Achan Sobin S. Namto ( th, พระอาจารย์โสบิน ส. นามโท) is a Buddhist monk who has taught

Vipassana ''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the ...

meditation and

Buddhist psychology Buddhism includes an analysis of human psychology, emotion, cognition, behavior and motivation along with therapeutic practices. Buddhist psychology is embedded within the greater Buddhist ethical and philosophical system, and its psycholo ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

for over 50 years.

Biography

Born in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

on December 11, 1931, Sobin S. Namto became a novice monk in 1945 at Wat Mahathat in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, under Abbot Somdej Phra Budthacharn, and began his study of

Vipassanā ''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the ...

there. He was sent to

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

(now Yangon, Myanmar), for further study and then taught in Thailand. In 1960-62, he taught in

Luang Prabang Luang Phabang, ( Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ/ ຫຼວງພະບາງ) or ''Louangphabang'' (pronounced ), commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ (ຣ = silent r) ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. Returning to Thailand, he resumed teaching and founded the Vidhayakorn Institute in Southern Thailand, He was one of the monks selected to establish the first Thai temple in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and was appointed its first Abbot. He was also the founder-Abbot of a Vipassana temple in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. After many years of teaching in North America, he returned to teach at the wat in his home village Wangplado, in Borabue,

Maha Sarakham Sarakham is the capital city of Maha Sarakham Province in Thailand's northeastern (Isan) region. Sarakham, as it is known to its inhabitants, is in a rice-growing area on the southern Khorat plain, straddling the Chi River. Mahasarakham is 475 ...

province, North-East Thailand. Achan Sobin is the author of three books on Vipassanā meditation in English, as well as a book on Buddhist ordination.

Works

Wayfaring: A Manual for Insight Meditation
'. Buddhist Publication Society. Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1979. Reprinted 1984. ''Moment by Moment Mindfulness: A Pictorial Guide for Meditators''. Vipassana Dhura Meditation Societ

Fawnskin, California, 1985. ''Insight Meditation: Practical Steps to Ultimate Truth''. Vipassana Dhura Meditation Societ

Fawnskin, California, 1989. Reprinted January 2005. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobin S. Namto Theravada Buddhism writers Living people Thai Theravada Buddhist monks Theravada Buddhist spiritual teachers 1932 births People from Maha Sarakham province