Ledi Sayadaw
Encyclopedia
The Venerable Ledi Sayadaw
U Ñanadhaja was an influential Theravada
Buddhist
monk
. He was recognized from a young age as being developed in both the theory and practice of Buddhism and so was revered as being both scholarly and saintly. He wrote many books on Dhamma in Burmese and these were accessible even to a serious lay person, hence he was responsible for spreading Dhamma to all levels of society and reviving the traditional practice of vipassana
meditation
, making it more available for renunciates and lay people alike.
He learned the technique of Vipassana still being taught in the caves of the Sagaing Hills; and after mastering the technique, he began to teach it to others. His vihara
(monastery) was in Ledi village near the town of Monywa
. There he meditated most of the time and taught the other bhikkhus. His leading disciple was a farmer Thet Gyi and so began a chain of lay teachers that continues to the present, the most prominent being Ba Khin and his disciple S. N. Goenka
. Previously only the monks were taught vipassana.
In 1885, he wrote the Nwa-myitta-sa , a poetic prose letter that argued that Burmese Buddhists should not kill cattle and eat beef, since Burmese farmers depended on them as beasts of burden to maintain their livelihoods, that the marketing of beef for human consumption threatened the extiction of buffalo and cattle and that the practice and was ecologically unsound. He subsequently led successful beef boycotts during the colonial era, despite the presence of beef eating among locals and influenced a generation of Burmese nationalists in adopting this stance.
At other times he travelled throughout Myanmar. Because of his knowledge of pariyatti (theory), he was able to write many books on Dhamma in both Pali and Burmese languages such as, Paramattha-dipani (Manual of Ultimate Truth), Nirutta-dipani, a book on Pali grammar and The Manuals of Dhamma. At the same time he kept alive the pure tradition of patipatti (practice) by teaching the technique of Vipassana to a few people.
Ledi Sayadaw was perhaps the most outstanding Buddhist figure of his age. He was instrumental in reviving the traditional practice of Vipassana, making it more available for renunciates and lay people alike. In addition to this most important aspect of his teaching, his concise, clear and extensive scholarly work served to clarify the experiential aspect of Dhamma. Many of his works are still available, including in English through the Buddhist Publication Society
.
Sayadaw
A sayadaw is the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. Some distinguished sayadaws would often referred to as a sayadawgyi * U Vicittasarabhivamsa* Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa* Mingun Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa...
U Ñanadhaja was an influential Theravada
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
monk
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
. He was recognized from a young age as being developed in both the theory and practice of Buddhism and so was revered as being both scholarly and saintly. He wrote many books on Dhamma in Burmese and these were accessible even to a serious lay person, hence he was responsible for spreading Dhamma to all levels of society and reviving the traditional practice of vipassana
Vipassana
Vipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, making it more available for renunciates and lay people alike.
He learned the technique of Vipassana still being taught in the caves of the Sagaing Hills; and after mastering the technique, he began to teach it to others. His vihara
Vihara
Vihara is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a Buddhist monastery. It originally meant "a secluded place in which to walk", and referred to "dwellings" or "refuges" used by wandering monks during the rainy season....
(monastery) was in Ledi village near the town of Monywa
Monywa
Monywa is a city in Sagaing Division, Myanmar, located 136 km northwest of Mandalay on the eastern bank of the River Chindwin.-Transport:...
. There he meditated most of the time and taught the other bhikkhus. His leading disciple was a farmer Thet Gyi and so began a chain of lay teachers that continues to the present, the most prominent being Ba Khin and his disciple S. N. Goenka
S. N. Goenka
Satya Narayan Goenka is a leading lay teacher of Vipassanā meditation and a student of U Ba Khin. He has trained more than 800 assistant teachers and each year more than 100,000 people attend Goenka sponsored Vipassana courses....
. Previously only the monks were taught vipassana.
In 1885, he wrote the Nwa-myitta-sa , a poetic prose letter that argued that Burmese Buddhists should not kill cattle and eat beef, since Burmese farmers depended on them as beasts of burden to maintain their livelihoods, that the marketing of beef for human consumption threatened the extiction of buffalo and cattle and that the practice and was ecologically unsound. He subsequently led successful beef boycotts during the colonial era, despite the presence of beef eating among locals and influenced a generation of Burmese nationalists in adopting this stance.
At other times he travelled throughout Myanmar. Because of his knowledge of pariyatti (theory), he was able to write many books on Dhamma in both Pali and Burmese languages such as, Paramattha-dipani (Manual of Ultimate Truth), Nirutta-dipani, a book on Pali grammar and The Manuals of Dhamma. At the same time he kept alive the pure tradition of patipatti (practice) by teaching the technique of Vipassana to a few people.
Ledi Sayadaw was perhaps the most outstanding Buddhist figure of his age. He was instrumental in reviving the traditional practice of Vipassana, making it more available for renunciates and lay people alike. In addition to this most important aspect of his teaching, his concise, clear and extensive scholarly work served to clarify the experiential aspect of Dhamma. Many of his works are still available, including in English through the Buddhist Publication Society
Buddhist Publication Society
The Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...
.
Writings
- Manual of Insight (Vipassanā Dīpanī)
- Manual of Conditional Relations (Patthanuddesa Dīpanī)
- Manual of Right Views (Vipassanā Dīpanī)
- Manual of the Four Noble Truths (Catusacca Dīpanī)
- Manual of the Factors of Enlightenment (Bodhipakkhiya Dīpanī)
- Manual of the Constituents of the Path (Magganga Dīpanī)
- Five Kinds of Light (Alin Kyan)
- 5 Questions on Kamma; Anattanisamsā
External links
- On-line Collection of Writings of Ven. Ledi Sayadaw
- A longer bio of Ledi Sayadaw