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it is necessary to exhort everyone to build Dhamma pagodas in their hearts.
When a pagoda is built with respect it is free of faults; if it is built carelessly it is not faultless. The thing is to build them with care.
In the Mahâgandâyone Monastery at Amarapura there is a pagoda. Encircling the pagoda is a brick wall. People make offerings of flowers and oil lamps. There is a large figure of a candle with a electric bulb at the tip which is turned on to make an offering of light. There is a flower pot in the shape of a boat, with flowers growing in it to make offerings with. The Buddha images have been put in a designated building to be worshiped. They may not be put in any other monastery buildings. No pictures may be hung in that Buddha room. It is not appropriate to act or speak disrespectfully in front of the Buddha images.
At the Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha, before the Sâdhujanatosanâ Dhammasabhâ Building came to be, the dining hall had to be used as a Dhamma hall. So a separate Buddha room was set up for the Buddha image. An electric light is used to make offerings of light. There are also flower pots to put offerings of flowers in.
There is another Buddha room in the Tha Tun Aung Building. Sayadaw doesn't permit Buddha images or pictures to be placed in any other rooms or buildings. He has them put in designated Buddha rooms. The one in the Tha Tun Aung Building is filled with a diverse collection of Buddha images. There you find statues from Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Malaysia, among others. Sayadaw also has pictures and paintings of the Buddha displayed there. He doesn't allow them in other rooms.
The Buddha room in the Tha Tun Aung Building was there even before the Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha came to be. This Buddha room is a separate room to itself. The one in the dining hall is a just a curtained off enclosure. It is only to be opened when people are paying respects to the Buddha and making offerings. The rest of the time it is to remain closed.
Now that the Dhamma hall has been completed, a Buddha room has been built on the third floor. It is a fully enclosed room, protected by glass. On the walls, there is a mural of a natural landscape with forest and mountains. Various trees and flowers grow between streams and waterfalls. There are also sun and moon lights; when one is turned on, sunlight or moonlight shines forth. The Buddha image of cast bronze is sublime, as well.
The ordination hall, too, has three floors. On the third floor of the ordination hall is another Buddha room. When coming to give a Dhamma talk in front of the Buddha room, Sayadaw has a regular routine. First, he places the fan he is carrying on his Dhamma throne. Then, before he gives his talk, and after as well, he stands facing the
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