He is a special being called a weizzar. Now what is a weizzar? A weizzar is a superhuman being because he has super natural powers. Weizzar is a Burmese word which is derived from Pali. The word weizzar means wisdom. For example, when we recite the Nine Virtues of the Buddha, we say" vija carana sampano". This means that the Buddha has Eight Wisdom powers.

Bo Min Gaung

These wisdom powers are:

1. Pubbe Niwartha ... the ability to see previous lives.
2. Deibba Setku ......the Divine eye. The ability to see objects which are far away and objects which are very, very small.
3. Arthe wetkhaya nyana .... the wisdom that arises when a person attains Arahat magga and Arahata palla. There are four stages of magga nyana and four stages of palla nyana. Palla is a Pali word which means fruition. A person who attains Arahat nayna or Arahat wisdom escapes from Samsara or the endless rounds of rebirths and enters Nivarna. (this means that the Buddha is pure and does not have any of the defilements of greed, anger and ignorance.)
4. Vipassa nyana ..... the ability to see mind and matter as they really are. The ability to see the three characteristics of mind and matter, namely impernance, suffering and no-soul. The word no-soul is also translated as anatta. This concept really means that the processes of mind and matter that we see all around us are occurring according to their own process.
5. Saytaw Pariya nyana .... the ability to know the minds of others.
6. Mano Mayeiddi nayna ...the ability to create in your own body another similar body by the power of the mind.
7. Deibba Thawta nyana .... the Divine Ear. The ability to hear sounds that are far away.
8. Eiddi wida nayna ....the ability to fly in the air, the ability to dive into the earth, the ability to walk on water, the ability to create multiple bodies, the ability to be at many places at the same time, etc. In the Hindu tradition the Burmese word "eiddi" is pronounced as "iddi". In Burmese, "eidi" is translated as super normal powers. All weizzars like Bo Min Gaung have one or more of these super normal powers. That is why we say that the weizzars are more than man and equal to or almost equal to devas (celestial beings). The Burmese word "theiddi" is a derivation of the sanskrit word "iddi".

The first time I learnt about Bo Min Gaung was when my father told me about him and I thank him deeply to this day for introducing this holy man to me. let me make myself clear on one point at the outset. Bo Min Gaung is not an Arahat. That means he has not reached the final step of Arahatship as yet. He has deferred this to a later date and his goal is to live till the day the new Buddha, the Meitreya comes to this world. In Burmese this Buddha is called Arein Meideiya Buddha.

As a boy I was facinated by the movie "superman". One day my father told me, "do you know my son, we also have superman in our culture and tradition". I became very excited and asked my father to tell me all he knew about Bo Min Gaung. My father said, "son, Bo Min Gaung is an extraordinary man. You know, your uncle Bagyi Kyawt has actually met Bo Min Gaung in person. Bagyi Kyawt told me about his experience with Bo Min Gaung."

One day after dinner, our family was sitting on the veranda looking at the stars and drinking Burmese tea and eating laphet. Laphet by the way is pickled tea leaves made into a sort of salad Burmese style. It contains dried prawns, fried garlic, sesemum seeds, peanut oil, salt, fish sauce and sliced tomatoes. It is eaten after dinner.

The sky was clear and we could see the half moon in the sky. I could smell the fragrance of the jasmine flowers from our garden. Sipping my cup of tea, I asked my father, "Pa Pa why do men want to become weizzars?"

"I don't know how to answer this question because I am not too much interested in these things as much as Bagyi Thwin". Bagyi Thwin was my father's elder brother who worked as Inspector of Schools in Mawlamyine. Bagyi in Burmese means father's elder brother. Mawlamyine is a town in southern Burma and is the capital of Mon State.

Thus I got my lead and waited to get the chance to ask this question to Bagyi Thwin. One day I got lucky as Bagyi Thwin came to Rangoon on a visit. The first chance I got I asked this question to Bagyi Thwin. "Bagyi Thwin, why do men want to become weizzars?"

"I will tell you the answer if you will do some meditation", he said.

"Why?", I asked. "What has that got to do with my question?" sounding a little annoyed.

"Well, what I am going to tell you has a lot to do with meditation so that is why I want you to get some training from me." I was in my seventh standard at that time and I was more interested in playing than studying. I studied only enough to pass my exams. I belived at that time that life was more fun playing than studying.

