Seeing the black lacquer tray on which sat coffee cups with coffee spilled into the saucers, Way Way thought, It’s just as well they were brought in only after he left.
7. Traditional turban-like headgear worn by men.
8. The length of the longyi, and the fact that it was not brand-new, indicates the wearer’s servant status.
9. A dessert made from a special kind of rice.
10. A pungent, anchovy-like fish paste used widely in Burmese cooking and also served as an accompaniment to rice and raw or cooked vegetables.
11. Names of large British trading firms.
12. A polite term referring to Indians, also used as a form of address.
13. The ceremony initiating a young boy into the Buddhist monkhood. It is always celebrated as lavishly as the family’s means permit.
14. The speaker uses bogyi, a term of address referring to Englishmen.
The 8th day of the waning moon in December.
Dear daughter,
I am replying to your letter. I am glad to hear that you will try to abide by the advice and precepts I wrote to you about in my last letter.
I would like to further explain the Four Noble Truths of the Most Excellent Law, to help your understanding as you meditate upon them.
The Law of Truth has four principles; they are the principle of pain and suffering, the principle of the origin of pain and suffering, the principle of the cessation of pain and suffering, and the principle of the Way. Of these, the principle of pain and suffering and the principle of their origin are of this world; the principle of their cessation and the principle of the Way go beyond this world.
The pain of being born, the pain of growing old, the pain of sickness, the pain of living with those we do not love, the pain of separation from those we do love, either in life or by death … such instances of the principle of pain afflict all living beings. Those who are afflicted by such suffering cannot be happy. Those who have themselves experienced it know the principle of pain to be a fact. Until suffering and unendurable pain comes one may, perhaps, live in contentment, but grief and mourning can consume the sufferer like a fire ablaze. If you examine the origin of the principle of pain and suffering, you will find that it lies in the tug of desire and the deceit of ignorance.
My daughter, the desire represented by sexual love leads to new life and the renewal of existence. If one is too attached to life in this plane of existence, this in itself is the principle of origination that brings pain into being, through desire and wanting.
This unworthy Law of Desire inevitably gives rise to suffering and misery. Each living person, each living creature, wishes to experience sensual pleasure but does not know or think that this will lead to pain and suffering.
The extinguishing of all suffering is Nirvana, which is freedom from greed and freedom from all defilements. The state of Nirvana is perfect calm and serenity, with no more death, change, or rebirth for mankind or celestial beings. The noble Law of Nirvana is the concern of the contemplative monk who is capable of winning the knowledge or wisdom of Nirvana … The capacity to see everything in a state of flux can be attained by ascetics through practicing for eons … a hundred thousand or hundreds of thousands of years.
To achieve this ultimate goal of Nirvana, there is the Eightfold Noble Path, which consists of the eight rules of right conduct. These eight rules can carry you clear of the suffering of wrong living. They can reduce greed, anger, delusion, and other such defilements to nothing.
The Eightfold Noble Path consists of:
Right Understanding (Comprehension)
Right Resolution (Aims, Intention)
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Energy (Effort)
Right Mindfulness (Minding what is right)
Right Concentration (Meditation)
These eight rules of the Way are related to this world and the other world, whether you are concerned with the way you are living in this world or whether you are trying to attain Nirvana.
In short, daughter, of these eight the most important is Right Understanding. It is important, daughter, to be able to see things as they truly are, since it is only in this way that we become virtuous.
My daughter, once you have the right understanding, you will then have right intentions, you will say the right words, you will perform the right actions, you will live rightly. You will put forth the effort to be diligent in the right, you will be heedful of the right, and your mind will be fixed on what is true.
If you do not understand things rightly, your viewpoint will be wrong, your views will be falsified and will lead you to wrong action. You will live wrongly, your efforts will be for the wrong, and you will constantly be fixed in falsehood.
Not everyone can at all times hold to the right understanding of the Way. At times they will see rightly and at times wrongly, but the right views are always of the highest importance. In the other world, however, the right view or Truth will always prevail. It is steadfast and indestructible.
Dear daughter, your mother feels bound to write this exhortation to you. It comes with a special love so that you may be able to keep in your heart the Eightfold Path, which contains precepts for our lives in this world. As I wrote in my October letter, keep in mind and practice charity, duty, knowledge (knowing right things from wrong), almsgiving, wisdom, and purity of conscience.
Those who are alert and mindful are able to do more meritorious deeds than those who are negligent and unmindful. Only those who have a sense of shame and fear can be virtuous, while those who are brazen and shameless cannot have good morals. Therefore, I urge you to cultivate the seven rules of virtue.
Do not worry about me. I am meditating and practicing the Law so as to be free from the bonds of rebirth in the 37 planes of existence.
Thila Sari
Red Cave Stream
Sagaing Hills
Way Way’s voice trembled towards the end of the letter, as she read it aloud. U Po Thein, reclining on the armchair, was listening intently, his legs extended on the wooden arms.
As soon as Way Way finished reading, Daw Thet sputtered sarcastically, “Oh sure, now she’s a holy person devoted to the service of religion, without the cares and entanglements of existence, at ease and at peace …. Then, as though deep in thought, she pressed down with her thumb on the ashes of her unlighted, partially smoked cheroot and gazed into space.
Way Way controlled her welling tears from flowing onto the letter she held in her hand. U Po Thein coughed, cleared his throat, and sat up to spit. From where she sat, Way Way could see clearly the blood that streaked his spittle in the cuspidor. Her face filled with alarm as she bent her head to avoid looking at it. Her tears flowed down and blurred the words of the letter.
U Po Thein said, “When you reply, daughter, don’t say anything about my not being well. Let your mother meditate with a calm and peaceful mind.”
Way Way remained quiet, her head bowed. Her mother’s face as it had looked before she became a nun entered Way Way’s mind. Her mother had been a beautiful woman, as beautiful and gentle in person as she was in thought and disposition. Since Way Way had lived close to her mother till the age of twelve, she was able to recall in