Webu

Sayadaw A sayadaw ( my, ဆရာတော်, ; , and alternatively spelled ''hsayadaw'', ''sayado'', ''sayāḍo'' or ''sayāḍaw'') is a Burmese Buddhist title used to reference the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. Some distinguished sayadaws wo ...

( my, ဝေဘူ ဆရာတော်, ; 17 February 1896 – 26 June 1977) was a

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' ...

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 ...

monk 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 dedica ...

, and

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 ...

master, best known for giving all importance to diligent practice, rather than scholastic achievement.

Early life

Ven. Webu Sayadaw was born to

Daw Daw or DAW may refer to: People and language * Daw (given name) * Daw (surname) * Daw, an honorific used in Burmese name#Honorifics, Burmese names * Dâw people, an indigenous people of Brazil * Dâw language, a language of Brazil * Davaoeño lang ...

Kyin Nu and U Lu Pe in 1896 in British Burma near Khin U township in modern-day

Sagaing Division Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lon ...

. He underwent the usual monk's training in the Pāli scriptures from the age of nine, when he became a

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 A profession is a field of work that has ...

, until he was twenty-seven. His

monastic name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...

was .

Monk and teacher

In 1923 (seven years after his ordination), he left the monastery and spent four years in solitude. He practiced (and later taught) the technique of

Ānāpānasati Ānāpānasati (Pali; Sanskrit ''ānāpānasmṛti''), meaning " mindfulness of breathing" ("sati" means mindfulness; "ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation), paying attention to the breath. It is the quintessential form of Buddhist ...

(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 develop

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 ...

(insight) into the essential characteristics of all experience:

anicca Impermanence, also known as the philosophical problem of change, is a philosophical concept addressed in a variety of religions and philosophies. In Eastern philosophy it is notable for its role in the Buddhist three marks of existence. It is ...

(impermanence), anatta (egolessness) and dukkha (unsatisfactoriness). According to Roger Bischof, on return from his four years of seclusion, he said, regarding

: "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 an

arahant In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated ...

(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 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 ...

in 1953 to visit the

International Meditation Centre The International Meditation Centre (IMC) was founded by Sayagyi U Ba Khin (the first Accountant General of the Union of Burma) to promote the practice of Theravāda Buddhist ''vipassanā'' meditation. The first International Meditation Centre was ...

at the invitation of

Sayagyi U Ba Khin Sayagyi U Ba Khin ( my, ဘခင်, ; 6 March 1899 – 19 January 1971) was the first Accountant General of the Union of Burma. He was the founder of the International Meditation Centre in Yangon, Myanmar and is principally known as a leading ...

, he included southern Burma in his travels, visiting there to teach and meditate from time to time. He also went on pilgrimage to India and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. 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.

References

Biography of Venerable Webu Sayadaw

Wheel Publications (BPS)

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Essential Practice Part I: Dhamma Discourses of the Venerable Webu Sayadaw (WH375/376)
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Essential Practice Part II: Dhamma Discourses of the Venerable Webu Sayadaw (WH384/385)
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Bodhi Leaf Publications (BPS)

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Dhamma Talk-1 (BL119)
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To Light A Fire (BL122)
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External links