Saturday 3 August 2013
The Biography of most Venerable Nanda Pal Mahathero
The chief
disciple of Most respected Bana Bhante , Ven Nandapal Mahathero took the
holy oath to become a Samanera ( novice ) back in 1970 at Langadu ,
under Rangamati Hill district . The disciple of the Bhante made up
mind to study Tripitaka in Burma . With the approval of Ven. Bana
Bhante Nandapal Samanera accompanied by Uh Chandima left Tintila ,
Longodu and reached Akiyab town of Arakan province , Burma in 1972 A. D.
Burma is a Buddhist dominated country . Most of the people are
Buddhists and in that country , every Buddhist Temple is nothing but
seat of religious learning . In the big monasteries , Buddhist
scripture is taught by the celebrated Buddhist monks . It was found
disadvantage to the Nandapal samanera to learn the scripture due to lack
of their knowledge in Burmise language and Alphabets .
Nandapal Samanera started learning Burmise language with Indomitable spirit and enthusiasm . He did not feel difficult to learn from the teachers and other fellow Burmise Students . It goes without saying that the teachers were monks . His unrelenting effort at last enabled him to acquire proficiency in Burmise language within a spell of 6 months . He always used to speak Burmise so long as he stayed there . As a result , many people of that country did not understand that he was a non-Burmise . As a physical appearance between the Chakmas and Burmese are more or less similar to each other .
After acquiring proficiency in Burmises , it was easier for Nandapal Samanera to learn various Chapters of Tipitaka . He had to learn language mainly for this holy book . In the past , the 6th Buddhist conference was held in Burma during which the pure Tripitaka was codified in Burmises scripts .During his stay in that country , he mainly studied Bhikkhu Pratimoksha , Bhikkhuni Pratimoksha , Lokaniti , Khundrapath etc ..
While staying in Burma , Nandapal Samanera attained 20 years of age . One year after his going to that country , he was ordained as Bhikkhu under the patronage of a pious and rich man in 1972 A.D. The name of the bhikkhu who admitted him to the holy order was Uh Yalinda . He was the eldest monk in that region . He was expert at the Tripitaka too . Nandapal Bhante learnt Tripitaka from him .
After stay in Arakan for two years , Nandapal Bhikkhu completed his theological studies and theirafter returned to his homeland to see his teacher Bana Bhante .
At a time Nandapal Bhante was taughtful to find out an ideal place for deep meditation , It was discovered in 1981 A. D Which is called Jamachug ( the mountain of Yama ) . The Jamachug was disolate , dengerous , remote , inaccessible and difficult to negotiate . It was a natural habitat for wild animals . From meditation point of view , it was in fact an ideal place far away from hustle & bustle of the materialistic world . Hair rising stories and gossips about the Jamachug area were often on the lips of the common people living in its vicinity .
As soon as he heard the name of this peak , his desire to meditate there ran high . It seemed to him that ultimately he was going to meet his lost friend whom he had been searching since time immemorial.
Nandapal Samanera started learning Burmise language with Indomitable spirit and enthusiasm . He did not feel difficult to learn from the teachers and other fellow Burmise Students . It goes without saying that the teachers were monks . His unrelenting effort at last enabled him to acquire proficiency in Burmise language within a spell of 6 months . He always used to speak Burmise so long as he stayed there . As a result , many people of that country did not understand that he was a non-Burmise . As a physical appearance between the Chakmas and Burmese are more or less similar to each other .
After acquiring proficiency in Burmises , it was easier for Nandapal Samanera to learn various Chapters of Tipitaka . He had to learn language mainly for this holy book . In the past , the 6th Buddhist conference was held in Burma during which the pure Tripitaka was codified in Burmises scripts .During his stay in that country , he mainly studied Bhikkhu Pratimoksha , Bhikkhuni Pratimoksha , Lokaniti , Khundrapath etc ..
While staying in Burma , Nandapal Samanera attained 20 years of age . One year after his going to that country , he was ordained as Bhikkhu under the patronage of a pious and rich man in 1972 A.D. The name of the bhikkhu who admitted him to the holy order was Uh Yalinda . He was the eldest monk in that region . He was expert at the Tripitaka too . Nandapal Bhante learnt Tripitaka from him .
After stay in Arakan for two years , Nandapal Bhikkhu completed his theological studies and theirafter returned to his homeland to see his teacher Bana Bhante .
At a time Nandapal Bhante was taughtful to find out an ideal place for deep meditation , It was discovered in 1981 A. D Which is called Jamachug ( the mountain of Yama ) . The Jamachug was disolate , dengerous , remote , inaccessible and difficult to negotiate . It was a natural habitat for wild animals . From meditation point of view , it was in fact an ideal place far away from hustle & bustle of the materialistic world . Hair rising stories and gossips about the Jamachug area were often on the lips of the common people living in its vicinity .
As soon as he heard the name of this peak , his desire to meditate there ran high . It seemed to him that ultimately he was going to meet his lost friend whom he had been searching since time immemorial.
Tintilla Forest Center
After return to his homeland from Burma , Nandapal bhante’s mind got changed . Because , His intention was to go back to Burma to study higher religious learning in Yangoon after seeing & paying respect his spiritual master Bana Bhante . At Tintila forest center , Bana Bhante was found in helpless condition . There was no other Bhikshu or Shramana to take care of him . That is why , he could not return to Burma leaving his spiritual master in the lurch . He decided to stay at the forest center .
Nandapal Bhante took the right decision . He should not stay any longer in the foreign country . Practice of meditation and service to his spiritual master were found extremely essential for him . He had intense desire to practise meditation before his admission into the Sangha .
In the course of his religious studies , he did not forget his desireto practise meditation , so he started practising it together with dhutanga silas staying at the forest center . Out of 13 kinds of dhutanga silas prescribed by the Buddha for the monks , only 6 kinds used to be followed by the samaneras residing at the forest Temple which are as follows 1. Pinda patikang ( to survive by begging alms –food outside without eating anythung given by sanghadana ) 2. Sapdan charikang ( to survive begging alms-food from house to house ) 3. Kkasanikang ( to eat sitting on the same seat ) 4. Patra pindikang ( not to eat in excess of whatever is available in the bowl ) 5. Khalupachavattikang ( not to eat anything more if refused at the time of offering ) 6. Aranyanikang ( living in the forest during day and night ) . It was disclosed by Nandapal bhante . By practising these silas , defilement of mind gets purified , says the Buddha .
Tintila is situated by and large in the middle of northern Chittagong Hill tract . Most of the Buddhist Chakmas liv in thise region . Perhaps , Bana bhante chose this place for convenience of preaching Dhamma .
Rangamati Raj Bana Vihar how came to the establishment
The influential person of the Rangamati locality started contemplating to Invite Bana Bhante . After consultation , Babu Samarbijoy Chakma , regional head of the horticulture Board , Dr. Himangsu dewan, Dr . Adyut Dewan , Mrs , Sudipta Dewan , Bankim Babu and so on altogether conveyed the proposal to the Chakma chief which was accepted forthwith by the royal family . The aforesaid persons led by Kokanadaksha Roy , the eldest member of the royal family came to Tintila forest center ( present name Tintila Bana Vihar ) located at Longudu . On that day , it was in the afternoon when Kokanadasha Roy accompanied by his entourage prayed to Banabhante with a plate full of flowers in his hand inviting him to stay in Rangamati . The bhante did not touch the plate which meant refusal on his part to accept their invitation . All of them got depressed . At last they went in despair to Nandapal bhante for his advice . He said , “ Do not be hopeless , all of you come tomorrow again , at that time , I will be with you all .
They became delighted and as such , spent night at Tintila . Next day in the morning , they met Banabhante under the leadership of Nandapal Bhante who said to Banabhante , “ Bhante , if you accepted their invitation to go to Rangamati , it would be good . As educated people only can understand Buddhist religion well , it is the religion for them ,” the bhante added . The others present supported the remark made by him with a prayer to accept their invitation . The moment the bhante touched the plate . All of them glorified the act of acceptance saying trice, Sadhu----Sadhu----Sadhu…
In 1974 A. D . Banabhate was brought ceremonially by a big steamer with a view to grace the occasion to be held at Rangamati . He used not to spend nights at the residence of any layperson , nor did he sleep at the village . So , whenever he went , forest cottage was built for his stay . At that time , it was constructed temporarily in the western hills lying close to the palace wherein he spent nights . Presently it’s known as Rangamati Raj Bana Vihar .
Kamini Dewan , The oldest man of the locality , who was prime minister in the heydays of the Chakma monarchy accompanied by thousands of devottees came to see the Bhante for being blessed . They offered respectful invitation to Bana Bhante to reside permanently in the forest cottage . The bhante stayed on in this cottage for about a week and thereafter he , returned to Tintila . Since then , he was acquainted with the inhabitants of Rangamati .
On Banabhante’s return to Tintila , a master plan was prepared to construct a permanent temple at Rangamati . With the Permission of Bana Bhante , Nandapal Bhante was brought to Rangamati to monitor the process of construction . It was Debasish Roy , the Chakma chief , who brought him from Tintila . A monk belonging to Tonchangnya clan named Uttamananda accompanied the Bhante all along the way , who was learning Bana bhante’s principles and conduct staying with him at Tintilla Temple during that period .
Raja Devasish roy went to bring the bhante with a jet boat . One of his younger brothers was there with him including a sailor . There were five persons traveling in d boat . Black cloud was brewing in the sky . On their way back to Rangamati , Nandapal bhante reached the plains of Kattoli which was inundated by rainwater during that period . Suddenly , they came across flurries of wind creating surge of waves likely to engulf their boat . Water was pouring into their boat causing panic in the mind of all persons on boat . There was no land within a radious of ¾ k.m . The boat was likely to be sunk into the turbulent water as it was swaying like anything . Consequently , the travelers started counting beads for fear of getting drowned .
Sensing danger , Nandapal bhante started reciting “ Paritran suttas “ for alleviating the fury of nature . after awhile everything got pacific . The boat went past the vast field of kattoli . The journey did not take much time to anchor the ghat of Rajbanavihar . Rajmata Arati Roy received the Nandapal bhante warmly at Raj Banavihar.
After return to his homeland from Burma , Nandapal bhante’s mind got changed . Because , His intention was to go back to Burma to study higher religious learning in Yangoon after seeing & paying respect his spiritual master Bana Bhante . At Tintila forest center , Bana Bhante was found in helpless condition . There was no other Bhikshu or Shramana to take care of him . That is why , he could not return to Burma leaving his spiritual master in the lurch . He decided to stay at the forest center .
