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But I had never before heard Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha Sayadaw exhort anyone to work like this. However, having heard Sayadaw give this exhortation for the first time, I became interested in this practice of declaring a truth, making a wish and then undertaking one's task.
It was only an interest, however. I didn't do it myself, neither effectively nor ineffectively. I remembered reading in the Pâli scriptures how many good people of the olden days, such as the Bodhisatta as the Quail King, the parents of the Bodhisatta Suvaòòasâma and King Mahâkappina had accomplished their aims through declaring a truth and making a wish. One can find examples of declaring a truth and radiating mettâ in protective verses such as the Ratana Sutta and the Factors of Enlightenment Sutta. In this day and age one can read in religious magazines here and there accounts also of success through having declared a truth, made a wish and then doing one's work. Still, I wasn't very interested. For that reason I didn't get around to.trying it wholeheartedly myself.
At this point I recalled a small event related by Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw of Amarapura. In a monastery in a certain village, there was a novice who was ill with a fever, he said. One monk living in the monastery was taking care of the sick novice. He wanted the novice's fever to be cured quickly. I guess that monk was one whom the novice respected. The monk stated, 'I have liked that girl in the village, Mee Chin, for a long time. Even now I like her. By the power of this truth, may this novice's fever be cured.' It was said that the sick novice laughed uproariously when he heard this declaration. He rocked back and forth with laughter, broke out in a sweat and the fever went away, according to Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw. One can't tell whether the fever was cured through the power of the oath, or through the sweating that resulted from his laughter. However, it is true that the disease was cured.
In the story of Kaòhadîpâyana, a young boy was succumbing to a snakebite. His parents and the Great Hermit spoke the truth openly, according to what was in their hearts. On account of their declarations of the truth, the effect of the snake's venom wore off. In this instance, the young boy didn't laugh as the feverish novice did.. For this reason it is apparent that the venom wore off due to the power of declaring the truth.
Another incident created more interest in the declaration of truth. This took place at Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha. From the time Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha Sayadaw had arrived at Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha, for about four years he occupied a room on the upper story of the Tha Htun Aung building. author Some young monks, including the author, also lived in other rooms on the upper story. Later, after the Chan Tha Myaing building was finished, Sayadaw moved there.
One day, while Sayadaw was staying in the Tha Htun Aung building, my sponsor for entering the monkhood, Daw Khin Saw Nyunt, came to see Sayadaw. I was also present at the time. We met in Sayadaw's room. As Sayadaw and Daw Khin Saw Nyunt's group were intimate, being teacher and devotees, Daw Khin Saw Nyunt spoke openly with Sayadaw about her life-problems. Sayadaw was advising her, keeping mettâ and
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