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So I tell them, 'You all probably don't know that I go to Rajagaha, Savatthi, and Vesali (names of cities of India in the Buddha's time) every day. Going there daily, I know human nature very well. Studying the Tipitaka scriptures every day I come across the literature on human nature daily in Rajagaha, Savatthi, and Vesali."
Apparently, Sayadaw wants his students to have knowledge of the world of the lay people, in accord with this saying of the Mahâgandâyone Sayadaw.
Once, Sayadaw said, "You all should read through the Pâli Canon for about an hour a day."
I have heard that some Sayadaws, having read through and done honor to the entire Canon, go on to read and do honor to the Commentaries and Sub-Commentaries every day.
Children of the Buddha really need to be in contact with the Buddha's words at all times. They should be well-versed in his teachings. They should assimilate them. They should be accomplished in them. If they stay far removed from the Buddha-Dhamma, their faith is likely to diminish. A life lived removed from and out of touch with the Buddha-Dhamma would difficult to call the life of a child of the Buddha. It is not enough to study and pass exams, and then, thinking one is done, not to strive to become well-versed in the words of the Buddha. Monks and nuns as well as lay people who call themselves Buddhists, the sons and daughters of the Buddha, really ought to study to be well-versed. It is difficult for lay people to study in the Pâli language. So, they need Buddhist literature in their own language to study. Only then will we be able to spread our Buddha-Sâsana even beyond its current range. That must also be the reason that Sayadaw instructs his students to read the scriptures daily.
Each time we purchase a new vehicle, before we have ridden in it, Sayadaw has the monks under his tutelage recite verses in the vehicle. Sayadaw does the reciting himself, too. There is one verse which Sayadaw has a habit of reciting more often than that for the cars.
That Pâli verse goes, [From the Dhammapada, XXVI: Brahmins, 387]
Divâ tapati âdicco, rattimâbâti candimâ;
Sannaddho khattiyo tapati, jhâyî tapatî brâhmano;
Atha sabbamahoratti?, buddho tapati tejasâ;
Etena saccavajjena, hotudha sabbama?gala?.
In English, [as translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (except the last line, which Sayadaw adds)],
By day shines the sun;
by night, the moon;
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