“My grandmother is the main character of this story,” Zaw Win Htet informs us as he begins the interview. An educator and amateur historian, Zaw shares how the bedtime stories she told him every night animated his life’s journey of discovery. Combining academic study with oral history, lived experience and a family lore steeped in deep Buddhist faith, Zaw weaves together his own life, his local region, and some of the most revered Dhamma teachers of 20th century Burma.

The first of a two-part interview, this one covers such topics as the ancient origins of the Chaung Oo and A Myint villages, the intimate relationship between Zaw's family and the revered Maha Bodhi Ta Htaung Sayadaw, and his grandmother’s personal encounters with Ledi Sayadaw.

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