Bo Bo Aung
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Bo Bo Aung (Burmese: ဘိုးဘိုးအောင်) was a prominent Burmese weizza or wizard (Burmese: ဝိဇ္ဇာ, Pali: vijjādhara) from Sagaing, who lived in Myanmar under the Konbaung dynasty (18th century). He was also called Maung Aung, or "Master Victory".[1] He supposedly lived to be around 200 years of age. He is credited with creating the modern weizza movement when he discovered manuscripts revealing the secrets of weizzas and mastered the art of qi.[2][3] "Bo Bo" is a common Burmese honorific which translates to "grandpa".[4]
Childhood
Aung's exact birthdate is unknown, though he was a classmate of the future King Bodawpaya, who was born in the Burmese era 1106, as well as of the future Taungpila Sayadaw.[5] Aung's name at birth was Pho Aung. His father was Pho Myat San and his mother was Mae Nyein Yar. Due to his parents' lack of financial resources, Aung was malnourished as a child. Consequently, he suffered from skin disease and was taunted by his peers, who called him "Maung Wei". "Maung" means "teenage boy" and "wei" being a Burmese word for scabies.[6]
The Sayadaw's dream
One day, while the Kye Ni Sayadaw was having a nap, he dreamed that he was woken by a holy man dressed in white. In the dream, the man in white led him to the lake at the back of the monastery, gestured to a specific area of the lake, then disappeared. When the Sayadaw awoke, he felt as if the dream were real. Days later, he was thinking about his dream and went out to the lake to look again at the spot the white robed man pointed to. When he reached the edge of the lake he felt something in the water under a tree. It was a copper manuscript. He washed it off and took it to the monastery.[6]
The dirty pillow
Not long after this, the Sayadaw died. He was cremated and his remains were entombed and his three main disciples began to divide his possessions. The new Sayadaw jokingly threw an old pillow to Aung, and told him that that was his inheritance from the former Sayadaw. Out of respect, Aung accepted it. He used it to balance his elbow while he wrote on the floor. The pillow eventually began to tear and he saw that there was something hard inside the pillow. Later, he overheard some wise men discussing the lost copper manuscript of the former Sayardaw.[6]