Nandapal Bhante took the right decision . He should not stay any longer in the foreign country . Practice of meditation and service to his spiritual master were found extremely essential for him . He had intense desire to practise meditation before his admission into the Sangha .
In the course of his religious studies , he did not forget his desireto practise meditation , so he started practising it together with dhutanga silas staying at the forest center . Out of 13 kinds of dhutanga silas prescribed by the Buddha for the monks , only 6 kinds used to be followed by the samaneras residing at the forest Temple which are as follows 1. Pinda patikang ( to survive by begging alms –food outside without eating anythung given by sanghadana ) 2. Sapdan charikang ( to survive begging alms-food from house to house ) 3. Kkasanikang ( to eat sitting on the same seat ) 4. Patra pindikang ( not to eat in excess of whatever is available in the bowl ) 5. Khalupachavattikang ( not to eat anything more if refused at the time of offering ) 6. Aranyanikang ( living in the forest during day and night ) . It was disclosed by Nandapal bhante . By practising these silas , defilement of mind gets purified , says the Buddha .
Tintila is situated by and large in the middle of northern Chittagong Hill tract . Most of the Buddhist Chakmas liv in thise region . Perhaps , Bana bhante chose this place for convenience of preaching Dhamma .
Rangamati Raj Bana Vihar how came to the establishment
The influential person of the Rangamati locality started contemplating to Invite Bana Bhante . After consultation , Babu Samarbijoy Chakma , regional head of the horticulture Board , Dr. Himangsu dewan, Dr . Adyut Dewan , Mrs , Sudipta Dewan , Bankim Babu and so on altogether conveyed the proposal to the Chakma chief which was accepted forthwith by the royal family . The aforesaid persons led by Kokanadaksha Roy , the eldest member of the royal family came to Tintila forest center ( present name Tintila Bana Vihar ) located at Longudu . On that day , it was in the afternoon when Kokanadasha Roy accompanied by his entourage prayed to Banabhante with a plate full of flowers in his hand inviting him to stay in Rangamati . The bhante did not touch the plate which meant refusal on his part to accept their invitation . All of them got depressed . At last they went in despair to Nandapal bhante for his advice . He said , “ Do not be hopeless , all of you come tomorrow again , at that time , I will be with you all .
They became delighted and as such , spent night at Tintila . Next day in the morning , they met Banabhante under the leadership of Nandapal Bhante who said to Banabhante , “ Bhante , if you accepted their invitation to go to Rangamati , it would be good . As educated people only can understand Buddhist religion well , it is the religion for them ,” the bhante added . The others present supported the remark made by him with a prayer to accept their invitation . The moment the bhante touched the plate . All of them glorified the act of acceptance saying trice, Sadhu----Sadhu----Sadhu…
In 1974 A. D . Banabhate was brought ceremonially by a big steamer with a view to grace the occasion to be held at Rangamati . He used not to spend nights at the residence of any layperson , nor did he sleep at the village . So , whenever he went , forest cottage was built for his stay . At that time , it was constructed temporarily in the western hills lying close to the palace wherein he spent nights . Presently it’s known as Rangamati Raj Bana Vihar .
Kamini Dewan , The oldest man of the locality , who was prime minister in the heydays of the Chakma monarchy accompanied by thousands of devottees came to see the Bhante for being blessed . They offered respectful invitation to Bana Bhante to reside permanently in the forest cottage . The bhante stayed on in this cottage for about a week and thereafter he , returned to Tintila . Since then , he was acquainted with the inhabitants of Rangamati .
On Banabhante’s return to Tintila , a master plan was prepared to construct a permanent temple at Rangamati . With the Permission of Bana Bhante , Nandapal Bhante was brought to Rangamati to monitor the process of construction . It was Debasish Roy , the Chakma chief , who brought him from Tintila . A monk belonging to Tonchangnya clan named Uttamananda accompanied the Bhante all along the way , who was learning Bana bhante’s principles and conduct staying with him at Tintilla Temple during that period .
Raja Devasish roy went to bring the bhante with a jet boat . One of his younger brothers was there with him including a sailor . There were five persons traveling in d boat . Black cloud was brewing in the sky . On their way back to Rangamati , Nandapal bhante reached the plains of Kattoli which was inundated by rainwater during that period . Suddenly , they came across flurries of wind creating surge of waves likely to engulf their boat . Water was pouring into their boat causing panic in the mind of all persons on boat . There was no land within a radious of ¾ k.m . The boat was likely to be sunk into the turbulent water as it was swaying like anything . Consequently , the travelers started counting beads for fear of getting drowned .
Sensing danger , Nandapal bhante started reciting “ Paritran suttas “ for alleviating the fury of nature . after awhile everything got pacific . The boat went past the vast field of kattoli . The journey did not take much time to anchor the ghat of Rajbanavihar . Rajmata Arati Roy received the Nandapal bhante warmly at Raj Banavihar.
Rajbana Vihar part 2 :
Nandapal bhante continued to supervise the process of new Raj Bana Vihara construction staying at the site . Snehababu and others always used to solicit advice from Nandapal Bhante at the time of construction of the Raj Bana Vihara . Besides this , Sneha babu sold 4 kanis of paddy land owned by him for construction of the said temple . Pious people like him is hardly available . Unfortunately , he did not survive long . Had he survived for long time , he would have launched plenty of welfare measures like this for the cause of religion . His contribution to the growth of Raj Banavihar at Rangamati was immeasurable .
The process of construction of Raj Banavihar under the supervision of Nandapal bhante was going on in full swing . After making it suitable for stay of Banabhante , an earnest invitation will be made to him to reside permanently in this temple after the end of ensuing rainly season .
Banabhante was brought again by a steamer from Tintila to Rangamati in 1975 A. D. Since then , he had been residing at the said Raj BanaVuhar at Rangamati .
The news of Banabhante’s arrival and stay at Rangamati spread like wild fire . The crowd of devotees, disciples, pilgrimage and pious people started swelling at the temple by leaps and bounds to pay homage to the bhante .Religious rites like sanghadana ( donation to the holy order ) , astaparikkardana ( donation of robes to the monks ) , worship on full moon day and other special occasion were being held regularly by the devotees . The Rajbanavihar was transformed into a place of pilgrimage .
People from various places used to come and offer invitation to him to be at their places. Responsibility of preparing itinerary of the bhante was entrusted to Nandapal bhante . In addition , he was required to advise the devotees about time , place , mode of conveyance etc . for the Banabhante . Besides this , he used to replay to all the queries of the new comers about do’s and don’t timing , availability , visit to the bhante etc. Nandapal bhante thought it to be not AT all suitable as he always nurtured the desire of practising meditation by staying in wilderness . But these worldly affairs stood in his way . As He likes to stay in solitary place devoid of presence of people, he always tried to search out such a place somewhere at the time Rajbaba Vihara of Rangamati .
Many people would come to invite Banabhante . In case of disagreement on his part , they sought help from Nandapal bhante to make him agree to their invitation . It was observed that whenever he was requested by Nandapal bhante , he could not but agree .
During his stay at Tintila , once Banabhante declined to accept invitation offered by the Royal family , but he accepted subsequently after request made to him by Nandapal bhante on their behalf . On another day , despite repeated requests made by the laymen of Subolong , Amtali , he did not accept invitation but finally , he accepted for the first time to take part in the Kathinachibar dana there at the instance of Nandapal bhante . Since then , he used to atten every year at Jurachari , Amtali , Subolong and its adjoing places whenever invited .
From other places of Chittagong also , invitation continued to pour in . He accepted all these at the request of Nandapal bhante . The layperson whenever they were refused uesed to go to bhante to make Bana bhante agree to accept invitation . That is how many days passed in the life of Nandapal bhante . He thought he should no longer spoil valuable days like this . He should focus his attention on meditation without further delay .
Jamachug Meditation Center ( part 1 )
At the time when Nandapal bhante was thoughtful to find out an ideal place for meditation , it was discovered in 1982 A.D . Some devotees living in Bandukbhanga Mouja came to Rajbanavihar and informed that there was a beautiful place situated on the peak of a high hill range . The terrain was desolate , dangerous , remote , inaccessible and difficult to negotiate . It was a natural habitat for wild animal . Hair rising stories and gossips about the area were often on the lips of the common people living in its vicinity . As a result of which none dare to venture on a trip up this peak but gazing awfully from a distance at the superb panorama of this mysterious blues hills .
In the past it was called Bandukkanamon because , from a distance it looks like a trigger of a musket . Now it is known as Jamachug . A frivolous person named Jam lived in this place many years ago . The sky high peak later on came to be known as Jamchug , it was named after this strange man was horrific , dangerous , hostile and difficult to negotiate . Nandapal bhante did not bother at all about its adversity . Infact , he was happy to find such a place .
As soon as he heard the name of this peak , he realized as if Jamachug itself was beckoning him with hands saying “; please come and meditate sitting in my lap and dole nectar of truth out to the universe for enternal happiness of all livings beings . The bhante made up his mind to continue to meditate there for 5 years at least . While preparing to go , two more monks expressed their desire to follow him . They apprised Nandapal bhante of their willingness to practise meditation in such a solitary place . They were Burobhante and A Barua bhante . Nandapal bhante permitted them to accompany him uttering.
Nandapal bhante continued to supervise the process of new Raj Bana Vihara construction staying at the site . Snehababu and others always used to solicit advice from Nandapal Bhante at the time of construction of the Raj Bana Vihara . Besides this , Sneha babu sold 4 kanis of paddy land owned by him for construction of the said temple . Pious people like him is hardly available . Unfortunately , he did not survive long . Had he survived for long time , he would have launched plenty of welfare measures like this for the cause of religion . His contribution to the growth of Raj Banavihar at Rangamati was immeasurable .
The process of construction of Raj Banavihar under the supervision of Nandapal bhante was going on in full swing . After making it suitable for stay of Banabhante , an earnest invitation will be made to him to reside permanently in this temple after the end of ensuing rainly season .
Banabhante was brought again by a steamer from Tintila to Rangamati in 1975 A. D. Since then , he had been residing at the said Raj BanaVuhar at Rangamati .
