from the politics with the Karen folks. Again within the 90s, issues had been heated in between the KNU as well as gov. Thuzana, he chose to break up and fashioned the DKBA—the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. Now, a monk leadin a military sounds crazy, ideal? Like, entirely in opposition to The foundations. But for his followers, he was protectin the religion. He made his troopers stop eatin meat. Yeah, a complete army of vegetarians! That’s legit some hardcore self-control. He wanted a "pure" land where by people today lived because of the Dhamma, or a minimum of his Edition of it.
But hey, dont think he was just U Thuzana Sayadaw a few armed forces person. His followers, man, they worshipped the ground he walked on. They referred to as him "Sayadaw," which implies Wonderful Instructor, they usually intended it. He had this aura. If u went to Myaing Gyi Ngu, u would see Many persons livin there only to be around him. No booze, no meat, just pure devotion. It was like a bit utopia he carved out of the chaos. Even when the surface environment was lookin at him sideways reason for the conflict, towards the locals, he was there daddy, there protector, there saint.
I recall hearin tales bout how he’d just walk into perilous locations and no-one would contact him. He had that "metta" (loving-kindness) power, Or even individuals had been just scared of his spiritual mojo. He passed absent in 2018 in a clinic in Bangkok, and guy, the funeral was substantial. Like, A large number of individuals cryin, monks almost everywhere, a true unhappy day with the Burmese Buddhist Group. Even now, his legacy is everywhere you go. U see his deal with on posters in tiny tea stores or stickers on trucks drivin throughout the mud in Kayin State.
He was a posh dude, for sure. A number of people say he was a peacemaker, some say he brought on far more problems. But u cant deny his impression. He wasnt just talkin bout Nirvana; he was tryin to make it on earth, a single brick and just one vegetarian soldier at any given time. He lived his lifetime his way, raw and unfiltered, much like the jungle he identified as household. Regard into the old male, U Thuzana. He was definitely one among a kind, a true OG on the Theravāda custom.