The Author
The author, Bhaddanta Vicittasārābhivaṁsa, or Mingun Sayādaw, as he is popularly known, was born in the village of Thaibyuwa on November 11, 1911. At the age of eight, he was sent to Sayādaw U Sobhita of Min-gyaung monastery, Myingyan, to start learning the rudiments of Buddhism. When he was ten, he was ordained as a novice by the same Sayādaw. Ten years later he went to Dhammanāda monastery, a secluded monastery in Mingun, Sagaing Township, for further learning. In 1930, he received higher ordination. His sponsors were Daw Dhammacārī, a prominent and learned nun of Mingun, who was the author of the Truth-Speaker (Sacca-vādī) sub-commentary sub-commentary, and Sir U Thwin, a wealthy philanthropist of Yangon. Since then, Daw Dhammacārī became his spiritual mother and Sir U Thwin the fatherly supporter for his religious life. In 1937, when the first Dhammanāda Sayādaw, who was the preceptor at his ordination, passed away, he had to take charge of the monastery.
Sayādaw had passed a series of religious examinations invariably with flying colours since the age of 13. To mention but a few, in his fourth year as a monastic, he passed the Dhammācariya Examination held by the Pariyatti Sāsanahita Association of Mandalay, which was a formidable examination for which only a few candidates dare to sit. The Examination is on the three great commentaries, which candidates normally try to finish one by one in three years. But the author passed all three commentaries in one year and acquired the rare and coveted title of Pariyatti Sāsanahita Dhammācariya Vaṭaṁsakā.
However, the first time he really made a name for himself as a man of vast learning was when he passed with distinctions the Tipiṭakadhara Examination, which was held for the first time and was also reputed to be the longest and most difficult Examination. As the name suggests, the candidate has to recite all Three Baskets (Tipiṭaka) that he had learned by heart. In addition, he has to pass the written papers on all the canonical texts and commentaries. It took him four years to sit the whole Examination that earned him, in 1953, the unique title of Tipiṭakadhara Dhammabhaṇḍāgārika, which means “Bearer of the Three Baskets and Keeper of the Dhamma-Treasure.” Sayādaw’s ability to recite what amounts to 16,000 pages of the Buddhist Canonical Texts has been recorded in the Guinness Book of Records in 1985.
As regards his work for the Sāsana, suffice it to say that even before that great achievement of being Tipiṭakadhara Dhammabhaṇḍāgārika, when the Sixth Buddhist Council was well under way, Sayādaw was assigned the task of editing the Canonical texts to be approved by the Council as its sessions. Besides this, when the Council was convened, Sayādaw acted as the Respondent (Vissajjaka) answering questions on all three portions of the Canon. The Questioner (Pucchaka) was the late Mahāsi Sayādaw (1904-1982). In answering the questions, the author took the combined role of Vens. Upāli and Ānanda who answered the questions on the Vinaya and the Dhamma respectively at the First Council presided over by Ven. Mahā Kassapa.
After the Council, the author devoted himself to literary pursuits. At the request of U Nu, then Prime Minister of Myanmar, he assiduously compiled the Great Chronicles of the Buddhas (Mahā-buddha-vaṁsa), being the Myanmar exposition on the lives of the Buddhas as related mainly in the Chronicles of the Buddha (Buddha-vaṁsa) of the Collection of the Supplementary Texts (Khuddaka-nikāya). This compilation, which resulted in six volumes in eight books, was commenced in 1956 and ended in 1969. The work, being the author’s magnum opus and a colossal contribution to Myanmar Buddhist literature, has been received with enthusiastic acclaim by members of the Saṅgha and the laity alike.
In the year 1980, an historic event in the history of the Saṅgha in Myanmar took place, which was the emergence of the State Saṅgha Mahā Nāyaka Committee, comprising representatives of all sects of the Buddhist Saṅgha in Myanmar. The author was unanimously elected permanent General Secretary of the Committee, which, as the Supreme Authority on Buddhist religious affairs of the country, is responsible for the growth, development and prosperity of the Buddha-sāsana.
In addition to his responsibilities as General Secretary of the State Saṅgha Mahā Nāyaka Committee, the author was devoted to the service of the Sāsana in three main areas, namely, providing support and facilities for the emergence of more Bearers of the Three Baskets (Tipiṭaka-dhara) for the perpetuation of the Sāsana; providing support and facilities for the dissemination of the Buddha’s teaching at home and abroad; and providing adequate medical facilities for members of the Saṅgha from all over Myanmar.
For the first task, the author founded the Tipiṭaka Nikāya Organization whose chief aim is to nurture young monastics so that they may one day become “Bearers of the Three Baskets and Keepers of the Dhamma-Treasure” like himself. There were a number of promising students under his care at Momeik Hill near Mingun.
[Since the author’s achievement, there have been twelve other holders of the same title up and till March 2023].
Soon after the formation of the State Saṅgha Mahā Nāyaka Committee, it firmly resolved to establish two separate universities of the Learning Dispensation (Pariyatti-sāsana) in Yangon and Mandalay where the Good Dhamma of the Perfectly Awakened One would be taught in a new system of education to produce elders who will spread the teaching in Myanmar and elsewhere. In pursuance of the second objective, the author’s untiring efforts have resulted in magnificent University buildings which have newly sprung up in both Yangon and Mandalay, where courses leading to the Degrees of Dhammācariya and Mahā Dhammācariya have been operating since 1986.
As to the third important project undertaken by the author for the welfare of the Saṅgha, the Jīvitadāna Sāsana Specialist Hospital for monastics was founded in Mandalay. It is a 100-bed specialist hospital with all the facilities and equipment for a modern health centre and was formally opened under the auspices of the author himself on August 18, 1990.
In recognition of his great learning and of his invaluable services to the Sāsana, as mentioned above, the Government conferred upon him the title of Agga-mahā-paṇḍita (The Supremely Learned One) in 1979 and the title of Abhidhaja Mahā-raṭṭha-guru (The Noble Banner and Great Preceptor of the State) in 1984.
Hail and hearty at the age of 79, the indefatigable Sayādaw keeps on striving continuously, day in and day out, towards the furtherance of his three main tasks, thus setting an exemplary model for emulation to all who desire to promote the welfare of beings by means of the Buddha-Dhamma.
th, 1993 at the age of 81. This was surely a great loss for the Sāsana, though his spirit lives on in his foundations and disciples.]