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CONSIDER
"Don't stay all mussed up and messy like this, son," he said.
I think it was because I had a fever that Sayadaw came to my room. It is very rare for Sayadaw to come into to his students' rooms. It was when he came in and looked at the place where I was lying that he spoke the words above. If it were I, I would have had to say something, too. You would have to say that the place was messy enough to make Sayadaw want to say something. On my cot there was just one thin piece of cloth. There was no mat. Having been in use for a long time, even the pieces of clothing holding the thin little piece of cloth down at the corners were ragged in spots and quite dirty. Though I knew it was a little messy and dirty like that, I was satisfied thinking, "Just be content with austerity." The practices of contentment and austerity are indeed good. Nonetheless, Sayadaw had to admonish me because of how messy and dirty it was. That's a good example of how Sayadaw likes neatness and cleanliness.
Having lived at the Amarapura Mahâgandâyone, the author emulates the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw's way of living, which was not luxurious. You wouldn't find a wide, luxurious mattress atop the bed Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw slept in. It was just a simple, tidy, compact one. The sheets on his mat, too, were clean and neat. They were not ragged or dirty like the author's at all. The way they both cleanliness and neatness is another similarity between the Shwe Taung Gon Sâsana Yeiktha Sayadaw and the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw. They both really like to keep themselves clean, to keep the things they use neat, and to the environment around them clean. At the Mahâgandâyone Monastery and at the Shwe Taung Gon Yeiktha, respectively, they are each concerned about keeping their place clean.
It is said that once some foreigners who came to the Mahâgandâyone wondered how such a extensive monastery was kept so clean and neat. When they asked the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw, he replied, "By working in accord with the advice of the Buddha." It's quite true. In the Vinaya, the Buddha laid down rules of conduct for keeping monasteries clean.
Sayadaw left the room after giving the words of advice above. He had a devotee send over a mat to the author's place. It was an Indian sleeping mat, which I spread over the thin old piece of cloth, which had served so well. I have been using it ever since. Though Sayadaw had it sent over, I didn't really want to take it. I only accepted it to go along with Sayadaw's wishes. One more well-wisher offered yet another mat, which I did not want to take either. It was only after considering his good-will and faith that I accepted that one, as well. I spread that on top of the other. Then I spread a robe as a sheet on top of that. I guess I had quite a pile of mats.
Before the author came to the Mahasi Sâsana Yeiktha, I heard one Sayadaw say, "I've heard that at the Mahasi Sâsana Yeiktha the younger monks compete with one another to have the best mats and things. You shouldn't emulate that style. Low-minded people probably think much of that kind of luxurious style. High-minded people would
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