[ANNUAL MEETING: Dhamma Giri, India January 11, 1997 CLOSING ADDRESS]
My dear Dhamma children:
During the last few days you have had your annual discussions and meetings. Every organization has certain rites and rituals, and annual conferences are part of these: Reports must be read, committees formed, resolutions passed, and there must be a welcoming and a closing address.
But this is a Dhamma organization, and we need to have an ongoing process of introspection day by day, not just once a year. There is nothing wrong in meeting together at the beginning of the year for discussion, but see that it doesn’t become just a rite or a ritual; see that the results of the conference really are for the benefit of others. Some mistakes may have been made; now see that they do not happen in the future. There are certain good points, virtues; well, how can we increase those virtues?
We have been experimenting, because this is new for me also. Whatever history we know from Ledi Sayadaw to today is from the past era of 2,500 years. I am fortunate to be here for the beginning of the next 2,500 years when the Dhamma has to spread, and it is spreading. There is bound to be a crisis of growth, there will be difficulties, problems. I or my Dhamma sons or Dhamma daughters might make mistakes, but we should learn from those mistakes.
Last year we made some experiments which gave good results and we learned from them, and this year we will continue to experiment. The aim is to serve more and more people so that they gain the greatest benefit.
This year we will have separate teachers taking full responsibility for separate centres. Perhaps next year we will ask others to serve, as we have to train more and more teachers. We will also have some teachers who are not assigned to look after a centre, but to work on particular projects. In this way we will continue to experiment so that we pass on to future generations ideal ways of spreading Dhamma.
In two years’ time it will be 1999, which is an important year as it is both the birth centenary of my Dhamma father, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, and also we will be taking Vipassana into the next millennium. The spread of Vipassana must be so strong and pure that it continues to serve people for centuries, for the good and benefit of so many. Let us be good vehicles for the spread of Dhamma. May you all get real Dhamma energy and more strength, so that you can serve better than you have. I am happy with whatever has been done in the past, but it is just a good beginning; there is much more to do.
One task that we have accomplished is in the field of pariyatti: We have edited and are publishing all the Pāli literature—about 140 volumes—in Devanagari script. We want to collect and publish all Buddha’s words that are available in Sanskrit and other scripts, and also material that is written on palm leaves, so that we can make a comparative study of all this. We also want to investigate why the wonderful, result-oriented teaching of Vipassana was lost in this and other countries. We do not wish to condemn anybody, but the truth must be found so that such things do not happen in the future.
To complete all this we have a lot of work to do. The Dhamma family is increasing, and I want it to increase—family planning is not for us! Because Dhamma must spread, the family should be bigger and bigger, and these thousands of hands must get all the strength and energy of pure Dhamma to really work.
May Dhamma grow. May my Dhamma sons and daughters grow in Dhamma to serve others, to help others. Keep on developing your own pāramīs and at the same time help many to come out of misery. May Dhamma spread around the world. May more and more people come out of misery and enjoy the benefits of the Buddha-Dhamma teaching.
Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