Maha Ghosananda (full title Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda - km, សម្តេចព្រះមហាឃោសានន្ទ; pi, Mahāghosānanda; May 23, 1913 – March 12, 2007) was a highly revered Cambodian

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monkAsiaweek August 31, 1999
at

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in the

Theravada ''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' ...

tradition, who served as the Patriarch (Sangharaja) of Cambodian Buddhism during the Khmer Rouge period and post-communist transition period of Cambodian history. His

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

monastic name, 'Mahā Ghosānanda', means "great joyful proclaimer".Somdech Preah Maha Ghosananda - The Buddha of the Battlefields
/ref> He was well known in Cambodia for his annual peace marches.

Early life and education

He was born Va Yav in Takéo Province,

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

in 1913 to a farming family in the Mekong Delta plains.The Biography of Preah Samdech Maha Ghosananda (1913-2007)
From an early age he showed great interest in religion, and began to serve as a temple boy at the age of eight years old. He was greatly impressed by the monks with whom he served, and at age fourteen received

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

ordination. He studied Pali scriptures in the local temple high school, then went on to complete his higher education at the monastic universities in Phnom Penh and

Battambang Battambang ( km, បាត់ដំបង, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang Province and the third largest city in Cambodia. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is the leading rice-producing province of the coun ...

. He was sponsored by

Chuon Nath Chuon Nath ( km, ជួន ណាត; 11 March 1883 – 25 September 1969) was a Cambodian monk and the late ''Gana Mahanikaya'' Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia. Amongst his achievements is his effort in conservation of the Khmer language in the ...

to travel to India to pursue a doctorate in Pali at Nalanda University in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

, at that time an institute known under the name of Nava Nālandā Mahāvihāra.Somdet Phra Maha Ghosananda (1929-)
/ref> While in India, he studied under the Japanese monk

Nichidatsu Fujii was a Japanese Buddhist monk, and founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji order of Buddhism. He is best known for his decision in 1947 to begin constructing Peace Pagodas in many locations around the world as shrines to world peace. Fujii was born ...

, founder of the Japanese peace-oriented sect Nipponzan Myohoji and a former associate of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. In 1965, Maha Ghosananda left India to study

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 calm ...

under Ajahn Dhammadaro, a famous meditation master of the

Thai Forest Tradition The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The Thai Forest Tradition sta ...

. He remained with Ajahn Dhammadaro at his forest hermitage in southern Thailand, Wat Chai Na (located near

Nakhon Si Thammarat Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat pro ...

),for eleven years.

Khmer Rouge era

In 1978, Maha Ghosananda traveled to the refugee camps near the Thai-Cambodian border to begin ministering to the first refugees who filtered across the border. Maha Ghosananda's appearance in the refugee camps raised a stir among the refugees who had not seen a monk for years. The Cambodian refugees openly wept as Maha Ghosananda chanted the ancient and familiar sutras that had been the bedrock of traditional Cambodian culture before Year Zero. He distributed photocopied Buddhist scriptures among the refugees, as protection and inspiration for the battered people. When the Pol Pot regime collapsed in 1979, Maha Ghosananda was one of only 3,000 Cambodian Buddhist monks alive, out of more than 60,000 at the start of the reign of terror in 1976. Throughout 1979 Maha Ghosananda established ''wats'' in refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border, ordaining monks against the orders of the Thai military. He also founded more than 30 temples for Cambodian refugees living in Canada and the United States. His entire family, and countless friends and disciples, were massacred by the Khmer Rouge.

Restoration

Maha Ghosananda served as a key figure in post-Communist Cambodia, helping to restore the nation state and to revive Cambodian Buddhism. In 1980, he served as a representative of the Cambodian nation-in-exile to the United Nations. In 1980 Maha Ghosananda and the Reverend Peter L. Pond formed the Inter-Religious Mission for Peace in Cambodia. Together they located hundreds of surviving monks and nuns in Cambodia so that they could renew their vows and take leadership roles in Cambodian temples around the world. In June 1980 the

Thai Government The Government of Thailand, or formally the Royal Thai Government ( Abrv: RTG; th, รัฐบาลไทย, , ), is the unitary government of the Kingdom of Thailand. The country emerged as a modern nation state after the foundation of t ...

decided to forcibly repatriate thousands of refugees. Pond and the Preah Maha Ghosananda organized a protest against the forced repatriation of refugees from

Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp (also referred to as Sa Kaeo I or Ban Kaeng) was the first organized refugee relief camp established on the Thai-Cambodian border. It was built by the Royal Thai Government with support from international relief agencies includ ...