The news of Banabhante’s arrival and stay at Rangamati spread like wild fire . The crowd of devotees, disciples, pilgrimage and pious people started swelling at the temple by leaps and bounds to pay homage to the bhante .Religious rites like sanghadana ( donation to the holy order ) , astaparikkardana ( donation of robes to the monks ) , worship on full moon day and other special occasion were being held regularly by the devotees . The Rajbanavihar was transformed into a place of pilgrimage .
People from various places used to come and offer invitation to him to be at their places. Responsibility of preparing itinerary of the bhante was entrusted to Nandapal bhante . In addition , he was required to advise the devotees about time , place , mode of conveyance etc . for the Banabhante . Besides this , he used to replay to all the queries of the new comers about do’s and don’t timing , availability , visit to the bhante etc. Nandapal bhante thought it to be not AT all suitable as he always nurtured the desire of practising meditation by staying in wilderness . But these worldly affairs stood in his way . As He likes to stay in solitary place devoid of presence of people, he always tried to search out such a place somewhere at the time Rajbaba Vihara of Rangamati .
Many people would come to invite Banabhante . In case of disagreement on his part , they sought help from Nandapal bhante to make him agree to their invitation . It was observed that whenever he was requested by Nandapal bhante , he could not but agree .
During his stay at Tintila , once Banabhante declined to accept invitation offered by the Royal family , but he accepted subsequently after request made to him by Nandapal bhante on their behalf . On another day , despite repeated requests made by the laymen of Subolong , Amtali , he did not accept invitation but finally , he accepted for the first time to take part in the Kathinachibar dana there at the instance of Nandapal bhante . Since then , he used to atten every year at Jurachari , Amtali , Subolong and its adjoing places whenever invited .
From other places of Chittagong also , invitation continued to pour in . He accepted all these at the request of Nandapal bhante . The layperson whenever they were refused uesed to go to bhante to make Bana bhante agree to accept invitation . That is how many days passed in the life of Nandapal bhante . He thought he should no longer spoil valuable days like this . He should focus his attention on meditation without further delay .
Jamachug Meditation Center ( part 1 )
At the time when Nandapal bhante was thoughtful to find out an ideal place for meditation , it was discovered in 1982 A.D . Some devotees living in Bandukbhanga Mouja came to Rajbanavihar and informed that there was a beautiful place situated on the peak of a high hill range . The terrain was desolate , dangerous , remote , inaccessible and difficult to negotiate . It was a natural habitat for wild animal . Hair rising stories and gossips about the area were often on the lips of the common people living in its vicinity . As a result of which none dare to venture on a trip up this peak but gazing awfully from a distance at the superb panorama of this mysterious blues hills .
In the past it was called Bandukkanamon because , from a distance it looks like a trigger of a musket . Now it is known as Jamachug . A frivolous person named Jam lived in this place many years ago . The sky high peak later on came to be known as Jamchug , it was named after this strange man was horrific , dangerous , hostile and difficult to negotiate . Nandapal bhante did not bother at all about its adversity . Infact , he was happy to find such a place .
As soon as he heard the name of this peak , he realized as if Jamachug itself was beckoning him with hands saying “; please come and meditate sitting in my lap and dole nectar of truth out to the universe for enternal happiness of all livings beings . The bhante made up his mind to continue to meditate there for 5 years at least . While preparing to go , two more monks expressed their desire to follow him . They apprised Nandapal bhante of their willingness to practise meditation in such a solitary place . They were Burobhante and A Barua bhante . Nandapal bhante permitted them to accompany him uttering.
*Jamachu part 2*
This time , Nandapal bhante decided to go Jamachug . He took a solemn vow to practise meditation in the forest of Jamachug for five years at least .
Since the days when he became a Samanera , he had been seeing series of events in his mind which indicates his prospects for success to achive spiritual excellence over there . He used to see that he was sitting in meditation at such a beautiful place where breeze was blowing gently . The green leaves of trees and bamboos were swaying back and forth amidst pleasant weather . Sometimes, sweet warble of rare birds unknown to us was heard. Dragon and Butterflies of various colours were flying around spreading their wings in the air .
It is believed that the holy person often see with their eyes the prophetic events which will happen to them in the future . Perhaps , the Jamachug hills might have come up in the said prophetic events seen by the bhante . This time , he in reality , is going to that very place that attracted him .
All the person who practise meditation act on vivek ( conscience ) . Without it , wisedom can not be accquired . Thee are 3 kinds of vivek which includes 1. Kaya vivek 2. Citta vivek 3. Upadhi vivek . Kaya vivek means staying in a place of solitude without companion . Citta vivek means staying indifferent to customary practice and cultural activities of society and finally upadi vivek is nothing but giving up desire of worldly affairs . A place of solitude like Jamachug was found extremely suitable for stay in meditation .So, the bhante became cheerful and eager to go to Jamachug .
Oneday , Banabhante prophesied in presence of some shramanas and lay person saying ; No other Bhikkhu or Samaneras can stay at Jamachug . It is only Nanadapal who can survive over there . It is a troublesome place .
At last , the day of departure for Nandapal bhante came . On Monday , the 6th June 1983 A. D .. he took blessing from Banabhante , who gave his torchlight spontaneously to Nandapal bhante at a time when he was about to start his journey towards Jamachug meditation center in the wake of farewell . It is known that the said torchlight was donated to the Bhante by a pious lay person of India . The bhante used it carefully which used to illuminate brightly .
While going somewhere , if such incident takes place , it is looked upon as good omen or a sign of success . IN FACT , Journey of Nandapal bhante to Jamachug was excellent . He took along with him robes and requisites packed in a bag and set out his journey by stepping with his right foot after chanting Buddha , Dhamma , Sangha “ and maitribhabana to promote feelings of compassion . The advice of Banabhante is that one should beging one’s journey by taking right step .
The moment he began his journey , it started raining cats and dogs . He was caught in torrential downpour on the way . There was no sign of cessation of rain . Nandapal bhante understood that he would have to withstand tough and dangerous situation during his stay at Jamachug forest hills . It will not be easy for him to stay and meditate over there . Incessant rainfall which was impeding normal course of his journey in fact forecast a bad omen .
But the bhante did not at all back out of his determination . It is natural that a dense forest like this may cause trouble for any person whosoever stays in wilderness . He knows very well that the Buddha also had to suffer a lot of troubles like this . He had immeasurable quantum of pious deeds accumulated to his credit but this could not make him safe and secure at all the places . Sometimes, hindrances stood in his way and caused trouble him . Not only the Buddha but also all the great men had to suffer like this through the ages and the Buddha was no exception to this .
The villagers took much trouble on the way to drop the Bhante at Jamachug . They went on taking his upstream the Tripurachara river as far as the boat could be towed bt them . Thereafter , they went on dragging the boat due to lack of navigability of the river till they reached its origin at the base of the hills . They opted for this to avoid discomfort and hardship for the bhante . Whenever any religious programme was held , all the people living in this hamlet used to carry out duties and responsibilities entrusted to them devotedly for which they as a matter of fact were worthy of blessing.
With a view of to attaining true knowledge of Dhamma preached by the Buddha , Nandapal bhante left Raj Banavihar of Rangamati for the breath taking peak of Jamchug .
As soon as he climbed up the peak , his heart lept up with joy . He had been looking for such a solitary place so far . His cherished dreamed was coming true following discovery of a suitable place for meditation . A pleasant feeling tarted trilling him . It seems to him as if he got back the gems lost many years ago . He realized he had close physic relation with this holy mountain from generation to generation , other wise , such a feeling of joy would not have trilled him like this . He moved around the place with a thought that his life would be meaning full even if he died while meditating in this place .
Two more bhikkus came here alongwith nandapal Bhante who too praised the place . They were Atulsen Bhikhu ( Buro bhante ) and Anandashree bhikkhu ( Borua bhante ) . They also became happy moving the place back & forth . Nandapal Bhante briefed about where they would stay . He asked the Burobhante to stay back at the Temporary made Temple . Anandashree bhante was asked to stay in a cottage adjacent to the temple . He managed somehow to stay at the Changkraman house located to the north of the temple . It was not in good condition as water seeped through the roof whenever it rained causing damage to bed and other articles . The walls of the house were in dilapidated condition . Due to weak foundation , the house may collapse at any time . The house was also shrouded in climbers , bushes of trees and bamboos . Poisonous snakes often used to crawl in to stay near the bed . Having seen like this , non seemed to be able to survive even for a while . There is every possibility of death owing to snake bite or bite of any other poisonous insects .
One day the bhante was spending night in a cottage . At the dead of night, one venomous snake crawled in and started making a sound like a cat . hearing the sound , the bhante switched on the torch . A big snake was found caught in the light which was trying to persistently to clime up the cot of bhante . the hut was so small that there was no scope for him to go out , nor did he feel secure owing to presence of this snake in the hut . But the snake sometimes later coiled itself round with its hood expanded and continued to remain in biting pose under thw cot . It could in no case be taken out . aftr sometimes , the snake was found to have disappeared . Jamachug was in fact a natural habitat not only for wild animals but also centipede , insects reptiles , poisonous snakes etc . Blood sucking leeches often used to come to the beds of the monks .
There were immeasurable degree of troubles and disturbances at Jamachug . It was very difficult to stay on even for a short time , as this place was believed to be a colony of the Bodiless spirits . One lay person was said to have reported to the Bhante that these spirits used to frighten the lay persons by dancing on the roof of the cottages at the time of construction.
This time , Nandapal bhante decided to go Jamachug . He took a solemn vow to practise meditation in the forest of Jamachug for five years at least .
Since the days when he became a Samanera , he had been seeing series of events in his mind which indicates his prospects for success to achive spiritual excellence over there . He used to see that he was sitting in meditation at such a beautiful place where breeze was blowing gently . The green leaves of trees and bamboos were swaying back and forth amidst pleasant weather . Sometimes, sweet warble of rare birds unknown to us was heard. Dragon and Butterflies of various colours were flying around spreading their wings in the air .
It is believed that the holy person often see with their eyes the prophetic events which will happen to them in the future . Perhaps , the Jamachug hills might have come up in the said prophetic events seen by the bhante . This time , he in reality , is going to that very place that attracted him .
