TONE TONE AND FRIENDS XIII

Friends’ discuss message to Nibban Stall keepers, helpers, and Attendees.

Expansion

Friend: My question: Are you in favor of supporting more and more unnecessary expansion? Think carefully.

Temple attendance level permitted: 130  (for two properties)

Dhamma Hall occupancy allowed: Say 200.

Friend: That means Hall accommodation is already more than the permitted 130.

Friend: Not only that! You know how it goes. The more the merrier!

They squeezed in even more into the Dhamma Hall.

Friend: How much more do you think?

Friend: From monks’ videos, it could be up to 1,000.

Friend: Wow! Why, then, is there a need for a guest shed next to the Dhamma Hall?

Friend: Isn’t it to house EVEN MORE AND MORE overflow guests from the Hall?

Friend: Of course!

Friend: Gosh! Isn’t this overdoing a good thing? Don’t know when to stop.

Friend: Yes, “Yalay lolay, o tazay.” Get more, need more, oh (hungry) ghost!

Many many times over

Friend: Cramming in more people into the guest shed, in addition to the Dhamma Hall. Won’t it be exceeding the permitted 130 attendance level, many more times over?

Definitely!

Friend: Would exceeding the legal 130 permit level many times over, be the way to go?

Definitely not!

Friend: Won’t it be like “pulling the tiger’s tail,” once too often? Or, “pulling it too hard”?

Friend: When caught, would the monk again bad mouth the former trustees?

Remember when the incomplete Dhamma Hall was red tagged, he allegedly told people that the trustees must have snitched to the City. Unfortunate scapegoats!

Friend: Would you be getting “ku tho or Ah ku tho” for possibly and unwittingly helping to close down a temple? That is, helping raise funds for the shed to house “excess” people and go against the City Permit.

Friend: In a City inspection or a neighbor complaint, you already know what will be the outcome. The Permit will be revoked immediately!

Friend: Even Thagyar min cannot come down and help (see public hearings in prior posts). Tough luck! You are on your own.

Use your head!

Potential Problem

Friend: The guest shed would naturally take away space. This space previously had absorbed “surplus” cars. It prevented them from parking elsewhere. Doing this shed would cause an outflow of cars to neighbors’ frontages. This, in turn, would create potential problems with neighbors.

Friend: From past experience, you can never win in a spat with neighbors. A feisty neighbor alone can cause many headaches for the Temple.

That will be like pulling another sleeping tiger’s tail.

Friend: Never thought of that?

Look at the Permit

Friend: I have an idea! Ask the monk to show you the CUP/Conditional Use Permit. Or, better still, go check out Progressive Buddhist Association’s file at Azusa City Hall.

Friend: Yes, it’s open to the public and it’s free!

It’s an eye opener!

Friend: I have another idea. Ask the monk to publish past and future Nibban Zay Reports and the Guest Shed Project cost details plus other “construction” details.

Other Deserving causes

Friend:Why not support other local Burmese monasteries struggling to survive with their monthly payments?

Less controversial and more upfront.

Friend: How about those monks and really needy people and relatives back in the old country?

Without anyone telling you, in your heart, you already know there are far more “ku tho’s and appreciation” in helping them. You know the need is real. You know the need is great and desperate.