I heard a song that goes, "Samsâra never rests; in it's varied ways, it goes on and on." I tried singing it in my head because it contains aspects of the Dhamma, but I couldn't. It didn't look as though I have the genes of a musician. I couldn't sing a single verse of any song.

With regard to this song, "Samsaric Existence," Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha Sayadaw once gave a warning to a certain monk. While this monk was giving a Dhamma talk, he recited the words of the song. He said that when he recited, he was careful not to let the melody come out. But as he recited, the enunciation and intonation of the song came out naturally, he said. At that time we had to give Dhamma talks in the dining hall. In fact, this talk was broadcast over a loudspeaker. Sayadaw heard the song. When Sayadaw heard the song, he was on the upper story of the Tha Htun Aung Building giving a Dhamma talk to the foreign yogis. Due to the summer heat, he was giving the talk in the alcove between the bookcases. The alcove was cool. When Sayadaw heard this song, he stopped his Dhamma talk and shouted out from the upper story of the Tha Htun Aung Building, "Don't sing!" It appeared that no one heard Sayadaw's words.

With that, Sayadaw came to my room. When I opened the door he said, "Someone in this monastery is singing during his Dhamma talk. He's gone too far. Please tell him to stop right now." He then went back. So I went down towards the dining hall. By the time I got down, his "Samsaric Existence" song came to an end.

Singing while giving a Dhamma talk is one example of something Sayadaw dislikes.

As for another thing, one monk was giving a talk in the big, new Sâdhujanatosanâ dhammasabhâ Dhamma hall. The talk was amplified. Sayadaw was on the upper story of the Tha Htun Aung Building giving a talk to the foreign yogis. This monk's voice as he gave his talk was disturbing Sayadaw who was giving his Dhamma talk. The monk's voice was loud and with the amplification it became louder. When Sayadaw went downstairs after his Dhamma talk, I could hear him saying, "Who is giving the talk now? He shouldn't be giving a talk in that kind of voice, deliberately trying to please people."

Making one's voice go up and down, pulling and tugging at the listener is another example of something Sayadaw doesn't like.

Sayadaw doesn't want to have young monks at his monastery give Dhamma talks. If the audience likes the sound of his voice, he may break, just as the first Shwegyin Sayadaw said, "loaded with fruit, a small tree's boughs bend and break." When a monk can't withstand the effects of fame and fortune, he can fall in action. Sayadaw has

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