MT TANT KYI SAYADAW’S DHAMMA HALL DEDICATION IV
ToneTone
EARLIER, TONE TONE’S FRIENDS WERE HAVING A DISCUSSION. IT WAS ABOUT MOUNT TANT KYI SAYADAW’S DHAMMA HALL DEDICATION CEREMONY. THE CEREMONY TOOK PLACE THREE YEARS AGO IN AZUSA, CALIFORNIA.
FRIENDS WERE CURIOUS WHY U AYE THAKA DIDN’T PUBLICIZE THE SASANA DEDICATION. HIS INACTION, EVEN AFTER REPEATED REMINDERS OR REQUESTS ON THE INTERNET, INVITES CONJECTURES.
NATURALLY, THEY CAME UP WITH SOME GUESSES.
VIEWERS, TOO, ARE WELCOME TO COME UP WITH SOME GUESSES OF THEIR OWN.
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Tone Tone and friends’ earlier discussion:
Friend: Look at these papers! I got them from the email.
Friend: What are they about?
Friend: They’re about Azusa Temple’s Libation ceremony. The ceremony took place three years ago.
Friend: Yes! It’s a dedication speech by Mt Tant Kyi Sayadaw. He had dedicated the Dhamma Hall to “Sasana.” Sasana is another word for religion.
Friend: That means the Hall had been dedicated to the general public. General public includes lay people and monks. It’s definitely not owned by certain monks or “monks in general” as some still believe.
Friend: These papers are excellent! Why didn’t U Ayethaka circulate these important dedication papers to the community? After all, they are his boss’ speech at an important and auspicious event.
Friend: You have to ask him. He publicizes everything. He has photos and videos galore! He takes pains to publicize his friends’ articles and videos that extol him.
Friend: Not everything. He is rather selective. Example: He won’t publicize the Temple permit. This permit is for only 130 attendees. This might make him look small.
Friend: Of course! For the same reason, he won’t put up a “maximum occupancy” sign in the Dhamma Hall even though it is required by law.
Friend: Coming back to the dedication speech, there were internet requests to U Ayethaka to publicize his boss’ Dhamma Hall dedication speech. For three years to now, he won’t do that.
Friend: I guess he has a reason. Probably, he disliked this dedication to Sasana. He was promoting a Sanghika dedication for monks’ ownership at the time.
Friend: I see. How selfish! Some monks have a clinging to possessions. However, per monks’ rules, they are supposed to rid themselves of material possessions.
Friend: I would venture a guess. Some monks would like to pass off to lay people and act as if they own the property.
Friend: What for?
Friend: Don’t you know? When lay people are impressed, they tend to donate more Nawa Kama moneys to the monk. “Phone ta goe gyi lo!” (Monk must have supernormal powers).
Friend: Some would like to show off to other monks, too.
Friend: Yes, bragging rights and putting the other monks down.
Friend: Well, naive people got impressed with monks who own a larger property. The saying goes, “A crow perching on a gold mountain is called a golden crow.” Probably, they have less esteem for a monk who doesn’t own a property or who owns a smaller one.
Friend: Is this what religion is all about? Owning property, showing off and passing off to lay people and other monks.
Friend: I have another guess. With the passage of time, nobody will remember this Sasana dedication to the general public.
After some time, it’s even easier for some monks to act out as if it’s owned by a monk or monks, if they feel like it. Who knows?
Friend: You might be guessing, but I am not guessing now. The fact that U Ayethaka won’t publicize this dedication speech even after repeated requests and after many years, doesn’t look good at all!
Isn’t this true?
Friend: In my opinion, he has something to hide.
Remember Thi Ha, the fella who jumped ship. He misused Azusa Temple’s sponsorship with the help of monks including U Aye Thaka.
U Aye Thaka is still keeping mum on this one, too.
Friend: Yes, we need to publicize this Sasana dedication for posterity and for newcomers.
Friend: Good! Nobody can mislead anybody, even if he wants to.
Click on “ToneTone” in the “written by Tone Tone” footnote, to see the other postings.
13 comments
ToneTone
October 10, 2010 at 6:02 pm
I remember reading many comments on “Than way zaniya statues” in the abandoned “older” Click2Myanmar and Mandalaygazette websites. There were thousands of “hits” on this topic.
U Ayethaka had posted a flyer on the older Click2Myanmar website, inviting donations for the statues. However, the statues were said to be donated for already and paid for in full.
People were questioning him on the websites why he invited repeated donations “MULTIPLE TIMES” on the SAME statues when donations were FULLY RECEIVED ALREADY.
The comments said it’s like “fraud and deceit,” similar to selling a car to 2 or 3 persons at the same time.
The 2 or 3 buyers will fight for the same car and the seller will be cheating the buyers out of their money.
