ABSTRACT
U Thuzana is a disciple of a famous Karen monk and vegetarian, U Vinaya, who is known as the Thamanya Hsayadaw. Thamanya is the name of a hill and a monastery where U Vinaya resides north of Paan town. More than 400 monks and women ascetics live there. 1 However, U Thuzana has never acquired his master's profound wisdom. U Thuzana is not a learned Buddhist scholar who can recite the discourses of Buddha, although he has other important qualifications and is part of a long tradition of Buddhist leaders amongst the Karen in Burma. He became known for his vegan ideas—he eats only fruit and vegetables and does not allow the killing of animals and, by simplifying Buddhist ethics into the essentials of loving-kindness and non-violence, he is able to appeal to the common people in their endless experience of violence. His message and basic rules for his followers in Myaing Gyi Ngu Temple are:
No politics.
The five Buddhist precepts strictly observed. 2
No anger; no fighting.
No discussion of religious differences.
No gossip.
These rules were originally formulated by the Thamanya Hsayadaw, and this policy is said to be so popular that it has even attracted Christians who have become vegan. To achieve a peaceful mind one must live life as a vegan and avoid the killing of animals. Meditation in seclusion is another crucial means to secure merit and peace. In particular, these vegan ideas are popular amongst the Karen and contain, as we shall see in the following chapter, an important symbolic value amongst the Buddhist Karen. Being a vegan is part of the preparations for the coming of the bodhisatta and a new era of peace due to a Buddhist revival. This message, the simple rules, and the longing for peace have no doubt attracted the more than 2,000 families who live around the monastery.