All the person who practise meditation act on vivek ( conscience ) . Without it , wisedom can not be accquired . Thee are 3 kinds of vivek which includes 1. Kaya vivek 2. Citta vivek 3. Upadhi vivek . Kaya vivek means staying in a place of solitude without companion . Citta vivek means staying indifferent to customary practice and cultural activities of society and finally upadi vivek is nothing but giving up desire of worldly affairs . A place of solitude like Jamachug was found extremely suitable for stay in meditation .So, the bhante became cheerful and eager to go to Jamachug .
Oneday , Banabhante prophesied in presence of some shramanas and lay person saying ; No other Bhikkhu or Samaneras can stay at Jamachug . It is only Nanadapal who can survive over there . It is a troublesome place .
At last , the day of departure for Nandapal bhante came . On Monday , the 6th June 1983 A. D .. he took blessing from Banabhante , who gave his torchlight spontaneously to Nandapal bhante at a time when he was about to start his journey towards Jamachug meditation center in the wake of farewell . It is known that the said torchlight was donated to the Bhante by a pious lay person of India . The bhante used it carefully which used to illuminate brightly .
While going somewhere , if such incident takes place , it is looked upon as good omen or a sign of success . IN FACT , Journey of Nandapal bhante to Jamachug was excellent . He took along with him robes and requisites packed in a bag and set out his journey by stepping with his right foot after chanting Buddha , Dhamma , Sangha “ and maitribhabana to promote feelings of compassion . The advice of Banabhante is that one should beging one’s journey by taking right step .
The moment he began his journey , it started raining cats and dogs . He was caught in torrential downpour on the way . There was no sign of cessation of rain . Nandapal bhante understood that he would have to withstand tough and dangerous situation during his stay at Jamachug forest hills . It will not be easy for him to stay and meditate over there . Incessant rainfall which was impeding normal course of his journey in fact forecast a bad omen .
But the bhante did not at all back out of his determination . It is natural that a dense forest like this may cause trouble for any person whosoever stays in wilderness . He knows very well that the Buddha also had to suffer a lot of troubles like this . He had immeasurable quantum of pious deeds accumulated to his credit but this could not make him safe and secure at all the places . Sometimes, hindrances stood in his way and caused trouble him . Not only the Buddha but also all the great men had to suffer like this through the ages and the Buddha was no exception to this .
The villagers took much trouble on the way to drop the Bhante at Jamachug . They went on taking his upstream the Tripurachara river as far as the boat could be towed bt them . Thereafter , they went on dragging the boat due to lack of navigability of the river till they reached its origin at the base of the hills . They opted for this to avoid discomfort and hardship for the bhante . Whenever any religious programme was held , all the people living in this hamlet used to carry out duties and responsibilities entrusted to them devotedly for which they as a matter of fact were worthy of blessing.
With a view of to attaining true knowledge of Dhamma preached by the Buddha , Nandapal bhante left Raj Banavihar of Rangamati for the breath taking peak of Jamchug .
As soon as he climbed up the peak , his heart lept up with joy . He had been looking for such a solitary place so far . His cherished dreamed was coming true following discovery of a suitable place for meditation . A pleasant feeling tarted trilling him . It seems to him as if he got back the gems lost many years ago . He realized he had close physic relation with this holy mountain from generation to generation , other wise , such a feeling of joy would not have trilled him like this . He moved around the place with a thought that his life would be meaning full even if he died while meditating in this place .
Two more bhikkus came here alongwith nandapal Bhante who too praised the place . They were Atulsen Bhikhu ( Buro bhante ) and Anandashree bhikkhu ( Borua bhante ) . They also became happy moving the place back & forth . Nandapal Bhante briefed about where they would stay . He asked the Burobhante to stay back at the Temporary made Temple . Anandashree bhante was asked to stay in a cottage adjacent to the temple . He managed somehow to stay at the Changkraman house located to the north of the temple . It was not in good condition as water seeped through the roof whenever it rained causing damage to bed and other articles . The walls of the house were in dilapidated condition . Due to weak foundation , the house may collapse at any time . The house was also shrouded in climbers , bushes of trees and bamboos . Poisonous snakes often used to crawl in to stay near the bed . Having seen like this , non seemed to be able to survive even for a while . There is every possibility of death owing to snake bite or bite of any other poisonous insects .
One day the bhante was spending night in a cottage . At the dead of night, one venomous snake crawled in and started making a sound like a cat . hearing the sound , the bhante switched on the torch . A big snake was found caught in the light which was trying to persistently to clime up the cot of bhante . the hut was so small that there was no scope for him to go out , nor did he feel secure owing to presence of this snake in the hut . But the snake sometimes later coiled itself round with its hood expanded and continued to remain in biting pose under thw cot . It could in no case be taken out . aftr sometimes , the snake was found to have disappeared . Jamachug was in fact a natural habitat not only for wild animals but also centipede , insects reptiles , poisonous snakes etc . Blood sucking leeches often used to come to the beds of the monks .
There were immeasurable degree of troubles and disturbances at Jamachug . It was very difficult to stay on even for a short time , as this place was believed to be a colony of the Bodiless spirits . One lay person was said to have reported to the Bhante that these spirits used to frighten the lay persons by dancing on the roof of the cottages at the time of construction.
* Practice of meditation at Jamachug part 3 :
Let us discuss a little bit about the activities of those non-human bodiless spirit and petas dwelling at Jamachug . It goes without saying that they often used to make appearanceses before the peoples taking in different forms at first sight , they seemed to be known persons , subsequently it was proved that that very person or persons did not come to the monks at all . in fact it was activities of some non-human beings . At the time of construction of the meditation cottages , this activities went to the extremes .
They used to confuse the Bhikkhus and shramanas . while sitting in meditation under the bamboo clump or bushy trees somewhere in the jungle , they used to try to interrupt the monks with various sounds likes howls , growls , hoots trumpets , hiss , croon etc.
It was the first stay of Nandapal bhante at Jamchug during the period of rainy season . In the Bengali calendar month of Ashara , it was incessantly raining . it was at about 9 p.m in the evening . The Bhante was delivering sermon to the monks & shramanas sitting in the preaching room in the darkness . The monks used not to lit lamp at that time . They used to remain in the darkness as light deterred concentration of mind on meditation . All of a sudden , the chair on which Nandapal bhante was seated started shaking . It seemed to him as if some one was shaking the chair forcefully from behind . Unmindful of it , the bhante got startled , Soon after , he came to know that it was the handiwork of Mara intended to deviate his mind from the path of Dhamma . He continued to delever sermon being unmindful of his misdeeds . Ultimately , this spirit had to stop commission of such misdeeds . The bhante did not tell others about this . Had he divulged at that moment , some of the shramanas would have been scared . A few years later , he divulged this unnatural incident .
An old shramana from Rajbana Vihara of Rangamati came to the Bhante to learn the norms of method of meditation . The bhante taught him the rules of meditation . He used to practise meditation in a small cottage under dense bamboo clumps located to the west of the Temple . One day in the evening he saw a big flame coming towards his cottage in serpentine way . He got frightened at this . He found the flame continuing to move here and there inside the cottage after getting in and sometimes after this , it went out into the open space . The old shramana was at a loss as he did not know what to do .
The old shramana often used to see an adolescent girl roaming inside the temples premises . First of all, it was thought she was a girl living in the nearby hamlet who had come to this temple to fetch water for the monks or to serve the monks . One day , the girl found to have disappeared suddenly from the place where she was standing . The Shramana apprised Nandapal bhante of this mysterious incident .
Nandapal bhante taught the old Shramana how to deal with this kind of uncanny incident recurrence . Another day while meditating , the shramana saw once again the flame moving towards his cottage . As soon as he saw it , he started meditating deeeply focusing mind on this mysterious flame according to advice given earlier by Nandapal bhante and the flame consequently could no longer enter his cottage . It had got disappeared from outside . Ever since , no such incident could cause trouble to him . Of course , trouble and disturbance like this caused by the spirits could not stay there for longer period . They had to leave the place to get rid of power of silas and meditation being practised by the monks .
For the next 5 years since establishment of this meditation center , frequently movement of tigers also created an atmosphere of menace to the monks at Jamchug . The tigers used to roar sporadically round the clock adjacent to the cottage of Nandapal Bhante . Roar of tigers from the north , south and western direction used to rend the air . The bhante previously was not familiar with the roar of tiger , it was a layman who subsequently introduced him to a roar of tiger .
The bhante at first sat in Vippassana meditation in the changkraman house . He practised it for about week as an experiment . He realized that this place was very suitable for meditation . He used to sit in Vippassana meditation without taking to others . It was indeed an excellent place ever found . There was no noise ; it was reign of absolute silence where wind reigned supreme . He savoured a lot of pleasant feelings in the weeklong spell of meditation . For him , it was the first feelings of flavour tested by him practising Dhamma preached by the Buddha .
He had hardly any practical knowledge of practising Vidarshan meditation in a place of solitude . It was the first of its real kind of . Practice of meditation like this in solitary place was widely appreciated by the Buddha himself . Wise men say that sleeping in solitary place is better than practising meditation in noisy place .
Jamchug was undoubtedly suitable for meditation . Many bhikkhus and Shramanas were afraid of this place on the apprehension that there were so many evil elements , disturbances which might pose serious treath to life and security of the monks . So , they were plenty of problems , hurdle and deterrents in this place but Nandapal Bhante , defying these problems continued to practise meditation there for more than one and half decade . People from many other places invited him to shift their places for the sake of convenience and advantage but he declined to go anywhere .
Repeatedly speaking, even though this place was suitable for practice of meditation , staying there meant coming across a lot of adversities . It was not easy even on the part of a layperson to look after the monks or to perform pious activites . The bhante came to know that he had to pass through much trail and tribulation in the course of his continued stay over there . It was hard to get charipratyaya regularly . The Buddha says , in case of scarcity of charipratyaya , it is not possible to practise meditation .
The bhante often used to remain thoughtful about this problem . He did not know weather he created cause for practising meditation there in past or not but finally he took a solemn vow to continue to practise meditation there . Even if he required to die in the course of meditation , he would not give it up .
A few month later his arrival at Jamachug , Nandapal bhante was down with malaria fever . He was about to die as there was no doctor or village quack in the locality to treat him ; nor was any one expected to come to such a remote place . Later the bhante disclosed that when such a situation occurred he used to prepare himself for dying . Right mindfulness was only the medicine he used to keep with him which proved so much resilient that he finally could get rid of all kinds of illness whatsoever . Initially he gave up the hope of coming back with life from Jamachug .
