Merry Christmas, Happy New Year 2011

Dr Maung Maung Nyo


(Christmas Greetings at Lucy's Home)

Lucy used to invite this time of the year
All her friends who are dear and near
To come to her home and have dinner
Eating and gossiping or gamely as singers
As her Christmas party is held to be gay
All the medicos come without fail.

(Early Birds:L to R: Drs Kyaw Moe,Hla Hla Myint, NOM, KMM,
Sabai Soe Maung, MMN, Standing alone: D Khin Mar Myint)

We are the early birds at today’s party
Only four guests have arrived more early
We greet each other, take photos and seat
Needless to say we all happily and hungrily eat
The Prata and chicken is tasty and sweet
Today is the 18^th December, a week ahead neat!

(Early Birds: Standing: Sabai, NOM, Lucy Kyaw Mya,
Saw Aung Hla Win. Sitting: L to R:Drs Than Htay Tin,
Myint Aung, Saw Min Oo)

Saw Aung Hla Win is a good mate
Indulging his wife Lucy as family fate
Taking her friends and follies as his own
Besides fathering three faithful sons alone
All of them capable of standing on their feet
Yet they still rely on their parents for their feed.

(L to R: Drs Khin Mar Myint and Daw Hla Hla Myint)

Dr Khin Maung Myint comes alone
His better half having flown home
Like Aye Aye Aung whose hubby will
Come and go as he pleases or feels
Sabai Soe Maung and Hla Hla Myint say
They are single and stay as such till today.

(L to R: Drs Hla Hla Myint, Khin Maung Myint, Sabai SM)

Drs Kyaw Moe and Khin Mar Myint eat and smile
Sending their daughter to London for a while
For PLAB and postgraduate study in the UK
Burmese are still attached to its education still today
FRCS, MRCS, MRCP, M Sc, Ph.D. and what not
Burmese have to learn about medical education a lot!

(Dr Nan Ommar Dressing Up to Join the X-Mas Party)

Many more friends join their Christmas party
Surgeons, physicians, OGs and radiologists derby
Anatomists and ENT surgeons outnumbering others
Kuching has become a sort of mini Burma
Composed of Karen, Rakhine, Mon, Bamar and Shan
Living together in love for others need to learn.

Christmas is a season of love and laughter
May all our friends and others enjoy one another!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
18.12.2010 (Original)

A Burmese Buddhist Pilgrimage to Bodhgaya etc.

Dr Maung Maung Nyo


(Mahabodhi Temple)

I take pride being a Burman born in Burma
As any other national of creed or color
That has a home and heritage of ancestral father
And I’m a Burmese Buddhist down to the core with ardor.

(L to R: MMN, NOM, Daw Khin Yi, U Bo Kyin, Chaw Suu)

I was fortunate to be able to go to Bodh Gaya
Where Gautama Buddha enlightened to be Buddha
It’s one of the four places called “Thanwai Lay Htarna”
It’s the rare feat of fortune I was able to reach thus.

(Pilgrims at the Entrance to the Mahabodhi Compound)

My heart leapt up when I first saw the Bodh Gaya
Tall, towering and grandly designed like a rock pillar
The beautiful Banyan tree branching wide near
Many people are worshiping wondrously clear.

(Pilgrims at The Entrance to Maharaja Museum
at Varanasi or Benares)

I was with my wife and wise sister’s family
We came on an Indian plane on our own gamely
A Ph.D, monk has awaited us at Gaya Airport
He would lead our Buddhist Pilgrimage with support.

(Dhamekha Cedi or Stupa at the Deer Park or Migadawon)

The monk took us to a Mahayana Hotel in Bodh Gaya
For a night’s stay where our sojourn was finally discussed over
Another Ph.D. monk took over the guide function
The first monk had to go to Patna for government sanction.

(Remains of the Migadawon Temple at Sarnath)

Many Burmese monks are studying in Indian varsities
For higher degrees like M.A. and Ph.D. for Buddhist studies
We met several Sayadaws with Ph.D.
It’s the selfless and patriotic efforts of the Burmese clergy.

(NOM and MMN at the Mayadevi Temple of the Buddha's
Birthplace at Lumbini)

Next day we went to Varanasi to see the “Deer Park”
Where Budddha preached the “Dhamma Setkya” first
To the “Five Preceptors” the Law of Mijjima Padipada
The wheel of Buddhism was set in motion since for the world.

(MMN at Lumbini)

We then went to “Zetawun Monastery” in Srivasti or Tharawutti
Where Anarhtapein donated it to Buddha for keeping it
The land cost him cartloads of gold
An equal amount was spent for the building more.