ToneTone
October 11, 2010 at 4:53 am
Continuation of prior comments:
U Ayethaka won’t answer questions about Thi Ha jumping ship and misusing Temple’s sponsorship.
Why did he release Thi Ha’s passport to Thi Ha? Why didn’t he hold on to it to ensure his Burma return, as was pledged by his boss to the US Consul?
He won’t answer valid questions on “Than way zaniya” statue donations, either.
He later withdrew his “Than way zaniya” flyer from the old Click2Myanmar website and he tried to erase the topic title as well.
That title became just one funny word, “E.” In Burmese, “E” is passing bad gas or fart. How funny? Maybe an apt title, too!
Multiple donations for the same statues, is this what religion is all about?
In my opinion, NOT OFFICIALLY PUBLICIZING the SASANA dedication is a form of DECEPTION.
ToneTone
October 11, 2010 at 2:01 pm
As a contrast, U Ayethaka usually publicizes even less significant events, especially those asking for more and more donations.
Not saying the complete truth, is a LIE. Everybody knows that not being forthright and not being forthcoming is a bad trait. It is called sneaky.
Vinaya monk rules encourages forthrightness and discussions and not sneakiness.
Not publicizing the Dhamma Hall Sasana dedication, for three years up to now, has a sinister meaning.
ToneTone
October 12, 2010 at 3:47 am
Presumptions based on his not publicizing officially the Sasana declaration during the last 3 years:
Firstly, U Ayethaka can be presumed to be disloyal to his boss. He disrespects and belittles his boss’ decision relating to the Dhamma Hall’s Sasana dedication.
This would mean that he can also be regarded as being ungrateful to his boss.
He can also be presumed to be preventing many people from knowing the truth about the Sasana dedication. That would be “manipulative” and “controlling” behavior and a breach of Vinaya monk rules.
The truth is: monks don’t own Azusa Temple, but the general public does.
He can be presumed to be working for his own selfish ends but against the community and public interests,
char too lan
October 12, 2010 at 5:28 am
လောဘကြီးလှချီလား တုံတုံရရ်
မင်းပဲရေး~~ မင်းပဲရိုက်~~ မင်းပဲပြော……….
(သီချင်းဆိုတာပါနော် :))
ToneTone
October 12, 2010 at 5:09 pm
By his actions or inactions over 3 years, U Ayethaka can be presumed as unwilling to accept the Sasana dedication declaration.
For some, who are fixated on owning the Temple, the Sasana dedication can be a bitter pill to swallow. To them, the truth hurts terribly.
US laws require that Azusa Temple be publicly owned. It has been registered as a California religious non profit charitable organization.
Why shouldn’t U Ayethaka respect US laws and officially publicize the SASANA dedication declaration?
ToneTone
October 13, 2010 at 1:21 am
Some bad monks still think that they are above US laws.
In that case, they should go and consult with former Los Angeles Cardinal Mahony and see what he says.
ToneTone
October 16, 2010 at 8:40 am
Cardinal Mahony would say, “Monks are DEFINITELY NOT above US laws.”
He would also say, “Don’t feel sorry for bad monks and don’t EVER cover up for them.”
The Pope has now even given explicit instructions. The Church has to report the bad monks to the police right away. This is to enable the police to prosecute the bad monks immediately.
Why this dramatic change in policy?
ToneTone
October 16, 2010 at 5:58 pm
The Catholic Church learned a COSTLY lesson. At one time, they might not think too highly of US laws.
The California attorney general and L A mayor are both Catholics themselves. Yet, they were preparing to prosecute Cardinal Mahony on criminal charges.
The Cardinal didn’t himself commit a crime. However, he allegedly “covered up” for “criminal monks” under his charge.
ToneTone
October 17, 2010 at 9:09 pm
The Roman Catholic Church’s Los Angeles Diocese had to settle the suits for a total of US $ 440 millions. Otherwise, the amount might be much much higher and also, Cardinal Mahony might be thrown into jail for a long long time.
***Lesson: Not taking timely and proper action on bad monks is a crime.***
ToneTone
October 18, 2010 at 9:22 am
Vinaya says that good monks cannot keep quiet about some monks’ bad behavior.
This is to purify and prolong the Sasana.
The Vinaya monk rules say the good monks have to report to other monks about the offenses committed by the bad monks.
(Compare this to what the RC Church authorities did. They cover up for the bad monks and turn around and accuse the victims and others of “smearing” the Church. However, even over 2500 years ago, Buddha was more open, transparent and far seeing. He set high standards of conduct for Buddhist monks).
ToneTone
October 19, 2010 at 9:15 am
Also, a community of monks has to take action on the bad monks’ Vinaya offenses.
Vinaya also says all monks have to comply with local laws and to maintain harmony with the community. Buddha himself passed these rules.
ToneTone
October 20, 2010 at 3:01 am
I, too, donate all my 15,735 points back to Mandalay Gazette to use in whatever manner.