Where can I get Burmese meditation visa in Asia? - Discussion
Where can I get Burmese meditation visa in Asia?
Amy Wang, modified 13 Years ago at 9/30/11 8:54 PM
Created 13 Years ago at 9/30/11 8:54 PM
Where can I get Burmese meditation visa in Asia?
Post: 1 Join Date: 9/30/11 Recent Posts
Hello, I'm leaving the United States for Asia in about two weeks. I want to know where in Southeast Asia is the best place I can obtain a meditation visa for Burma/Myanmar. Ideally, I want to stay in Burma for about 3 months to do retreats. According to this page, http://www.paauk.org/files/traveltips.htm, Singapore is one possibility for getting a meditation visa. And according to http://sayadawutejaniya.org/meditation-center/, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is another place. But which one is the better option? Or can I get a meditation visa from Hong Kong or China? My passport is USA.
Thanks for your help!
Amy
Thanks for your help!
Amy
Daniel M Ingram, modified 13 Years ago at 10/10/11 12:04 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 10/10/11 12:04 AM
RE: Where can I get Burmese meditation visa in Asia?
Posts: 3293 Join Date: 4/20/09 Recent Posts
You should be able to contact those places in this modern age of good phones and the internet, and you may even be able to ask the Burmese (Myanmarese) consulate in the states.
I wish I knew the specifics of those.
Are you sure you don't just want to go a Mahasi center in a nicer country, such as MBMC in Penang or one of the Mahasi centers in Thailand?
Daniel
I wish I knew the specifics of those.
Are you sure you don't just want to go a Mahasi center in a nicer country, such as MBMC in Penang or one of the Mahasi centers in Thailand?
Daniel
Simon T, modified 13 Years ago at 10/10/11 3:38 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 10/10/11 3:38 AM
RE: Where can I get Burmese meditation visa in Asia?
Posts: 383 Join Date: 9/13/11 Recent Posts
Singapore is the fastest place to get the mediation visa. At some point, it was the only place to get one. That's where Chanmyay Sayadaw told me to go, saying that it only take a few days to get the visa.
If you really want to go to Myanmar, i suggest that you go on a 1 month tourist visa first. You are not allowed to visit the country when on a meditation visa and must spend your time at the center sponsoring you. Myanmar is fantastic to visit. I love the people there. Just walk the line if you don't want any issues with the government (a lesson I learned the hard way).
Are you a dark night yogi in spiritual emergency? Daniel talk about this in one of its video. Folks that sell their house to flight to Myanmar... if only I knew about this syndrome before! I was imagining the western meditation centers as too commercial (and expensive!), too oriented on psychology and leaving the philosophy behind. I worried that I would end up surrounded by soccer moms dressed in new age outfit. I wanted to escape society. Still, I wasn't a mature enough yogi and disciplined enough to survive mentally in a pure burmese buddhism environment.
the teacher is more important than the center. Monks are generally attached to one peculiar school of thought and one peculiar technique: the one that worked for them.
It took 2 months after I wrote to Pa Auk to get an answer (I don't know if the sponsorship letter made it to Canada, I just got a confirmation e-mail). I decided not to go to their center after getting negatives feedback. I found Pa Auk books hard to read. They don't introduce you to vipassana before you reach the 4th concentration jana which is debatable.
If you really want to go to Myanmar, i suggest that you go on a 1 month tourist visa first. You are not allowed to visit the country when on a meditation visa and must spend your time at the center sponsoring you. Myanmar is fantastic to visit. I love the people there. Just walk the line if you don't want any issues with the government (a lesson I learned the hard way).
Are you a dark night yogi in spiritual emergency? Daniel talk about this in one of its video. Folks that sell their house to flight to Myanmar... if only I knew about this syndrome before! I was imagining the western meditation centers as too commercial (and expensive!), too oriented on psychology and leaving the philosophy behind. I worried that I would end up surrounded by soccer moms dressed in new age outfit. I wanted to escape society. Still, I wasn't a mature enough yogi and disciplined enough to survive mentally in a pure burmese buddhism environment.
the teacher is more important than the center. Monks are generally attached to one peculiar school of thought and one peculiar technique: the one that worked for them.
It took 2 months after I wrote to Pa Auk to get an answer (I don't know if the sponsorship letter made it to Canada, I just got a confirmation e-mail). I decided not to go to their center after getting negatives feedback. I found Pa Auk books hard to read. They don't introduce you to vipassana before you reach the 4th concentration jana which is debatable.
Be Free Now, modified 12 Years ago at 7/2/12 1:30 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 7/2/12 1:30 AM
RE: Where can I get Burmese meditation visa in Asia?
Posts: 61 Join Date: 2/4/12 Recent Posts
Also, you can get a tourist visa for 28 days from Thailand, and overstay for 60-some days and pay $3 per day. That's what I did and it was fine. Just make sure you bring crisp cash.