It was known to him that the great men had to walk a long distance though hills , mountains , ravines and what not with a view to attaining the zenith of success by meditation . Such hills , ravines etc . Shrouded in dense forest are the ideal places for comfort and happiness of the ascetics .
At that time the bhante was suffering from stomachache . He could not eat in right time . Some people tried to point out by saying ; As you follow Dhutanga silas on empty stomach , you suffer from such illness ; The bhante did not care for this . There can not be any problem if proper meal is taken even once a day as per hygienic and dietary requirement . Problem crops up if not a single meal is taken in a day .
Whenever the bhante remained bed ridden due to persistent illness , giving up the hope of survival , he used to take refuge in the path of mindfulness sitting in lotus like pose . In case of practice of meditation fours in this way , his heart-beat used to get gradually rejuvenated regaining a ray of hope to survive . Of course , he did not wish to do anything to rejuvenate vitals of his life but to continue to follow this method to entrench himself firmly in this way .
It is not known to the people that how many times he came across adverse situation like this during 17 years of his meditation at Jamchug . People might have noticed his suffering from illness a few times only as he preferred to conceal it remaining silent whenever he fell ill.
Let us discuss a little bit about the activities of those non-human bodiless spirit and petas dwelling at Jamachug . It goes without saying that they often used to make appearanceses before the peoples taking in different forms at first sight , they seemed to be known persons , subsequently it was proved that that very person or persons did not come to the monks at all . in fact it was activities of some non-human beings . At the time of construction of the meditation cottages , this activities went to the extremes .
They used to confuse the Bhikkhus and shramanas . while sitting in meditation under the bamboo clump or bushy trees somewhere in the jungle , they used to try to interrupt the monks with various sounds likes howls , growls , hoots trumpets , hiss , croon etc.
It was the first stay of Nandapal bhante at Jamchug during the period of rainy season . In the Bengali calendar month of Ashara , it was incessantly raining . it was at about 9 p.m in the evening . The Bhante was delivering sermon to the monks & shramanas sitting in the preaching room in the darkness . The monks used not to lit lamp at that time . They used to remain in the darkness as light deterred concentration of mind on meditation . All of a sudden , the chair on which Nandapal bhante was seated started shaking . It seemed to him as if some one was shaking the chair forcefully from behind . Unmindful of it , the bhante got startled , Soon after , he came to know that it was the handiwork of Mara intended to deviate his mind from the path of Dhamma . He continued to delever sermon being unmindful of his misdeeds . Ultimately , this spirit had to stop commission of such misdeeds . The bhante did not tell others about this . Had he divulged at that moment , some of the shramanas would have been scared . A few years later , he divulged this unnatural incident .
An old shramana from Rajbana Vihara of Rangamati came to the Bhante to learn the norms of method of meditation . The bhante taught him the rules of meditation . He used to practise meditation in a small cottage under dense bamboo clumps located to the west of the Temple . One day in the evening he saw a big flame coming towards his cottage in serpentine way . He got frightened at this . He found the flame continuing to move here and there inside the cottage after getting in and sometimes after this , it went out into the open space . The old shramana was at a loss as he did not know what to do .
The old shramana often used to see an adolescent girl roaming inside the temples premises . First of all, it was thought she was a girl living in the nearby hamlet who had come to this temple to fetch water for the monks or to serve the monks . One day , the girl found to have disappeared suddenly from the place where she was standing . The Shramana apprised Nandapal bhante of this mysterious incident .
Nandapal bhante taught the old Shramana how to deal with this kind of uncanny incident recurrence . Another day while meditating , the shramana saw once again the flame moving towards his cottage . As soon as he saw it , he started meditating deeeply focusing mind on this mysterious flame according to advice given earlier by Nandapal bhante and the flame consequently could no longer enter his cottage . It had got disappeared from outside . Ever since , no such incident could cause trouble to him . Of course , trouble and disturbance like this caused by the spirits could not stay there for longer period . They had to leave the place to get rid of power of silas and meditation being practised by the monks .
For the next 5 years since establishment of this meditation center , frequently movement of tigers also created an atmosphere of menace to the monks at Jamchug . The tigers used to roar sporadically round the clock adjacent to the cottage of Nandapal Bhante . Roar of tigers from the north , south and western direction used to rend the air . The bhante previously was not familiar with the roar of tiger , it was a layman who subsequently introduced him to a roar of tiger .
The bhante at first sat in Vippassana meditation in the changkraman house . He practised it for about week as an experiment . He realized that this place was very suitable for meditation . He used to sit in Vippassana meditation without taking to others . It was indeed an excellent place ever found . There was no noise ; it was reign of absolute silence where wind reigned supreme . He savoured a lot of pleasant feelings in the weeklong spell of meditation . For him , it was the first feelings of flavour tested by him practising Dhamma preached by the Buddha .
He had hardly any practical knowledge of practising Vidarshan meditation in a place of solitude . It was the first of its real kind of . Practice of meditation like this in solitary place was widely appreciated by the Buddha himself . Wise men say that sleeping in solitary place is better than practising meditation in noisy place .
Jamchug was undoubtedly suitable for meditation . Many bhikkhus and Shramanas were afraid of this place on the apprehension that there were so many evil elements , disturbances which might pose serious treath to life and security of the monks . So , they were plenty of problems , hurdle and deterrents in this place but Nandapal Bhante , defying these problems continued to practise meditation there for more than one and half decade . People from many other places invited him to shift their places for the sake of convenience and advantage but he declined to go anywhere .
Repeatedly speaking, even though this place was suitable for practice of meditation , staying there meant coming across a lot of adversities . It was not easy even on the part of a layperson to look after the monks or to perform pious activites . The bhante came to know that he had to pass through much trail and tribulation in the course of his continued stay over there . It was hard to get charipratyaya regularly . The Buddha says , in case of scarcity of charipratyaya , it is not possible to practise meditation .
The bhante often used to remain thoughtful about this problem . He did not know weather he created cause for practising meditation there in past or not but finally he took a solemn vow to continue to practise meditation there . Even if he required to die in the course of meditation , he would not give it up .
A few month later his arrival at Jamachug , Nandapal bhante was down with malaria fever . He was about to die as there was no doctor or village quack in the locality to treat him ; nor was any one expected to come to such a remote place . Later the bhante disclosed that when such a situation occurred he used to prepare himself for dying . Right mindfulness was only the medicine he used to keep with him which proved so much resilient that he finally could get rid of all kinds of illness whatsoever . Initially he gave up the hope of coming back with life from Jamachug .
It was known to him that the great men had to walk a long distance though hills , mountains , ravines and what not with a view to attaining the zenith of success by meditation . Such hills , ravines etc . Shrouded in dense forest are the ideal places for comfort and happiness of the ascetics .
At that time the bhante was suffering from stomachache . He could not eat in right time . Some people tried to point out by saying ; As you follow Dhutanga silas on empty stomach , you suffer from such illness ; The bhante did not care for this . There can not be any problem if proper meal is taken even once a day as per hygienic and dietary requirement . Problem crops up if not a single meal is taken in a day .
Whenever the bhante remained bed ridden due to persistent illness , giving up the hope of survival , he used to take refuge in the path of mindfulness sitting in lotus like pose . In case of practice of meditation fours in this way , his heart-beat used to get gradually rejuvenated regaining a ray of hope to survive . Of course , he did not wish to do anything to rejuvenate vitals of his life but to continue to follow this method to entrench himself firmly in this way .
It is not known to the people that how many times he came across adverse situation like this during 17 years of his meditation at Jamchug . People might have noticed his suffering from illness a few times only as he preferred to conceal it remaining silent whenever he fell ill.
*(Practice of meditation at Jamchug part 4 )
Sometimes , he used to preach to the laypersons during period of illness also . In the course of delivery , he often used to feel as if he was on the verge of death due to weakness but he never expressed it . He used to sit in deep meditation to surmount his illness , besides regular delivery of sermon to the laypersons present . All other bhikkus and shramanas also had to undergo self-treatment like this .
Nowadays , situation has improved to a considerable extent . There has been improvement in road networks . The old cottage are no longer in existence . New buildings have come up over the ruins of old ones . In the past , water had to be drawn out with the help of manual labour but now it has been replaced by mechanized power .
The Jamachug hills is situated about 20 km away to the north eastern side of Rangamati town . This hill lies right in the middle of the Kachlong and Chengi river basins . Among all the high hill ranges of Chittagong Hill tract , The Jamachig hill looks the most beautiful and enchanting . All the places around this hills , the scenery and landscape in its neighborhood fascinate every one with a feeling of joy . Synthesis of natural beauty like this hardly found in other hills of the region . There is hardly any place having natural beauty like this in this world , says a tourist . it is a contribution of nature . A glimpse at the Jamchug Hill is sufficient enough to ignite ecstasy of the poetic feeling and stretch of imagination of the thinkers .
The pilgrimage of Jamchug become emotional after seeing the enchating landscape and freak of nature . Even though the place is considered dreadful, inaccessible and replete with wild animals , retiles and bodiless spirits , it has been now changed into a place of pilgrimage providing extreme joy and happiness in the lap of varied flora and fauna .
The place remains silent al day long at night , faint light of kaptai , Rangamati , Longudu , Demagiri , Aizal and Lunglei of Mizoram appears to be so fascinating . Natural beauty of Jamchug does not look a like throughout the year . It varies from time to time with change in season . Emotion and feelings of people also change with the change in season in this hill . The Maiphrumon , Gurusadakmon on the Indian border and Furomon and Janchug near Rangamati are some of the high hills worthy of mention . Out of these , Jamchug is the most glorified one from religious viewpoint .
Jamachug was glorified with the holy touch of venerable Banabhante’s feet . Nandapal bhante with the blessing of Bana Bhante converted this place gradually into a famous meditation center on the strength of his perseverance and care . Samata and vidarshan meditation are practiced here . It is said by the villagers living in the neighborhood that once Jam Chakma , the inhabitant of Jamchug prophesied that this forest would be transformed into big place of pilgrimage , one day a great man would come here to meditate and religious fair would be held in the future .
