The Pa-Auk Forest Monastery, known in Burmese as the Pa-Auk Tawya (), is a

Theravāda ''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' ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of Pa-Auk in

Mawlamyine Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...

Mon State Mon State ( my, မွန်ပြည်နယ်, ; mnw, တွဵုရးဍုင်မန်, italics=no) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It lies between Kayin State to the east, the Andaman Sea to the west, Bago Region to the ...

. Situated in a

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fores ...

along the

Dawna Range The Dawna Range (; th, ทิวเขาถนนธงชัยตะวันตก, ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู), also known as Dawna Hills, is a mountain range in eastern Burma and northwestern Thailand. Its northern e ...

, it is the main monastery complex and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

centre of the Pa-Auk Society. The Most Ven.

Bhaddanta Āciṇṇa The Most Venerable Bhaddanta Āciṇṇa ( pi, label=none, script=mymr, ဘဒ္ဒန္တအာစိဏ္ဏ), more commonly referred to as the Pa-Auk Sayadaw (), is a Burma, Burmese Theravāda monk, meditation teacher and the Abbot (Buddhis ...

has been its

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

since 1981, succeeding the Ven. Phelhtaw Sayadaw Aggapañña at the latter's request. The monastery provides an ideal setting for the long-term practice of meditation. The number of residents varies seasonally from approximately 1,500 to 2,500 during festive periods. This includes more than 300 foreign

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

and lay practitioners, originating from over 20 countries. The Pa-Auk Society comprises over 40 branches and associate centres in Myanmar and internationally.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord missing, Myanmar Pa-Auk Society Dawna Range Burmese Theravada Buddhist temples and monasteries Buildings and structures in Mon State