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Sayadaw from their own village.
There is respect, admiration, and affection in the way Sayadaw calls the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw just "Sayadaw", rather than "Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw" or "U Janakâbivamsa".
"Now, I still have to keep making effort so that we will be able to accept monks and older novices. Right now, there are things that are not complete, not yet totally sufficient. I expect that we will be able to accept you in the future. Later, when everything is in place, it will be fine, no doubt."
Those were the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw's words to Sayadaw-to-be. The Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha Sayadaw, took note, too.
"Sayadaw said in a gentle way, 'We can't accept you yet'. With his words, he showed the reason why, and he offered hope for the future," he says.
I have seen young monks and older novices come ask Sayadaw, now that he himself has become a Sayadaw, for permission to live at his place. At those times, he often repeats what the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw said to him. At times when he has a lot to do, he is apt to send those young monks and novices over to the author's place. At those times, I, too, speak according to the advice given by my own two teachers, the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw and the Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha Sayadaw. There are young monks and novices who write to the Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha because, having read in religious magazines about Sayadaw's brilliant success in the world of Pariyatti (practice of the Dhamma), they want to live here. There are also those who just come to check it out for themselves. If they come to see the author before they go to Sayadaw's, I explain to them about Sayadaw's attitude.
With these types of things, I see similarities between the way Sayadaw and the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw do things. From the author's perspective, these two Sayadaws have much in common. They both respect the Vinaya, even in trifling little matters. They both have a mindset of cherishing their people and the Sâsana. They have great discipline. Physically, too, they are extremely alike. The way they carry canes is the same. The way they both wear their upper and lower robes extremely neatly is the same. The way they make their collars small and neat when they make up their robes to go outside is the same. The way they want studies to be done quietly is the same. The way that things must be clean and neat in both of their monasteries is the same. The way they walk around their monasteries gripping their canes and keeping an eye on things is the same. They both have the habit of checking a piece of work meticulously. In accepting a student, they both consider that they should have not only a good mind, but also a good visage. They both follow what is appropriate, rather than what they like, in eating and living arrangements. In eating and drinking, they both arrange not to have anything unnecessary. They both regulate their students to keep them orderly and disciplined. They both have statues and images of the Buddha placed only in designated Buddha
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