People living in and around Jamchug paid much respect to the Bhante . They used to take care of him with grat respect . They carried the bhante on palanquin to remote and hilly places to listen to his sermon and to perform religious rites and rituals . After hearing the news of meditation being practiced by Nandapal bhante , some lay persons of Tripura state in India went to Rajbanavihar located at Rangamati and got themselves admitted to the sangha to see the Bhante . They went to Jamchug at a later period to practice meditation . With the blessings of Banabhante , Nandapal Bhante was taken to the Tripura to deliver sermon to the Chakma and other Buddhist communities living in the state . It was in 1999 A. D. , He for the first time delivered sermon in Agartala , Mainama , Manikpur and Chailengta to enthuse the people with religious fervor and consciousness . Since then , The laymen of Tripura have been inviting the Bhante to their state every year to deliver sermon .
**Message of a bright Future through Nimitta ( vision ) **
Seeing dense forest or abundance of vegetation in the lap of lofty mountain range virtually opens up news vistas of imagination for a viewer . His mind gets fully obsessed with feelings of emotion and rapture conductive to identifying himself with the domain of dream . At this , strong mind turns soft . It is often noticed that the yogis or ascetics and mystic hermits or recluse leaving human habitation behind them enter dense forest to continue sitting in meditation . Prince Siddhartha sat in deep meditation under the Bodhi tree lying on the bank of the Nairanjana river in such a beautiful surroundings . He got over the greed , hatred , craving and what not by identifying himself with natural beauty of forest . He often lived in forest even after attainment of enlightenment . It is known that the wild animals worshiped and took care of him while staying in the forest . He sometimes would go to the Himalayas . His stay at Gridvakut mountain is well-known to everyone . He in the long run attained “ Parinibbana “ in a forest full of sal trees .
It was not possible for Nandapal bhante to sit in deep meditation at Rajbanavihara which all the time remained noisy due to congregation of a large number of devotees and lay person . So he selected silently a remote and solitary place like Jamchug by following the footprint of the ancient great men . He gained vast spiritual and psychic knowledge in the course of practicing meditation .
It is not possible for us to measure degree of knowledge or wisdom attained by him during his practice of Vidarshan meditation for more than one and half decades , but the way he struggled against the hard reality to achieve the cherished goal in this age of modern scientific and technological advancemet brings about a great surprise in the minds of the people . It is not known to us if any one undertook such a rigourous practice of meditation in this age . In this respect , he is worthy disciple and successor to the worthy teacher named Banabhante . We proud of him .
In the course of meditation , finally , Nandapal Bhante happened to come across a number of super or super normal events associated with him which indicated his fulfillment of perfection leading to attainment of excellent spiritual experiences . While carrying out these activities , he found he was found to be the hero all of these events ..
1. At the time of meditation , he found a beautiful road paved with gravels soring upto the sky from the porch of his meditation-cottage . The road seemed invisible over the horizon of the Himalayas . He was walking up the road and aftr going beyond a peak of Himalayas , he found himself to have entered the kingdom of light . He realized that he had got mingled with the said kingdom of light .
2. Again while seated in deep meditation , he found a kingdom of stars in the infinite sky over the north of Jamchug hills . A large number of stars much bigger in size than the normal ones which we generally see were shining over there . Repeatedly speaking , those stars looked much bigger and brighter . He found many pious people were carrying him on their shoulders and subsequently lifted him to a chariot waiting nearby and thereafter they were going along with Nandapal Bhante in festive mood beyond the kingdom of stars .
3. While meditating , once more he found a palatial house floating up in the sky . The rooms of the houses were large enough and splendid . he was sitting on a beautiful throne placed in one of the rooms . A large number of Bhikkhus and Shramanas were seated down the room and listening respectfully to the Mahasatipattan sutta being delivered by Nandapal Bhante .
4. In 1999 A. D . Once he found over the northern horizon of Jamchug , he was following the moving Buddha and soaring up into the sky . After rising much higher into sky , they reached a place full of light wherein his mind felt delighted with supreme bliss .
5. In 2000 A D , he found he was siiting on a seat in the air and preaching sermon to the laypersons seated on the ground .
The super natural events like this are called nimitta in Buddhist religion . Nimitta means an omen or event regarded as a sign that something good or bad will happen in the future . It is believed that any thing good or bad whatsoever likely to be happen in the days to come is heralded through the Nimitta .
It is mentioned in the Buddhist scripture that the Buddha also saw a number of good nimittas on the eve of attaining enlightenment . He was said to have seen nimittas immediately before attainment of the Buddha -hood .
While staying at Tintila , Banabhante also expressed once that he had seen nimittas . His disciples were told that he had seen nimittas of light at Dhanpata . At the dead of night , all of sudden , his bamboo built hut got brightly illuminated . It was so bright that the piece of Bamboo joits bearing the load of the roof could be clearly countable . It was in fact a sign heralding good days to come in his life.
Sometimes , he used to preach to the laypersons during period of illness also . In the course of delivery , he often used to feel as if he was on the verge of death due to weakness but he never expressed it . He used to sit in deep meditation to surmount his illness , besides regular delivery of sermon to the laypersons present . All other bhikkus and shramanas also had to undergo self-treatment like this .
Nowadays , situation has improved to a considerable extent . There has been improvement in road networks . The old cottage are no longer in existence . New buildings have come up over the ruins of old ones . In the past , water had to be drawn out with the help of manual labour but now it has been replaced by mechanized power .
The Jamachug hills is situated about 20 km away to the north eastern side of Rangamati town . This hill lies right in the middle of the Kachlong and Chengi river basins . Among all the high hill ranges of Chittagong Hill tract , The Jamachig hill looks the most beautiful and enchanting . All the places around this hills , the scenery and landscape in its neighborhood fascinate every one with a feeling of joy . Synthesis of natural beauty like this hardly found in other hills of the region . There is hardly any place having natural beauty like this in this world , says a tourist . it is a contribution of nature . A glimpse at the Jamchug Hill is sufficient enough to ignite ecstasy of the poetic feeling and stretch of imagination of the thinkers .
The pilgrimage of Jamchug become emotional after seeing the enchating landscape and freak of nature . Even though the place is considered dreadful, inaccessible and replete with wild animals , retiles and bodiless spirits , it has been now changed into a place of pilgrimage providing extreme joy and happiness in the lap of varied flora and fauna .
The place remains silent al day long at night , faint light of kaptai , Rangamati , Longudu , Demagiri , Aizal and Lunglei of Mizoram appears to be so fascinating . Natural beauty of Jamchug does not look a like throughout the year . It varies from time to time with change in season . Emotion and feelings of people also change with the change in season in this hill . The Maiphrumon , Gurusadakmon on the Indian border and Furomon and Janchug near Rangamati are some of the high hills worthy of mention . Out of these , Jamchug is the most glorified one from religious viewpoint .
Jamachug was glorified with the holy touch of venerable Banabhante’s feet . Nandapal bhante with the blessing of Bana Bhante converted this place gradually into a famous meditation center on the strength of his perseverance and care . Samata and vidarshan meditation are practiced here . It is said by the villagers living in the neighborhood that once Jam Chakma , the inhabitant of Jamchug prophesied that this forest would be transformed into big place of pilgrimage , one day a great man would come here to meditate and religious fair would be held in the future .
People living in and around Jamchug paid much respect to the Bhante . They used to take care of him with grat respect . They carried the bhante on palanquin to remote and hilly places to listen to his sermon and to perform religious rites and rituals . After hearing the news of meditation being practiced by Nandapal bhante , some lay persons of Tripura state in India went to Rajbanavihar located at Rangamati and got themselves admitted to the sangha to see the Bhante . They went to Jamchug at a later period to practice meditation . With the blessings of Banabhante , Nandapal Bhante was taken to the Tripura to deliver sermon to the Chakma and other Buddhist communities living in the state . It was in 1999 A. D. , He for the first time delivered sermon in Agartala , Mainama , Manikpur and Chailengta to enthuse the people with religious fervor and consciousness . Since then , The laymen of Tripura have been inviting the Bhante to their state every year to deliver sermon .
**Message of a bright Future through Nimitta ( vision ) **
Seeing dense forest or abundance of vegetation in the lap of lofty mountain range virtually opens up news vistas of imagination for a viewer . His mind gets fully obsessed with feelings of emotion and rapture conductive to identifying himself with the domain of dream . At this , strong mind turns soft . It is often noticed that the yogis or ascetics and mystic hermits or recluse leaving human habitation behind them enter dense forest to continue sitting in meditation . Prince Siddhartha sat in deep meditation under the Bodhi tree lying on the bank of the Nairanjana river in such a beautiful surroundings . He got over the greed , hatred , craving and what not by identifying himself with natural beauty of forest . He often lived in forest even after attainment of enlightenment . It is known that the wild animals worshiped and took care of him while staying in the forest . He sometimes would go to the Himalayas . His stay at Gridvakut mountain is well-known to everyone . He in the long run attained “ Parinibbana “ in a forest full of sal trees .
It was not possible for Nandapal bhante to sit in deep meditation at Rajbanavihara which all the time remained noisy due to congregation of a large number of devotees and lay person . So he selected silently a remote and solitary place like Jamchug by following the footprint of the ancient great men . He gained vast spiritual and psychic knowledge in the course of practicing meditation .
It is not possible for us to measure degree of knowledge or wisdom attained by him during his practice of Vidarshan meditation for more than one and half decades , but the way he struggled against the hard reality to achieve the cherished goal in this age of modern scientific and technological advancemet brings about a great surprise in the minds of the people . It is not known to us if any one undertook such a rigourous practice of meditation in this age . In this respect , he is worthy disciple and successor to the worthy teacher named Banabhante . We proud of him .
In the course of meditation , finally , Nandapal Bhante happened to come across a number of super or super normal events associated with him which indicated his fulfillment of perfection leading to attainment of excellent spiritual experiences . While carrying out these activities , he found he was found to be the hero all of these events ..
1. At the time of meditation , he found a beautiful road paved with gravels soring upto the sky from the porch of his meditation-cottage . The road seemed invisible over the horizon of the Himalayas . He was walking up the road and aftr going beyond a peak of Himalayas , he found himself to have entered the kingdom of light . He realized that he had got mingled with the said kingdom of light .
2. Again while seated in deep meditation , he found a kingdom of stars in the infinite sky over the north of Jamchug hills . A large number of stars much bigger in size than the normal ones which we generally see were shining over there . Repeatedly speaking , those stars looked much bigger and brighter . He found many pious people were carrying him on their shoulders and subsequently lifted him to a chariot waiting nearby and thereafter they were going along with Nandapal Bhante in festive mood beyond the kingdom of stars .
