Ledi Sayadaw

Who was Ledi Sayadaw?

Ledi Sayadaw U Ñanadhaja was an influential Theravada Buddhist monk. He was recognized from a young age as being developed in both the theory and practice of Buddhism and so was revered as being both scholarly and saintly. He wrote many books on Dhamma in Burmese and these were accessible even to a serious lay person, hence he was responsible for spreading Dhamma to all levels of society and reviving the traditional practice of vipassana meditation, making it more available for renunciates and lay people alike.

It is claimed by some that he learned the technique of Vipassana still being taught in the caves of the Sagaing Hills. However, Ledi himself is not know to have ever made such a claim, and there appears to be no reference anywhere to Ledi ever having learned meditation from any teacher. Thus Erik Braun concludes "What seems likely, in fact, given Ledi's textual focus, is that he formulated his own method out of the texts".

After developing his technique, he began to teach it to others. His vihara was in Ledi village near the town of Monywa. There he meditated most of the time and taught the other bhikkhus. Among Ledi's disciples, Theik-cha-daung Sayadaw and Mohnyin Sayadaw are well-known. Theik-cha-daung Sayadaw taught the layman Saya Thetgyi, who would go on to receive training from Ledi himself. Thetgyi's lineage continues to the present, the most prominent being Ba Khin and his disciple [Mother Sayamagyi Daw Mya Thwin]. Previously only the monks were taught vipassana.