"What do I have to do Bagyi Thwin?", I asked a little impatiently.

"It is quite easy", he said. "You just have to sit still for about one hour".

"What!", my jaw dropped. "One whole hour, doing nothing, just sitting. This is terrible."

"Yes, one whole hour, doing nothing, just sitting still. You will learn to like it", he said.

That was how I got introduced to meditation and all the wonderful stories about the weizzars and the holy men of Burma.

Buddhist saints who flew in the air. Weizzars who could create multiple bodies and heal people.

My first meditation lesson

I got my first lesson in meditation from Bagyi Thwin. I remember very well that day as I was in my tenth standard. I was not very strong in mathematics so Bagyi Thwin volunteered to teach me maths and physics. At that time we were living at No. 66 Prome Road in a house that belonged to the Burma Railways. I sat on the floor in from of Bagyi Thwin in the living room which was on the ground floor of the bungalow type house. The lower portion of the house was made of brinks and the upper portion was made of wood. Thus, it was very cool in the summer months. I remember it well. It was at night at about 9 p.m. I sat alone in the room with Bagyi Thwin.

He said, " The main object meditation is to calm your mind and focus your mind on an object. You have to sit still and try to make sure that your mind doesn't wander about".

I was quite worried. I dreaded the though that I had to sit there for one hour doing nothing. This was going to be torture. I could not see the point in sitting there, closing my eyes and allow myself to suffer the physical pain of sitting on the floor cross-legged.

"The first thing you have to do is to pray to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Shanga and offer your mind and body to the Triple Gems. Then you have to take the five precepts. This is called pyinsa sila - it means the five precepts. Pyinsa means five and sila means precepts. When you take the five precepts in front of the Buddha, it is better if you can sit in front of the altar and pay respects to the Triple Gems by doing the gadaw three times. Then you should protect yourself by saying a protective mantra and making a mental fence around you. This is to protect you from evil spirits which may wish to harm you. You must remember that we are not alone in this world.

I thought about the fact that we were not alone in this world. In Burma, every young boy or girl is told that there is the spiritual world. There were thirty one planes of existence, we were told. As a boy I often thought what all these beings looked like. I mustered up enough strength to ask Bagyi Thwin about the sprititual world. He closed his eyes and remained silent for a while. Then he told me in a very calm manner, in a soft voice, "although we cannot see
them with our naked eyes, there is such a thing as the spiritual world. The spirits that are closest to us are in the plane called Satumaharit. This world is the domain of the four deva kings who guard the four corners of this earth.
The inhabitants of this plane consist of nagas, galons, gonban and rakshas.  The nagas are supernatural beings who look like dragons. However, since they
are supernatural beings, they have all the powers of the other devas. They can fly in the air and also transform themselves into human beings. In fact they sometimes mingle among human society by transforming themselves into human form. Ordinary people will not know them. Only holy men with supernatural powers can
see them with their deva eye."

"Wait a minute', I said, "what is the deva eye Bagyi Thwin'?"

"Oh that. The deva eye is also called the nat myet si. It is not that easy to get the deva eye. You have to follow a very strict discipline and do a lot of meditation."

"Can I also get the deva eye?" I asked.

"Of course. But it is not easy. First you have to purify yourself. This is the practice of sila. Sila is the act of refraining from doing evil things. You start with the Panch Sila. This is the five precepts. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not tell lies. Do not take intoxicating drinks or drugs. Do not commit sexual misconduct."

For me that is not very easy. I sometimes tell lies and also I used to kill small little birds like sparrows with my catapult. How am I going to keep the five precepts, I thought. This was going to be tough but I still wanted to have the deva eye. I wanted to see the spiritual world and see what all the nagas, galons and rakshas looked like. Were they like the beings I had seen on the Shwedagon Pagoda, I wondered. I was lost in thought.

"Now now little boy. What are you thinking about. You are day dreaming again, aren't you."  The sudden voice of Bagyi Thwin woke me from my day dream.

"Oh I was just thinking what it would be like to have the deva eye." I replied.

"It is a long way and it won't be easy. But if there is a strong will, it is possible. Now let's end this meditation session and we will do some more meditation tomorrow."

In the still of the night I could here the lonely cry of the gekko from the other side of the house. "Tauk te, tauk te, tauk te." (next page)