Ashin Khammai Dhammasāmi ( my, အရှင်ဓမ္မသာမိ, pi, , born 1964), also known as Oxford Sayadaw, is a prominent Burmese

Theravada Buddhist ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

monk. He founded Oxford Buddha Vihara in 2003, where he serves as the abbot. He also serves as the Buddhist chaplain to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, a member of the Oxford Council of Faith, a fellow of

Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies (OCBS) was founded in 2004 by Prof Richard Gombrich, Emeritus Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford. The centre is a recognised independent centre of the University of Oxford. The OCBS is in ...

, and a world council member for

Religions for Peace Religions for Peace is an international coalition of representatives from the world's religions dedicated to promoting peace founded in 1970. The International Secretariat headquarters is in New York City, with regional conferences in Europe, As ...

. In 2014, he founded Shan State Buddhist University in

Taunggyi Taunggyi ( ; Shan: ; Pa'O: ) is the capital and largest city of Shan State, Myanmar (Burma) and lies on the Thazi-Kyaingtong road at an elevation of , just north of Shwenyaung and Inle Lake within the Myelat region. Taunggyi is the fifth lar ...

. Dhammasāmi was born in 1964 in Naungpan village, Lecha Township,

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...

, Burma (now Myanmar). He was ordained as a

samanera A sāmaṇera (Pali); sa, श्रामणेर (), is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novice is a ''śrāmaṇerī'' or ''śrāmaṇerikā'' (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''sāmaṇerī''). Etymology The ''sāmaṇera'' is a ...

at the age of six, and was ordained as a Buddhist monk at the age of 19. In 2004, he obtained a PhD at Oxford University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhammasami 1964 births Theravada Buddhist monks Burmese Theravada Buddhists Burmese Buddhist monks Living people People from Shan State Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of the University of Kelaniya