U Pandita

In this Burmese name, U is an honorific.

Panditarama Sayadaw ပဏ္ဍိတာရာမ ဆရာတော်
Religion	Buddhism
School	Theravada
Lineage	Mahasi
Dharma names	Paṇḍitā ပဏ္ဍိတာ
Personal
Nationality	Burmese
Born	(1921-07-29) 29 July 1921 Insein, Pegu Province, British Burma
Senior posting
Based in	Yangon, Myanmar
Title	Sayadaw
Religious career
Teacher	Mahasi Sayadaw
Website	www.panditarama.net

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Sayadaw U Pandita (Burmese: ဆရာတော် ဦးပဏ္ဍိတာ, pronounced: [sʰəjàdɔ̀ ʔú pàɴdḭta̰];also Ovādacariya Sayādaw U Paṇḍitābhivaṃsa; born 29 July 1921) is one of the foremost living masters of Vipassana meditation. He trained in the Burmese Theravada Buddhist tradition. A successor to the late Mahāsi Sayādaw, he has taught many of the Western teachers and students of the Mahāsi style of Vipassana meditation. He is the abbot of Paṇḍitārāma Meditation Center in Yangon, Myanmar.

Brief biography

U Pandita was born in 1921 in Insein in greater Rangoon (now Yangon) during the British colonial rule. He became a novice at age twelve, and ordained at age twenty. After decades of study, he passed the rigorous series of government examinations in the Theravāda Buddhist texts, gaining the Dhammācariya (dhamma teacher) degree in 1952.

U Pandita began practicing Vipassana under the guidance of Mahāsi Sayādaw beginning in 1950. In 1955, he left his position as a teacher of scriptural studies to become a meditation teacher at the Mahāsi Meditation Center.

Soon after Mahasi Sayādaw died in 1982, U Pandita became the guiding teacher (Ovādacariya) of the Mahasi Meditation Center. In 1991, he left that position, founding Paṇḍitārāma Meditation Center in Yangon. There are now Paṇḍitārāma branch centers in Burma, Nepal, Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States.

U Pandita became well known in the West after conducting a retreat in the spring of 1984 at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts in the United States. Many of the senior Western meditation teachers in the Mahāsi tradition practiced with U Pandita at that and subsequent retreats. The talks he gave in 1984 at IMS were compiled as the book "In This Very Life."

As of 2005, he continues to lead retreats and give dharma talks, but rarely conducts interviews himself.

A complete biography by Thāmanay Kyaw is available at http://vmc128.8m.com/contents/index.html under the title "One Life's Journey".

Method and style of teaching

U Pandita is known for teaching a rigorous and precise method of self-examination. He teaches Satipaṭṭhāna or Vipassana meditation, emphasizing sīla or moral discipline as a requisite foundation. He is also an erudite scholar of the Pāli Tipiṭaka or Theravāda Buddhist canon.

Teachings

In This Very Life - The Liberation teachings of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2002) ISBN 0-86171-311-7, also available in full at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pesala/Pandita/

Timeless Wisdom - Teachings on the Satipatthana Vipassana Meditation Practice

available as a Vipassana Fellowship Digital Edition at http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/upandita/

On The Path to Freedom

available as a free e-book in PDF format at http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/path-free.pdf

available as a free e-book in PDF format at panditarama.net

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/onelifejourney.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/dhammadiscussion.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/greatgiftsandgivingwell.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/guideformeditation.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/inthisverylife.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/kalarnamata.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/ownersasana.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/practicalway.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/questionsnanswers.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/satipatan.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/satipatan2.pdf

http://www.panditarama.net/ebooks/thewaytopractise.pdf

Monasteries

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Foundations	Three Jewels Buddha Dharma Sangha Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Nirvana Middle Way

The Buddha	Tathāgata Birthday Four sights Physical characteristics Footprint Iconography in Laos and Thailand Films Miracles Family Suddhodāna (father) Māyā (mother) Mahapajapati Gotamī (aunt, adoptive mother) Yasodhara (wife) Rāhula (son) Ānanda (cousin) Devadatta (cousin) Places where the Buddha stayed Buddha in world religions

Key concepts	Dharma Three Marks of Existence Impermanence Dukkha Anatta Pratītyasamutpāda Skandha Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Saṅkhāra Kleshas Ignorance Craving Five hindrances Ten Fetters Indriya Enlightenment Parinirvana Tathātā Dharmas Two truths doctrine Śūnyatā Bodhicitta Bodhisattva Buddha-nature Mindstream

Cosmology	Ten spiritual realms Six realms Heaven Human realm Asura realm Hungry Ghost realm Animal realm Hell Three planes of existence

Practices	Refuge Buddhist devotion Puja Offerings Prostration Chanting Merit Paritta Dāna Nekkhamma Śīla Five Precepts Bodhisattva vow Prātimokṣa Threefold Training Śīla Samadhi Prajñā Brahmavihara Mettā Karuṇā Mudita Upekkha Pāramitā Bodhipakkhiyādhammā Seven Factors of Enlightenment Sati Dhamma vicaya Pīti Passaddhi Vīrya Four Right Exertions Iddhipada Five Strengths Faith Mindfulness Satipatthana Dhyāna Bhavana Satya Sacca Meditation Mantras Kammaṭṭhāna Recollection Smarana Anapanasati Samatha Vipassana movement Shikantaza Zazen Kōan Mandala Tonglen Tantra Tertön Terma

Nirvana	Bodhi Buddhahood Pratyekabuddha Bodhisattva Four stages of enlightenment Sotāpanna Sakadagami Anāgāmi Arhat

Monasticism	Bhikkhu Bhikkhuni Śrāmaṇera Śrāmaṇerī Anagarika Ajahn Sayadaw Zen master Rōshi Lama Rinpoche Geshe Tulku Householder Upāsaka and Upāsikā Śrāvaka The ten principal disciples Shaolin Monastery

Major figures	Gautama Buddha Kaundinya Assaji Sāriputta Mahamoggallāna Mulian Ānanda Mahākassapa Anuruddha Mahākaccana Nanda Subhuti Punna Upali Mahapajapati Gotamī Khema Uppalavanna Asita Channa Yasa Buddhaghosa Nagasena Bodhidharma Nagarjuna Asanga Vasubandhu Atiśa Padmasambhava Nichiren Ambedkar Songtsen Gampo Emperor Wen of Sui Dalai Lama Panchen Lama Karmapa Shamarpa Naropa Xuanzang

Texts	Tripiṭaka Mahayana sutras Pāli Canon Chinese Buddhist canon Tibetan Buddhist canon

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Miscellaneous	Lineage Maitreya Avalokiteśvara Guanyin Amitābha Brahmā Māra Dhammapada Vinaya Sutra Koliya Hinayana Sacred languages Pali Sanskrit Dharma talk Kalpa Abhijñā Ṛddhi Siddhi

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