Path of Freedom [Vimuttimagga]

In MemoriamDuring these four months of translation work the thought that repeatedlyarose in our minds was how soon could we return to Burma for ordinationand put into practice the teaching of the Sambuddha so clearly set forth in theVimuttimagga. It was plain, open, and easy to understand. What it saidreached the heart direct — hadayangama seemed to be the correct word todescribe one's reaction on reading the Vimuttimagga for the first time. Therewas no point in delaying.So we left Jozaiji with our friend the Rev. N. R. M. Ehara and a fewothers, went to Nagasaki and took ship to Rangoon. Our friend was muchgrieved that we were leaving so soon and repeatedly said as the ship was leaving,"Come back, come back again". That was the last time we were to see him.For, though we had hoped some day to see him again, word came shortlyafter the Second World War that he had suddenly passed away. This wassometime after he had been appointed head of the Nichiren sect for the districtof Omura.Before we decided to translate the Vimuttimagga our host was keen ontranslating some of the smaller treatises of Nichiren Shonin which Victor did.Some of them were published in the Young East, the journal of the JapaneseBuddhist Associations. Tokyo.We reached Moulmein by the end of October, and found that U. Chit Swe,our ddyaka, had made all arrangements for our ordination in an aranndvdsa(forest residence), as requested by us, and had gone over to India on pilgrimage.His close friend, U. Chit Su, deputised for him. And on November 6, 1936,Victor and I received our higher ordination with the Venerable Pandava MahaThem of Taungwainggyi Shewgyin Kyaung Taik, Moulmein, as teacher. Herewe came to hear of the Venerable Narada Maha Thera, also known as JetavanaSayadaw. As he was then living in nearby Thaton, we visited him. A laypupil of his who had earlier instructed us in the practice of the Satipatthdnamethod of meditation, too, accompanied us to see the Sayadaw. His methodwas strictly in accordance with the Satipatthdna Suttas of the Digha and MajjhimaNikdyas and their commentaries. He said that the necessary instructionwas found in them and no new interpretation was necessary; the Buddhacalled it the sole way and that there was no other 'sole' way to the purificationof beings.On reaching Ceylon by way of India in the middle of 1937, Bhikkhu Somamet a companion of his childhood days who became so attached to him that.he would not leave him till his death — that distressing thing called asthma.It would have rendered many a strong man useless for work quite early. Butasthma or no asthma, he worked on and on up to the end with increasing vigour.Hearing that we were returning to Ceylon, a ddyaka, the late Mr. W. M. Barnesde Silva, had set apart a small house for our use in a quiet place at Belihuloya.We could not stay there long as the Venerable Soma fell ill and had to go toColombo for treatment and we stayed at the Vidyalankara Oriental College,Kelaniya, for a time.•xv