1st Ordination of Monks & Novices Ceremony Pt. 2


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April 10th 2010
Published: April 10th 2010
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Today was day two of the "Collective Ceremony of Monks Ordination and Novices Novitiation" at the Panditarama Meditation Centre at Smithfield. I think the event is called "Ya Han Khan Shin Pyu" in Burmese. The day started early for the novices and monks, they woke at about 5am for meditation then breakfast. I woke a few hours after them and got to the centre about 8:45am.

The novices (children) were happy and full of life. They had obviously enjoyed their first night in the dormitory with their fathers and other novices. It was good to see them so happy and smiling. The day was set to be wonderful as far as the weather was concerned (about 28 degrees C, fine and sunny).

At about 8am the adults had gone to a Buddhist monastery at Canley Vale (about 20 minutes from the Panditarama centre) for the ordination ceremony for the monks. I got a lift there with Ohnmar and Mum.

The monks were all sitting together under a sun shelter in an area that was clearly marked off as out of bounds to people who were not involved in the ordination. The designated area was clearly shown by a permanent square marked on the ground thanks to a shovel edge line in the lawn. Oh, the monks with the lighter coloured robes in the photos were Laos monks who had also been invited to the ceremony.

From what I could understand Sayadaw U Pannathami (the Abbot of the Panditarama Meditation Centre) explained to the monks, among many things, that they only need four basic essentials in life:

1. Shelter,
2. Food,
3. Health and medicine,
4. Robes.

When you consider the above, anything beyond this is a “want” not a “need”.

Following the ordination ceremony, we returned to the Panditarama Centre for lunch. This consisted mainly of the well known Burmese fish soup “mon-hin-ga”. Believe me they cooked up a huge pot of this dish as it had to feed a lot of people. It tastes wonderful with some coriander leaves and lemon or lime juice. It has noodles, plus an egg included and is very filling. There were also lots of desserts, fruits and drinks available. The kitchen and dining area at the centre were abuzz with activity.

I shared my lunch with friends and like everyone else in the dining room; we had plenty to talk about as we caught up on recent happenings and news. With my lunch companions, we discussed the health benefits of green tea, lemons, persimmons and all manner of things. Apparently persimmons are very good for blood circulation - a good tip for someone like me who has suffered a heart problem. I also learnt that there is an Indonesian Buddhist centre in Sydney, this is such a diverse city - I love it.

After lunch Sayadaw U Pannathami gave a Dhamma talk which kept everyone interested for some time. Dhamma is a Pali word (the language that was spoken at the time of the Buddha). It is the Buddhist version of scriptures. A Dhamma talk is essentially a Buddhist version of a sermon or religious lecture given by a monk. Whilst I do not understand Burmese or much Pali, this is not necessary to recognise and feel Sayadaw U Pannathami’s humour and affection for the people who attend the centre. My friends at the centre do their best to translate the overall meaning of these Dhamma talks, but perfect understanding is not really required to share the meaning that these talks and the Dhamma give to peoples lives.

Following the Dhamma talk there was a wonderful ceremony with a procession of all the monks and novices, everyone attending had the opportunity to give to them, items such as soaps, tooth paste, etc. I think the Pali term for giving is “dana” and this ceremony was similar to monks in South East Asia when they go on their alms round to collect food. You may have noticed in the photos for my previous blog entry that all the novices and prospective monks were given robes and an alms bowl.

That was the conclusion for me for a very full and interesting experience at the Panditarama Centre, yesterday afternoon and today. Before I left I thanked Sayadaw U Pannathami for the wonderful ceremonies. He mentioned that the centre will be holding a metta meditation retreat in August; this will be a weekend retreat I think. Loving kindness meditation begins with the yogi cultivating loving kindness towards themselves, their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, and then their enemies or those they dislike, and all sentient beings. Obviously, to radiate metta to those you do not like would be a challenge worth investigating. Let me know if this interests you and I can send you the details of the retreat once I have them.



(* Well it is Ohnmar’s mother and it would be unfair of me to say that she is my Burmese Mum as she is not that much older than me, but Mum suits her so much! That is what I have always called her and the name will stick forever as far as I am concerned.)


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13th April 2010

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu
14th April 2010

I should be thanking you for inviting me to this wonderful event!

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