3. While meditating , once more he found a palatial house floating up in the sky . The rooms of the houses were large enough and splendid . he was sitting on a beautiful throne placed in one of the rooms . A large number of Bhikkhus and Shramanas were seated down the room and listening respectfully to the Mahasatipattan sutta being delivered by Nandapal Bhante .
4. In 1999 A. D . Once he found over the northern horizon of Jamchug , he was following the moving Buddha and soaring up into the sky . After rising much higher into sky , they reached a place full of light wherein his mind felt delighted with supreme bliss .
5. In 2000 A D , he found he was siiting on a seat in the air and preaching sermon to the laypersons seated on the ground .
The super natural events like this are called nimitta in Buddhist religion . Nimitta means an omen or event regarded as a sign that something good or bad will happen in the future . It is believed that any thing good or bad whatsoever likely to be happen in the days to come is heralded through the Nimitta .
It is mentioned in the Buddhist scripture that the Buddha also saw a number of good nimittas on the eve of attaining enlightenment . He was said to have seen nimittas immediately before attainment of the Buddha -hood .
While staying at Tintila , Banabhante also expressed once that he had seen nimittas . His disciples were told that he had seen nimittas of light at Dhanpata . At the dead of night , all of sudden , his bamboo built hut got brightly illuminated . It was so bright that the piece of Bamboo joits bearing the load of the roof could be clearly countable . It was in fact a sign heralding good days to come in his life.
* Practice of meditation at Jamchug part 5 *
Nandapal bhante stayed at Jamchug for a period of 20 years at a stretch from 1980 A. D to 2000 A. D . During his stay at Jamchug , he imparted the method of practising Samata and Vidarshan meditation to the resident monks and others including teaching the principles of Buddhism . Sometimes in winter season , he used to teach the method of Vidarshan meditation for 4 month a year besides practising by himself . Some of them who did not wish to practise vidarshan meditation were advised to carry out samatha meditation everyday .
For the purpose of Samatha meditation , the bhante laid emphasis on “ kayagatanusmriti meditation “ . So , they used to to practise it without skipping even a single day .
The bhikkhus and shramanas residing at Jamchug meditation center are required to obey the following instructions prescribed by the Nandapal bhante .
(A ) For those who practise samatha meditation ( tranquil wisdom meditation )
1. Getting out of bed at 30.30 an and practising Kayagatanusmriti meditation collectively .
2. Community prayer of the monks at 5 am
3. Breakfast at 6 am
4. Learning the Tripitaka from 6.30 am to 10 am
5. Taking bath at 10 am
6. Eating meal at 11 am
7. Practising “Anapanasmriti meditation collectively at 12 o’clock at noon
8. Learning & reading Dhamma book from 1. 30 am to 5 pm
9. Community prayer of all monks & novices at 6 pm
10. Participation of all in the religious discourse at 8 pm
11. Recitation of suttra at 9 pm
12. Going to bed at 10 pm
( For those who practise Vipassana meditation ( Insight wisdom meditation )
1. Getting out of bed at 3 am
2. Practising Changkraman ( walking meditation ) with right mindfulness from 3 a.m to 5 am
3. Taking bath at 5 am
4. Breakfast at 6 am
5. Practising meditation for 2 hours from 6 am to 8 am in sitting position .
6. Chankraman ( walking meditation ) for one hour after 9 am
7. Taking bath at 9 am and Walking meditation
8. Eating meal at 11 am
9. Practising meditation in a sitting position for 2 hours at a stretch from 12 pm onwards at noon .
10. Chankraman at 2 pm in the afternoon and meditation lying down on bed in case of necessity .
11. Practising meditation in sitting position at 2 pm in the afternoon
12. Taking bath at 5 pm
13. Chankraman ( walking meditation ) at 6 pm or meditation for a while lying down on bed in case of necessity
14. Chankraman ( walking meditation ) from 7 pm to 10 pm and practising meditation in standing position somewhere in suitable place in case of necessity
15. Practising meditation in a sitting position at 10 pm
16. Going to bed with right mindfulness.
Nandapal bhante stayed at Jamchug for a period of 20 years at a stretch from 1980 A. D to 2000 A. D . During his stay at Jamchug , he imparted the method of practising Samata and Vidarshan meditation to the resident monks and others including teaching the principles of Buddhism . Sometimes in winter season , he used to teach the method of Vidarshan meditation for 4 month a year besides practising by himself . Some of them who did not wish to practise vidarshan meditation were advised to carry out samatha meditation everyday .
For the purpose of Samatha meditation , the bhante laid emphasis on “ kayagatanusmriti meditation “ . So , they used to to practise it without skipping even a single day .
The bhikkhus and shramanas residing at Jamchug meditation center are required to obey the following instructions prescribed by the Nandapal bhante .
(A ) For those who practise samatha meditation ( tranquil wisdom meditation )
1. Getting out of bed at 30.30 an and practising Kayagatanusmriti meditation collectively .
2. Community prayer of the monks at 5 am
3. Breakfast at 6 am
4. Learning the Tripitaka from 6.30 am to 10 am
5. Taking bath at 10 am
6. Eating meal at 11 am
7. Practising “Anapanasmriti meditation collectively at 12 o’clock at noon
8. Learning & reading Dhamma book from 1. 30 am to 5 pm
9. Community prayer of all monks & novices at 6 pm
10. Participation of all in the religious discourse at 8 pm
11. Recitation of suttra at 9 pm
12. Going to bed at 10 pm
( For those who practise Vipassana meditation ( Insight wisdom meditation )
1. Getting out of bed at 3 am
2. Practising Changkraman ( walking meditation ) with right mindfulness from 3 a.m to 5 am
3. Taking bath at 5 am
4. Breakfast at 6 am
5. Practising meditation for 2 hours from 6 am to 8 am in sitting position .
6. Chankraman ( walking meditation ) for one hour after 9 am
7. Taking bath at 9 am and Walking meditation
8. Eating meal at 11 am
9. Practising meditation in a sitting position for 2 hours at a stretch from 12 pm onwards at noon .
10. Chankraman at 2 pm in the afternoon and meditation lying down on bed in case of necessity .
11. Practising meditation in sitting position at 2 pm in the afternoon
12. Taking bath at 5 pm
13. Chankraman ( walking meditation ) at 6 pm or meditation for a while lying down on bed in case of necessity
14. Chankraman ( walking meditation ) from 7 pm to 10 pm and practising meditation in standing position somewhere in suitable place in case of necessity
15. Practising meditation in a sitting position at 10 pm
16. Going to bed with right mindfulness.
* Dighinala Banavihar *
Dighinala Banvihar is situated a little away to the southwestern side of the headquarter of Dighinala police station in Chittagong Hill tract . It was established on the slope of some low lying hills which are not as high as the jamchug hills . it is a holy place blessed by venerable Banabhante , a luminary and pioneer of religious renaissance in Chittagong region of Bangladesh and parts of northeast India and Myanmar . The Meyani river flowing to the east of the temple joins itself into backwater of the Kachalong river , which at this place forms part of the kaptai lake created artificially by the erstwhile east Pakistan , A road adjacent to the temple leads to Khagrachari , The district headquater which was curved out of old Chittagong Hill Tract district .
In the early sixties , this temple was established . Banabhante was brought to this temple from the inundated area of Danpata . At the initiative of two brothers named Sadhanmani and Nishimani , this great monk was brought to this temple by a country boat from Dhanpata with the help of local inhabitants . At the initial stage , this small temple came up with a thatched roof . Bana bhante was a shraman at that time . In the course of time , a mud temple community preaching hall , some meditation cottages and bhikkhusima were built by the lay person converting it into a full-fledged temple . A large number of trees around the temple were planted in order to prevent soil erosion and also to add beauty to the surroundings. Soon aftrr this , all the hillocks enclosing this temple were shrouded in green vegetation justifying in appellation “ Dighinala Banavihar . During the stay of this great monk at this Banavihar , he was ordained as Bhikkhu . Many monks took part in the ordination ceremony . After becoming a bhikkhu , he was known as Sadhanandha bhikkhu . However , he was popularly known as Banabhante to the common people . He went on residing in this temple till 1970 A. D .
Due to unrest prevailing in Chittagong Hill Tract , like many other villages of this region , Dighinala Banavihar was fully destroyed in 1986 A. D . There was no existence of this Banavihara for many years . After peace accord signed between the Government of Bangladesh and JSS , Political situation improved to some extent enabling the people of this region to return to their ancestral homeland from makeshift camps of south Tripura district in India . They started the process of reconstructing of the Banavihar in second phase . At the Initiative of the pious people and with the financial help of the local government and people , very soon Dighinala Banavihar redeemed its luster and past glory .
With a view to preserving its past glory , Shri Kalparanjan Chakma , the then minister for Chittagong Hill Tract affairs, Bangladesh , with the approval of Banabhante offered respectful invitation to Nandapal bhikkhu on behalf of the lay person of the locality to reside permanently in this Banavihar . It was a good luck for people of Meyani area that the bhante accepted this invitation to heart’s content . In 2000 A . D before onset of rainy season , he arrived at Dighinala Banavihar along with 20 bhikkhus and Shraramanas.
Repeatedly speaking , in his childhood , he used to come to Meyani Banavihar along with his grandmother . He became inspired by Banabhante after listening to his sermon . The advice given by the bhante in this temple on moral values impressed much upon him , as a result of which he could discover the right direction for himself in his life . That is how there has been close relationship between him and Banavihar .
When Banabhante was residing at Tintilla , A celebratd monk in India named Rastrapal Bhante paid a visit to Banabhante in 1974 A. D . while discussing various aspect of Dhamma . Rastrapal Bhante was curious to know from Banabhante , about the kind of meditation he practised and length of period he needed to attain enlightenment .
Banabhante said in reply to the question : while working a carpenter uses various types of tools and instruments according to necessity , like wise I practiced various kind of meditation according to requirement . He informed that he had practised both samatha and Vidarshan meditation whenever necessity arose . He further said in reply that since the date of his admissions as shramana , he needed 20 years to attain enlightenment . During their conversation , Nandapal Bhante was listening silently to them sitting in a separate room close to them . It is understood from this conversation that Banabhante got enlightenment while living at Dighinala Banavihar only .
Knowing all these , Nandapal bhante felt attracted to this Banavihar for which he could not overlook the invitation offered to him to reside pernanently in this Banavihar .
