Ledi Sayadaw U Ñāṇadhaja | |
|---|---|
လယ်တီဆရာတော် ဦးဉာဏဓဇ | |
 The Venerable Ledi Sayadaw | |
| Title | Sayadaw |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Tet Khaung 1 December 1846 (13th waxing of Nadaw 1208ME) |
| Died | 27 June 1923(1923-06-27) (aged 76) |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Education | Agga Maha Pandita, D.Litt. (Hons.) |
| Occupation | Buddhist monk |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Theravada |
| Lineage | Ledi |
| Dharma names | Ñāṇadhaja ဉာဏဓဇ |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Ledi Monastery,Monywa |
Students
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Ledi Sayadaw U Ñaṇadhaja (Burmese:လယ်တီဆရာတော် ဦးဉာဏဓဇ,pronounced[lɛ̀dìsʰəjàdɔ̀ʔúɲàna̰dəza̰]; 1 December 1846 – 27 June 1923[1]) was an influentialTheravadaBuddhistmonk. He was recognised from a young age as being developed in both the theory (Abhidhamma) and practice of Buddhism and so was revered as being scholarly.[2] He wrote many books onDhamma 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 ofVipassanāmeditation, making it more available for renunciates and lay people alike.[1]
Sayadaw began his studies at age 20 inMandalay at Thanjaun.[1] While there he was considered to be a bright and ambitious young monk[1] but his work was scholarly; there is no evidence that Sayadaw engaged in a serious meditation practice during his years in Mandalay.[1] Leaving Mandalay after a great fire in 1883 caused the loss of his home and his written work to that time, Sayadaw returned to the village of his youth.[1]
Soon, Sayadaw founded a forest monastery in the "Ledi forest" and began practicing and teaching intensive meditation.[1] It was from this monastery that he would take his name, Ledi Sayadaw, meaning "respected teacher of the Ledi forest."[1] In 1885, Ledi Sayadaw wrote theNwa-myitta-sa (နွားမေတ္တာစာ), 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 extinction of buffalo and cattle and that the practice was ecologically unsound.[3] 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.[3]
In 1900, Sayadaw gave up control of the monastery and pursued more focused meditation in the mountain caves near the banks of theChindwin River.[1]
At other times he traveled throughout Burma.[1] Because of his knowledge ofpariyatti (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 andThe Manuals of Dhamma. At the same time he kept alive the pure tradition ofpatipatti (practice) by teaching the technique of Vipassana to a few people.
Ledi Sayadaw (လယ်တီ ဆရာတော်) was one of the foremost Burmese Buddhist figures of his age.[4] He was instrumental in reviving the traditional practice of Vipassana, making it more available for renunciates and lay people alike.[2] Many of his works are still available, including in English through theBuddhist Publication Society.
After Ledi Sayadaw died in 1923, influential teachers, such asU Ba Khin,Mother Sayamagyi,S. N. Goenka,Mahasi Sayadaw, and many others, spread the teachings to the West.[2]
