ABOUT

Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivaṃsa

Biography of Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivaṃsa

Ashin Nandamāla was born on the 22nd March 1940 in the village of Nyaung-bin in Sint-ku, Mandalay, the Union of Myanmar. His parents were U San Hla and Daw Khin, who were pious Buddhists.

He was ordained a novice when he was ten years old. His preceptor was Sayadaw U Canda, well-known as the “Sankin Sayadaw”, the presiding monk of the prestigious Vipassanā monastery.

Ashin Nandamāla started to learn Pāḷi and the basic Buddhist scriptures under the tutelage of his own elder brother, Sayadaw U Nārada. At the age of 16, he already passed the Dhammācariya (Dhamma teacher) examination and, when he was 21, the Abhivaṃsa examination. He also studied in Sri Lanka and India. He wrote his PhD-thesis about Jainism in Buddhist literature.

In 1995 Ashin Nandamāla was conferred the title of Senior Lecturer, ‘Aggamahā-gantha-vācaka-paṇḍita’ by the Government of Myanmar and in 2000 the title ‘Aggamahāpaṇḍita’.

He is Rector of the Sītagū International Buddhist Academy (SIBA) in Sagaing. After being a Visiting Professor at the International Theravāda Buddhist Missionary University (ITBMU) in Yangon since its opening in 1998, he was appointed Rector of this university too, in 2005.

In 2003, he founded “Dhammavijjālaya”, Centre for Buddhist Studies (CBS), in Sagaing, which is connected to the Mahā Subodhayon monastery. In 2013, he established the Institute of Dhamma Education (IDE), in Pyin Oo Lwin. These institutes serve both Myanmar people and foreigners for further studies and practice.

Ashin Nandamālā serves as a religious worker to promote and propagate the Buddha’s teachings. In Myanmar, he has given many Dhamma talks to many audiences. In addition, Sayadaw traveled the world to teach Dhamma. Since 2003, until recently, he gave yearly Abhidhamma courses in Europe.

Sayadaw teaches Dhamma in a very individual, lively and practical way with many examples from daily life. His talks are filled with citations from the texts and commentaries of Suttanta and Abhidhamma. Sayadaw teaches with a lot of humor and loving kindness (mettā).

Sayadaw Dr U Nandamālābhivaṃsa is the author of many books written in Myanmar language, Pāḷi and English.