(Mahanirvana Temple and Stupa at Kushinagar)

We then went to Sonauli, a border town
A Ph.D. monk is building a rest house with a lawn
For the Burmese Buddhists on the way to Lumbini
Yes, we went there on the Nepali side happily.

(Burmese Pilgrims and Their Donated Robe at
Mahaparinirvana Buddha)

Lumbini is the place where Buddha was born
An Asoka’s Column was standing with its capital down
The exact place where Siddhartha was born is shown
A pond and a pagoda mark the place of honor known.

(MMN at Sravasti ir Sarvasti or Tharwutti)

We even went to the old Kapilavastu City
Where Suddosana ruled the Sarky with amity
It’s now marked by a brick foundation
We visited it with sad emotion and longing.

(PM of UP State Mayawati and Burmese Sayadaw)

Later, we came back to Indian side
Drove straight to the Kusinaga right
Where we put up in the Burmese Monastery in silence
The statue of Buddha Mahaparinirvrna lay across the fence.

(Burmese Pilgrrims and Vesali Monk, U Pyinna Thuta Ph.D.)

Mahaparinirvarna Buddha is lying with his head to the north
In a clean and spacious chamber donated by Nehru on record
Many people of different colors and states came to pray
We donated a lotus robe with prayers calling it a day.

(Asoka Temple Ruins and a Single Lion on
a Pillar or Column)

We have been to many other places too
The Indian scenery is no different from Burma true
Palm trees, paddy fields and poor people tilling the land
Roads were rough and rigged with dirt and sand.

(In Front of Sujata Cedi)

We visited Rajgira or Yazagyo old town
Five mountains encircle it all around
The electric armed chairs lifted us to the “Vulture Peak”
We enjoyed climbing and descending it such a rare feat.

(Dry Nairanjana or Nezinyazar River)

The Bimbisara Caves reminded us of father and son saga
Prince Ajattasattu killed his king father for greed or Loba
To be king before the time was ripe
Devadatta taught him to be wild with might.

(At the Gate to the Remains of the Nalanda University)

A good teacher is what every one needs
Buddha preached it in Mingala Sutta neat
That “Avoid the fool and approach the wise”
It’s a dictum all humans should learn right.

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
15.11.2010 (Original)

The Ledi Sayadaw

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

(Portrait of the Ledi Sayadaw)

I always marvel at Ledi Sayadaw
For always guiding all the Dagadaw
In Buddhist doctrine and righteous path
All would have prosperity and peace at last.

(Ledi Stone Inscriptions)

I recited his Buddhawun poems when young
Accompanying mother to him for errand
When I became a teenage tanning school boy
His stone inscriptions awed me to widen my eye.

(Entrance Arch to Maha Ledi Monasteries)

He was the first Burmese to receive D.Litt. degree
Honoris Causa from the new Rangoon University
Saying the certificate is not worth a tin of chicken feed
He did not go personally to get it that he did not need.

(Upper: Ledi Sayadaw Teaching the Sangha;
Lower: Ledi Sayadaw Preaching the Laity)

His fame spread far and wide
In Pali and Buddhist scriptures to be precise
Answering questions both day and night
The learned Londoners of Pali Society write.

(The Convocation Hall of the Rangoon University)

I remember his famous poem by heart
“You are the hardest of the heartless thugs
Born in a black hole at midnight when dark
You’re ignorant, insolent and unenlightened shark”.

(Logo of the Rangoon University 1920 to 1964)

“You do not know what is right or wrong
Greed, grandiosity, pride and prejudice abound
Doing exactly opposite of Sigalovada Sutta says
No man is more stupid and silly than you are any way.”

(My Parents from Monywa)

I read the Ledi Dipani at the age of forty years
I understood exactly what he meant by hell here
The size and shape of the eight strata so clear
Like Jabudipa or India it is the human world, my dear.

(The Great Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon)

So whenever I meet a man in greed
I know generosity is what he need
Whenever a man is proud of his wealth
I know what he lacks is knowledge of self
When a man has forgotten his root
What he need is a ground for his foot

When he speaks and pretends like a white man
What he need is to eat a banana often then.

(Map pf Burma showing the situation of Monywa)

I know myself that I have a brown skin
Black hair, black eyes and straight chin
I can never be a White man wearing a suit
I know my roots in Burma supplying me food.

