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Webu Sayadaw | |
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ဝေဘူ ဆရာတော် | |
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| Title | Sayadaw |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1896-02-17)17 February 1896 Ingyinpin,British Burma |
| Died | 26 June 1977(1977-06-26) (aged 81) Ingyinpin,Sagaing Division,Myanmar |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Occupation | Buddhist monk |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Theravada |
| Monastic name | Kumāra |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Webu Monastery |
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WebuSayadaw (Burmese:ဝေဘူ ဆရာတော်,pronounced[wèbùsʰəjàdɔ̀]; 17 February 1896 – 26 June 1977) was aTheravadaBuddhistmonk, andvipassanā master, best known for giving all importance to diligent practice, rather than scholastic achievement.[1]
Ven. Webu Sayadaw was born toDaw Kyin Nu andU Lu Pe in 1896 inBritish Burma near Khin U township in modern-daySagaing Division. He underwent the usual monk's training in thePāli scriptures from the age of nine, when he became anovice, until he was twenty-seven. Hismonastic name wasKumārakassapa.
In 1923 (seven years after his ordination), he left the monastery and spent four years in solitude. He practiced (and later taught) the technique ofĀnāpānasati (awareness of the in-breath and out-breath). He said that by working with this practice to a very deep level of concentration, one is able to developVipassanā (insight) into the essential characteristics of all experience:anicca (impermanence),anatta (egolessness) anddukkha (unsatisfactoriness). According to Roger Bischof, on return from his four years of seclusion, he said, regardingĀnāpānasati: "This is a shortcut to Nibbana, anyone can use it. It stands up to investigation and is in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha as conserved in the scriptures. It is the straight path to Nibbana." Ven. Webu Sayadaw was famous for his unflagging diligence in meditation and for spending most of his time in solitude. He was reputed to be anarahant (fully enlightened one), and it is said that he never slept.
For the first fifty-seven years of his life, Ven. Webu Sayadaw stayed in upper Burma, dividing his time among three meditation centres in a small area. After his first trip toRangoon in 1953 to visit theInternational Meditation Centre at the invitation ofSayagyi U Ba Khin, he included southern Burma in his travels, visiting there to teach and meditate from time to time. He also went on pilgrimage to India andSri Lanka. Ven. Webu Sayadaw spent his final days at the meditation centre in the village where he was born. He died on 26 June 1977, at the age of eighty-one.
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