. In 1988, Maha Ghosananda was elected as ''sanghreach'' (

sangharaja Sangharaja (Pāli: ''sangha'' religious community + ''raja'' ruler, king, or prince) is the title given in many Theravada Buddhist countries to a senior monk who is the titular head either of a monastic fraternity ( nikaya), or of the ''Sangha'' t ...

) by a small gathering of exiled monks in Paris. He agreed to accept the position provisionally, until a complete, independent monastic hierarchy could be established in Cambodia. At the time, Venerable

Tep Vong Samdech Preah Agga Maha Sangharajadhipati Tep Vong ( km, សម្ដេចព្រះអគ្គមហាសង្ឃរាជាធិបតី ទេព វង្ស; born 12 January 1932) is a Cambodian Buddhist monk, currently the Great S ...

was the titular head of a unified Cambodian

sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

, having been appointed to the position in 1981 by the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea. In 1989, he returned full-time to Cambodia, taking up residence at Wat Sampeou Meas in Phnom Penh.

Dhammayietra

In 1992, during the first year of the United Nations sponsored peace agreement, Maha Ghosananda led the first nationwide Dhammayietra, a peace march or pilgrimage, across Cambodia in an effort to begin restoring the hope and spirit of the Cambodian people. The 16-day, 125-mile peace walk passed through territory still littered with landmines from the Khmer Rouge. The initial walk consisted of approximately 350 monks, nuns, and lay Buddhists who escorted around 100 Cambodians from refugee camps to their villages in Cambodia. This was carried out without official permission from Thai or Cambodian officials to cross the border. By the time the march reached Phnom Penh it had grown in size significantly, and drew coverage from the international media. In recognition of his contributions, King Sihanouk bestowed on Maha Goshananda the title ''samdech song santipeap'' ('Leader of Religion and Peace') later that year. The Dhammayietra became an annual walk which Maha Ghosananda led a number of times, despite the danger during the Khmer Rouge years. In 1995, the Dhammayietra consisted of almost 500 Cambodian Buddhist monks, nuns and precept-taking lay people. They were joined by The Interfaith Pilgrimage for Peace and Life. Together the two groups crossed Cambodia from the Thai border all the way to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, spending several days walking through Khmer Rouge-controlled territory along the way. For his teachings on non-violence and establishing Buddhist temples throughout the world that root his exiled people in their religion of peace, he was presented with the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award. He had been called "the

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

of Cambodia." Maha Ghosananda was nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

by the chair of the U.S.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...

Claiborne Pell Claiborne de Borda Pell (November 22, 1918 – January 1, 2009) was an American politician and writer who served as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island for six terms from 1961 to 1997. He was the sponsor of the 1972 bill that reformed the Basic ...

. He was again nominated in 1995, 1996, and 1997 for his work in bringing peace to Cambodia. He also acted as an adviser to the

Buddhist Peace Fellowship The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) is a nonsectarian international network of engaged Buddhists participating in various forms of non-violent social activism and environmentalism. The non-profit BPF is an affiliate of the international Fellowship ...

and resided part-time in the Palelai Buddhist Temple and Monastery in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, United States. He died in Northampton, Massachusetts on March 12, 2007.

Awards and recognitions

* 1992 - The Rafto Prize * 1998 -

Niwano Peace Prize The Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those devoting themselves to interreligious co-operation in the cause of peace and to make their achievements known. Its foundation hopes that the prize will further promote interreligious co-o ...

* 1998 - Courage of Conscience AwardThe Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List

Books

*Maha Ghosananda ''Step By Step''

Footnotes

References

External links

* ttp://www.fsnewsletter.amaravati.org/html/31/nobel.htm Cambodia's Nobel Nominee on peace and suffering
The Serene Life - 20 minute interview with Maha Ghosananda

Maha Ghosananda's biography in English Language

Maha Ghosananda's biography in Khmer Language

Maha Ghosananda's biography in German Language

Maha Ghosananda's Facebook

Maha Ghosananda's Dharma Talks

Interview of Maha Ghosananda by Ram Dass
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosananda, Preah Maha Theravada Buddhist monks Engaged Buddhists Humanitarians 1913 births 2007 deaths Cambodian Buddhist monks Cambodian Theravada Buddhists People from Takéo province 20th-century Buddhist monks