(The Ledi Dhamma Auditorium)

O Ledi Sayadaw! You are so great
I was born so late
I should have been born with you
Learning from you too to
Practice what you teach
To follow what you lead

(The Famous Meditation Teacher Mr Goenkaji and Ledi)

So that the Nibaban I may reach
I may also preach
Hundreds of ignorant and insolent men
May I be able to get rid of them!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
7.10.210 (Original)

My Five Fateful Crises

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

I was fond of fun and frolics while young
Continued frolicking with friends for fun
Even past several hours for school run
I was soundly beaten by my angry Mum

(Thambuddhay Cedi, Monywa)

Changing my clothes fretfully for school
She led me with a cane in hand through!

(Elephants Guarding the Entrance to Thambuddhay Cedi)

It was when I started kindergarten class
Learning alphabets and arithmetic art
I got them by heart way ahead in class
Both in tests and exams I always stood first
Teachers promoted me every six months
It made my Mum proud and dance!

(Poet at Age 13 Years)

The love of learning is instilled in me since young
Trying my best to stay at the top always as fun
Yet friends and fun always remain a part of my life
I never become a boring bookworm or nagging knight
Thinking oneself as the best and brightest of the lot
Out of touch with reality and scheming to be lord!

(L to R: Dr MMN, U Kyaw Shein, Dr Thein Aung, Saya Nyein,
(Dr Khin Maung Win)

When I passed premedical matric exam in 1955
I could go to senior inter for medical as a right
But I was lured by Aung San, U Nu,Then Pe and like
Nearly switching to political subjects for a fight
My father and teachers intervened and advised
That I go straight to premedical inter course as choice.

(Dr NOM and Saya Dagon Taryar)

Thus I became a doctor for nearly 50 years
Treating the sick, alleviating the pain and tears
Risking my own life to save the injured at front line
Operating under gun fire to save lives on time

( MMN and Dr Thein Nyunt or Nyunt Wai, Katha)

Then switching to postgraduate study for a Ph.D.
I voluntarily relinquished richness opportunity for me!

(Maung Maung Nyo M.B., B.S., Ph.D. London July 1969)

By that I’m the first Burmese Ph.D. anatomy from London
I was appointed a professor as the youngest at random
Able to start the first postgraduate course in anatomy in Burma
Having trained over thirty or forty anatomist doctors further
Besides teaching hundreds of medical and dental students
I taught future consultants and write to be a writer of influence!

(L to R: Mr Kanti Kumar, MMN, U Thein Sein, U Win Pe,
Mr Mulk Raj, Tekkatho Sein Tin)

On my retirement at the age of sixty
Minister Dr Kyaw Myint came quickly
Asking me to continue as an advisor's life
At a meagre miserly monthly pay of'slight

(MMN and Dagon Taryar)

I denied it for my daughters’ education and future
They are now educated, and settled down for sure.

(Yupar Nyo admitted to the M.Computer Engg. at the UNSW)

During the 1988 countrywide protests and strikes
Appeals and advice came from both sides
To take part and if possible to lead the fight
Against tyranny injustice and BSPP out right
I had to decide to remain apolitical or other wise
A colleague stopped me from marching on sight.

(Ei and Aung Myo Kyaw's Wedding at the Sedona Hotel)

Tekkath Phone Naing was thrown into politics like that
He eulogized thousands of Aung San on strike in fact
He was sacked from rector post on coming back
Some were retained but asked to do things SLORC said
They became stupid stooges of scheming SLORC boss
They forfeited their names and services for ever lost.

(Saya Paragu in the Middle)

I’m a lover of literature, poetry, medicine and life
“Medicine is my wife, literature my lover,” right?

(Saya Paragu Greeing the Groom's Parents)

It was Chekov who said the epithet so clear
I’m fortunate I could indulge in both so dear
More fortunate to have my wife Nan Ommar chartered
She helps me in both literal and other activities smarter.

(MMN, YPN, ESN, NOM at Home)

Indeed I have met many lovely ladies in my life
At school, university, medical college and work site
None has been near and dear to me as my wife

(saya Paragu Speaking at MMN's Home)

One may be prettier or wealthier but not as bright
Another my be smarter or saucier but not as right
After all, my wife suits me best as my first choice!

(NOM, YPN, ESN, MMN)

So I have stated my five fateful crises
As being the blessings in disguises
First truancy as I was beaten by my mother
Second to forego medicine and take politics as cover

(Aung Myo Kyaw and Ei Sabai Nyo with Dagon Taryar's Poem)

Third my refusal to work government advisor post
Fourth I did not join politics all along the course
Fifth I chose my wife out of so many ladies in sight
I value above all else my wife as the most right!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
19.9.2010 (Original)