Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

In one of podcasts of Mahayana teacher I heard about Burmese tradition, that have not formal meditation, only awareness practice.

Even at retreats, participants should do only simple everyday tasks and should be aware what in these tasks they like, dislike and indifferent.

Could somebody tell me something about teachers of these tradition?

Perhaps you were listening to Thich Nhat Hanh?

Mindfulness of Daily Activities is part of formal meditation practice in the Burmese tradition. One should also apply these principles in daily life, when not on a retreat, but one still needs to do some formal meditation whenever possible.

A Discourse on the Mālukyaputta Sutta also explains about how to practice bare awareness. Having heard the teachings, Mālukyaputta, went away and practised, becoming an Arahant.

The same teaching was given to Bāhiya, who had very mature perfections. He attained Arahantship on hearing a very brief teaching from the Buddha, while he was on his almsround. He was singled out by the Buddha as the one who gained Arahantship faster than anyone else. Some meditators thinks this means that they can also gain “instant enlightnement” by practising this method. If only! With inferior perfections, we will have to work hard to develop bare awareness, until it is strong enough to lead to deep insights.

there is ajahn Naeb tradition

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: The same teaching was given to Bāhiya, who was had very mature perfections. He attained Arahantship on hearing a very brief teaching from the Buddha, while he was on his almsround. He was singled out by the Buddha as the one who gained Arahantship faster than anyone else. Some meditators thinks this means that they can also gain “instant enlightnement” by practising this method. If only! With inferior perfections, we will have to work hard to develop bare awareness, until it is strong enough to lead to deep insights.org/guidelines

I've never heard it explained like that. Thanks!

robertk wrote:there is ajahn Naeb tradition

There is, but that is a Thai tradition, not Burmese.

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:The same teaching was given to Bāhiya, who was had very mature perfections.

Indeed. He was able to communicate with a devata who was a former blood-relation of his before he had even heard of the Buddha.

Now while he was in seclusion, this reflection arose in the mind of Bahiya of the Bark-cloth: "Am I one of those in the world who are arahats or who have entered the path to arahatship?"

Then a devata who was a former blood-relation of Bahiya of the Bark-cloth understood that reflection in his mind. Being compassionate and wishing to benefit him, he approached Bahiya and said: "You, Bahiya, are neither an arahant nor have you entered the path to arahatship. You do not follow that practice whereby you could be an arahant or enter the path to arahatship."

"Then, in the world including the devas, who are arahats or have entered the path to arahatship?"

"There is, Bahiya, in a far country a town called Savatthi. There the Lord now lives who is the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One. That Lord, Bahiya, is indeed an arahant and he teaches Dhamma for the realization of arahatship."

Then Bahiya of the Bark-cloth, profoundly stirred by the words of that devata, then and there departed from Supparaka.

--Ud 1.10

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:Perhaps you were listening to Thich Nhat Hanh?

Thank you for your answer No, this speaker were Ken McLeod He told about small burmese tradition, that absolutely have not formal meditation.

Perhaps Sayadaw U Tejaniya?

http://sayadawutejaniya.org/teachings/

bodom wrote:Perhaps Sayadaw U Tejaniya?

http://sayadawutejaniya.org/teachings/

Thank you, but this tradition must have not formal meditations

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:

robertk wrote:there is ajahn Naeb tradition

There is, but that is a Thai tradition, not Burmese.

It actually is of Burmese origin. Achan Naeb's teacher was a Burmese monk.

She is telling that in her story how she met him

" Then unexpectedly I had a chance to meet with a Burmese monk. Burmese people are very religious. They make merit regularly. The Burmese always make merit, believing that it helps support life. When they start a new business, at whatever place, with the purpose of making merit they build a Wat near the area and invite monks to come and stay. There were some Burmese people who had a gem mine in the jungle at Kanchanaburi province [Thailand]. They invited a Burmese monk to stay there for a year, and then took him back home. [27]

Later on, because of his reputation, some other Burmese in Talat Noi, Bangkok, invited this monk again. They invited him because he was an expert in the Three Baskets. He was really an expert—it took him fifteen years to complete his studies. It’s not that he merely graduated from studying the Baskets and that was enough. Once he’d completed his studies, he still had to adapt the meaning or substance of everything he had learned to make the different teachings compatible with each other. Sometimes the same thing is described one way in the Basket of Discourses(Suttanta), another way in the Basket of Phenomenology(Abhidhamma), and another way in the Basket of Discipline(Vinaya) [the same thing may be called by different names even though the meaning is the same]. If the whole range of meaning of a particular teaching is not understood, one will not see how the different descriptions are actually consistent with each other. "

http://dhammagarden.jimdo.com/texts/tex ... b-s-story/

Achan Naeb attained stream-entry after a few months practising with this monk. And it is indeed a practice where you do no formal meditation, at least no sitting meditation as we know it.

derwaldgaenger wrote:

bodom wrote:Perhaps Sayadaw U Tejaniya?

http://sayadawutejaniya.org/teachings/

:anjali:

Thank you, but this tradition must have not formal meditations :(

I agree with Bodom it sounds like Sayadaw U Tejaniya is described, while there is sitting and walking meditation there is no technique as such, I remember Sayadaw being asked why do people meditate at the centre when the teaching is about moment to moment awareness and he replied "So they don't go around getting themselves into trouble".

bodom wrote:Perhaps Sayadaw U Tejaniya?

http://sayadawutejaniya.org/teachings/

No. He was ordained in 1996. Ajahn Naeb is from a completely different generation. The article linked to above is a talk given by Ajahn Naeb in 1976.