Healing Through Insight Meditation | Page 3

it was gradually becoming smaller and by 1st May, 1982, she found that it was completely gone. There was no trace of any lump or hardness in her throat. She was completely cured.Strangely, she did not feel exceptionally happy, even though her objective had been reached after nearly three years of arduous practice. Towards the end of the practice her mind had become quite equanimous so that she was not very much concerned about the tumour any more. Unpleasant sensations did not bother her either as she could observe them as merely sensations.When she reported to Mahæsø Sayædaw about the disappearance of her tumour, he commented that it was because of her good practice. He remarked that she had great energy in meditation. She told Mahæsø Sayædaw that she would spend her life from now on in the service of the Buddha’s teaching. He advised that when she came out of intensive practice, she should continue to find time for meditation.During her practice, her faculties were sharp. Whenever she got up from sitting she could hear quite well without any hearing aid. However, after stopping intensive practice, her hearing defect returned and she had to use her hearing aid.may not be cured, but I will definitely have to put up with serious side-effects. If I meditate, I may or may not be cured, but the side-effect is nibbæna — the cessation of all suffering. If I don’t attain nibbæna, I will at least get nearer to it. Besides, I have absolute faith in insight meditation.”So began a long battle with the tumour. Although the growth subsided after an initial short retreat, it was to re-emerge some years later. For the latter part, she meditated intensively for nearly three years before the tumour completely disap-peared. This is the story of her faith, perseverance, determination and effort.However, before I start from the very beginning, I should perhaps explain how I got to know Sister Hla Myint. I first met her in June 1987 when I attended the Mahæsø Yeikthæ Meditation Centre in Rangoon. She was tall, of a dark complexion and strong. I was at the meditation centre until October 1988. She was also staying there, attending to the medical needs of monks, nuns and meditators. She had been staying and serving at the centre since her tumour was cured in May 1982, always on call to dispense medicine or to treat minor ailments.I did not learn her story until my second trip to Burma in July 1989. That was when I fell ill towards by Bhikkhu Aggacitta. There, it is said that when the mind has attained a certain level of concentration, the blood becomes purified and after a consistent period of practice, cures of diseases can take place.)During her two months of practice, she noted many painful sensations. She felt very hot sensations coming out from her mouth. The sensations even-tually disappeared and she felt comfortable. At the end of the two months she felt that the growth in her throat had become very small. It no longer irritated her, so she returned to work.However, the tumour emerged again some six years later in 1979, this time protruding outward so that a prominent lump of about one inch in diameter could be seen on her throat. Sister Hla Myint again resorted to meditation.Before I describe her second and longer battle with the tumour, let me record here another ailment she suffered from in 1976 and cured through medi-tation. It was a severe backache. She had X-rays taken of her back, but they did not show up anything wrong. The doctors suspected that the pain could be originating from the kidneys and wanted to do an injection kidney X-ray. Sister Hla Myint declined further investigation. She decided to meditate. She could not take leave from her work then. So every day after work she would meditate for four hours from 5.00 pm to 9.00 pm at the Mahæsø Yeikthæ. Although her back ached throughout the day, she did not take any painkillers, even when the pain became acute.She practised for about one month, going daily to the meditation centre after work. Then one night after returning home, she went to the toilet to urinate. As she tried to urinate, she felt an acute pain. After several minutes, a calcium-white milky fluid came out. Simultaneously with the discharge, her backache disappeared. She believed that the pain had come from her kidneys and that she was cured through meditation.In mid 1979, she was planning to resign her job to work abroad when her tumour started growing again. “I had wanted to work abroad so that I could send money back to support a meditation centre,” she said. However, the re-emergence of the tumour put paid to her plans. Instead she resigned and went