It is a good luck that a wise monk like Nandapal bhante who is possessing knowledge of vidarshan meditation is available in the midst of the people . Name and fame of this enlightened monk spread far and wide following his arrival at Diginala Banavihar . This holy place where venerable Banabhante was believed to attained enlightenment got in fact transformed , into a place of pilgrimage with arrival of Nandapal bhante at Diginala . Since then, Katinchibar danotsav is held every year in this vihar in imitation of the practice followed by a pious laywoman named Vishakha by making within 24 hours .
Nowadays , in this vihar , religious programme is oeganized almost everyday to perform pious deeds . The laypersons and devotees who come from nearby vollage for offering meal take part in these programs and donate various kinds of essential items . on all full moon and new moon days of the month, 8th day of bright and dark fortnights , the laypersons follow 8 silas besides performing pious deeds .
The bhante delivers series of sermon on every Friday as the government officials and other interested persons get opportunities to participate in the discourse or some other pious activities on this day on account of being a govt. holiday in Bangladesh .
This is how a period of religious renaissance emerged in the lives of the people of the locality . The bhante wanted to mould the laypersons into ideal Buddhists dedicated to the cause of Dhamma . For this purpose , he was eager to make them motivated towards the practice of meditation in order to purify their inner instincts . He says , None can become a real Buddhist until and unless meditation is practised . He expressed his desire to turn Dighinala Banavihar into a Meditation center .
Based on plan , encouragement and motivation given by the Bhante , a big Idol of Meditating Buddha measuring 22 feet in height was moulded and installed in the tEmple . Perhaps such an idol as big as it cannot be found anywhere in Bangladesh . The beautiful idol of Sibali Bhante with 9 feet in height who regarded as the paragon of fortune is also worth mentioning . These idols as a matter of fact , add luster to the excellent style of sculpture . These idol were moulded by a Sculptor brought from Burma .
As per his plan , the whole temple premises were divided into many parts wherein trees and flowers plants of indigenous exotic varieties were planted in rows to beautify its surrounding . The pious laypersons residing nearby participated in the process of its plantation and nursing . People traveling in the vicinity of it feel fascinated with beauty of colorful vegetation abundant on the slopes of the hills located around the temple . Most of the people make a brief stopover during their journey with feelings of satisfaction to enjoy its natural beauty . Some of them go to the extent of entering the premises of the Temple to savour the taste of its natural beauty.
Dighinala Banvihar is situated a little away to the southwestern side of the headquarter of Dighinala police station in Chittagong Hill tract . It was established on the slope of some low lying hills which are not as high as the jamchug hills . it is a holy place blessed by venerable Banabhante , a luminary and pioneer of religious renaissance in Chittagong region of Bangladesh and parts of northeast India and Myanmar . The Meyani river flowing to the east of the temple joins itself into backwater of the Kachalong river , which at this place forms part of the kaptai lake created artificially by the erstwhile east Pakistan , A road adjacent to the temple leads to Khagrachari , The district headquater which was curved out of old Chittagong Hill Tract district .
In the early sixties , this temple was established . Banabhante was brought to this temple from the inundated area of Danpata . At the initiative of two brothers named Sadhanmani and Nishimani , this great monk was brought to this temple by a country boat from Dhanpata with the help of local inhabitants . At the initial stage , this small temple came up with a thatched roof . Bana bhante was a shraman at that time . In the course of time , a mud temple community preaching hall , some meditation cottages and bhikkhusima were built by the lay person converting it into a full-fledged temple . A large number of trees around the temple were planted in order to prevent soil erosion and also to add beauty to the surroundings. Soon aftrr this , all the hillocks enclosing this temple were shrouded in green vegetation justifying in appellation “ Dighinala Banavihar . During the stay of this great monk at this Banavihar , he was ordained as Bhikkhu . Many monks took part in the ordination ceremony . After becoming a bhikkhu , he was known as Sadhanandha bhikkhu . However , he was popularly known as Banabhante to the common people . He went on residing in this temple till 1970 A. D .
Due to unrest prevailing in Chittagong Hill Tract , like many other villages of this region , Dighinala Banavihar was fully destroyed in 1986 A. D . There was no existence of this Banavihara for many years . After peace accord signed between the Government of Bangladesh and JSS , Political situation improved to some extent enabling the people of this region to return to their ancestral homeland from makeshift camps of south Tripura district in India . They started the process of reconstructing of the Banavihar in second phase . At the Initiative of the pious people and with the financial help of the local government and people , very soon Dighinala Banavihar redeemed its luster and past glory .
With a view to preserving its past glory , Shri Kalparanjan Chakma , the then minister for Chittagong Hill Tract affairs, Bangladesh , with the approval of Banabhante offered respectful invitation to Nandapal bhikkhu on behalf of the lay person of the locality to reside permanently in this Banavihar . It was a good luck for people of Meyani area that the bhante accepted this invitation to heart’s content . In 2000 A . D before onset of rainy season , he arrived at Dighinala Banavihar along with 20 bhikkhus and Shraramanas.
Repeatedly speaking , in his childhood , he used to come to Meyani Banavihar along with his grandmother . He became inspired by Banabhante after listening to his sermon . The advice given by the bhante in this temple on moral values impressed much upon him , as a result of which he could discover the right direction for himself in his life . That is how there has been close relationship between him and Banavihar .
When Banabhante was residing at Tintilla , A celebratd monk in India named Rastrapal Bhante paid a visit to Banabhante in 1974 A. D . while discussing various aspect of Dhamma . Rastrapal Bhante was curious to know from Banabhante , about the kind of meditation he practised and length of period he needed to attain enlightenment .
Banabhante said in reply to the question : while working a carpenter uses various types of tools and instruments according to necessity , like wise I practiced various kind of meditation according to requirement . He informed that he had practised both samatha and Vidarshan meditation whenever necessity arose . He further said in reply that since the date of his admissions as shramana , he needed 20 years to attain enlightenment . During their conversation , Nandapal Bhante was listening silently to them sitting in a separate room close to them . It is understood from this conversation that Banabhante got enlightenment while living at Dighinala Banavihar only .
Knowing all these , Nandapal bhante felt attracted to this Banavihar for which he could not overlook the invitation offered to him to reside pernanently in this Banavihar .
It is a good luck that a wise monk like Nandapal bhante who is possessing knowledge of vidarshan meditation is available in the midst of the people . Name and fame of this enlightened monk spread far and wide following his arrival at Diginala Banavihar . This holy place where venerable Banabhante was believed to attained enlightenment got in fact transformed , into a place of pilgrimage with arrival of Nandapal bhante at Diginala . Since then, Katinchibar danotsav is held every year in this vihar in imitation of the practice followed by a pious laywoman named Vishakha by making within 24 hours .
Nowadays , in this vihar , religious programme is oeganized almost everyday to perform pious deeds . The laypersons and devotees who come from nearby vollage for offering meal take part in these programs and donate various kinds of essential items . on all full moon and new moon days of the month, 8th day of bright and dark fortnights , the laypersons follow 8 silas besides performing pious deeds .
The bhante delivers series of sermon on every Friday as the government officials and other interested persons get opportunities to participate in the discourse or some other pious activities on this day on account of being a govt. holiday in Bangladesh .
This is how a period of religious renaissance emerged in the lives of the people of the locality . The bhante wanted to mould the laypersons into ideal Buddhists dedicated to the cause of Dhamma . For this purpose , he was eager to make them motivated towards the practice of meditation in order to purify their inner instincts . He says , None can become a real Buddhist until and unless meditation is practised . He expressed his desire to turn Dighinala Banavihar into a Meditation center .
Based on plan , encouragement and motivation given by the Bhante , a big Idol of Meditating Buddha measuring 22 feet in height was moulded and installed in the tEmple . Perhaps such an idol as big as it cannot be found anywhere in Bangladesh . The beautiful idol of Sibali Bhante with 9 feet in height who regarded as the paragon of fortune is also worth mentioning . These idols as a matter of fact , add luster to the excellent style of sculpture . These idol were moulded by a Sculptor brought from Burma .
As per his plan , the whole temple premises were divided into many parts wherein trees and flowers plants of indigenous exotic varieties were planted in rows to beautify its surrounding . The pious laypersons residing nearby participated in the process of its plantation and nursing . People traveling in the vicinity of it feel fascinated with beauty of colorful vegetation abundant on the slopes of the hills located around the temple . Most of the people make a brief stopover during their journey with feelings of satisfaction to enjoy its natural beauty . Some of them go to the extent of entering the premises of the Temple to savour the taste of its natural beauty.
SADHU! SADHU!! SADHU!!!
Tuesday 2 July 2013
Friday 28 June 2013
Saturday 22 June 2013
His Holiness Venerable Nanda pal Mahathero visits Arunachal Pradesh
The spiritual teacher of Chakmas His
Holiness venerable Nanda Pal Mahathero, accompanied by his five close
disciples arrived in Lathao, Arunachal Pradesh on 13 June. Believed to
be a rare event to witness, His Holiness was warmly welcomed by ex-MLA
of the region Pinthika Namchoom, who took the privilege to greet him at
Dibrugarh airport.
The drive from the airport to Lathao
has, undoubtedly, emerged as blessing for the devotees and his
followers. He will be staying there for two days and is then supposed to
leave the place to take a trip over the Vana Vihar of Jyotsnapur
village, the biggest host of monks’ honor and reverence in Chakma
dwellings over the Changlang district.
The villagers are destined to make
appreciation of having the opportunity to hear His Holiness’ teachings.
His Holiness had already toured the area in past few years.
He was in Navincherra of Tripura earlier
week, attending an important occasion of gathering of grouping
ordination, and on 10th of this month he took a flight to Kolkata from
where he reached Arunachal Pradesh.
After completion of his task in the
vihara, blessing three people for high ordination, he will move to
Bijoypur village where the villagers will donate an auspicious offering
of land, an extent of open area to institute and construct a new temple.
We all appreciate the altruistic deed of
the people, although it seems this should have been done much earlier,
but anyway it earns the greatest compliment and deserves our admiration
for this huge offering.
On 21 June, his respective schedules
will be escorting him to Bodhgaya, believed to be the most sacred place
on earth for Buddhist pilgrims. We do hope everyone will be waiting for
his next visit so that many may be benefited. So we should pray for his
long life and health.
Probably one might wonder what
difference his visit might make in the society. To know it we recommend
experiencing it by oneself.
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