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About the Author
The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, U Sobhana Mahathera, was
one of the most eminent meditation masters of modern
times and a leader in the contemporary resurgence of
Vipassana meditation. Born near Shwebo town in Burma
in 1904, he was ordained a novice monk at the age of
twelve and received full ordination as a bhikkhu at
the age of twenty. He quickly distinguished himself
as a scholar of the Buddhist scriptures and by his fifth
year after full ordination was himself teaching the
scriptures at a monastery in Moulmein.
In
the eighth year after ordination he left Moulmein seeking
a clear and effective method in the practice of meditation.
At Thaton he met the well-known meditation instructor,
the Venerable U Narada, also known as the Mingun Jetawun
Sayadaw. He then placed himself under the guidance of
the Sayadaw and underwent intensive training in Vipassana
meditation.
In
1941 he returned to his native village and introduced
the systematic practice of Vipassana meditation to the
area. Many people, monks as well as laymen, took up
the practice and greatly benefited by his careful instructions.
In
1949 the then Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu, and Sir
U Thwin, executive members of the Buddha Sasananuggaha
Association, invited Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw to come to
Rangoon to give training in meditation practice. He
acceded to their request and took up residence at the
Thathana Yeiktha Meditation Centre, where he continued
to conduct intensive courses in Vipassana meditation
until his death in 1982.
Under
his guidance thousands of people have been trained at
his Centre and many more have benefited from his clear-cut
approach to meditation practice through his writings
and the teachings of his disciples. More than a hundred
branch centers of the Thathana Yeiktha Centre have been
established in Burma and his method has spread widely
to other countries, East and West.
Ven.
Mahasi Sayadaw also holds Burma's highest scholastic
honor, the title of Agga Mahapandita, awarded to him
in 1952. During the Sixth Buddhist Council, held in
Rangoon from 1954 to 1956, he performed the duties of
Questioner (pucchaka), a role performed at the
First Buddhist Council by the Venerable Mahakassapa.
Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw was also a member of the executive
committee that was responsible, as the final authority,
for the codification of all the texts edited at the
Council.
Ven.
Mahasi Sayadaw is the author of numerous works on both
meditation and the Buddhist scriptures in his native
Burmese. His discourses on Buddhist suttas have been
translated into English and are published by the Buddha
Sasananuggaha Association (16 Hermitage Road, Kokine,
Rangoon, Burma.)
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