Who is Ahba?

The cultivation of calm or tranquility and the development of concentration
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Eko Care
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Who is Ahba?

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Do you know about Ahba? If you know more, please be kind enough to leave a comment.

Short Message from Ahba About Meditation
In this video Ahba talks briefly about meditation. He emphasizes the importance of daily practice, limiting yourself to one meditation system and keeping the intention focused on the Buddha, in order to slowly develop concentration.

The story of Mukyawann Sayadaw
Michal Snasel shares the photo and following information. More details about the life of this extraordinary monk can be found here.

Ahba ('Ahba' is Burmese for father) came out of the woods near Taunggyi in Myanmar sometime in the 1950s as a monk. Ahba speaks little about his own past. What we know is that during his participation in the sixth Buddhist council meeting in Myanmar in 1954, he enjoyed considerable respect for his deep experience in samatha meditation (concentration meditation).

When the council was speculating about meditation on buddho (the qualities of the Buddha), he took the floor and it became very quiet in the hall, because no one else could speak about it at the same level of experience. In 1961 he stayed in Mukyawann and soon became known in that region as the Mukyawann Sayadaw (Sayadaw is an honorable Burmese title for a high monk) because of his knowledge of all aspects of the Dhamma . In 1969, as a prominent meditation and Abhidhamma teacher, he became abbot of a large monastery in Yangon where thousands of followers managed to find him, including the first Dutch disciples Jaap and Maria Guijt.

The followers also included senior government officials and, through his influence, he increasingly threatened the (military) junta. One night in 1981, he had suddenly disappeared. Not a day early as it soon turned out, because the next morning the army knocked on his monastery doors to take him into custody. No one knew where he had gone until Herman found him in the mountains of northern Thailand in 1983, where he lived in a small, originally Burmese, wooden monastery without water or electricity.

His monastery has since grown into one of the largest monasteries in Northern Thailand where he is known as Luang Por Opart ('Luang Por' means Father). And once again thousands of visitors come to his monastery every year, including many disciples from Myanmar who could not find a teacher in their own country to match Ahba. As abbot, he heads about 25 monks and 200 novices.

The monastery is primarily a Buddhist school where Pali , the language in which the Buddha's teachings are written, is studied. Ahba's school has been in the top three of the best Pali schools in Thailand for years, and they admire how he built it from scratch. Because this performance is so special, Ahba has now received a royal award and his monastery has been appointed royal monastery. In addition, Ahba has received the unique permission to be an abbot of both monks from the Mahā Nikāya and the Dhammayuttika Nikaya movement, in other words, his monastery has now become an official meditation monastery in addition to a school.

Ahba teaches samatha meditation on 'buddho' to a small group of people, mainly from Myanmar and the Netherlands. He has explained that when it comes to understanding the workings of your own consciousness, the main obstacle is the lack or absence of samādhi (concentration).

People want too fast. They want insights without first developing a foundation of morality and concentration with which wisdom can arise naturally and automatically. Ahba emphasizes a patient practice , slowly but surely, step by step, without any desire. Then it goes easily and automatically.
Meditation Teachers
Ahba (‘Ahba’ is Burmese for father) came walking out of the forest near Taunggyi in Myanmar as a monk sometime in the 1950s. Ahba speaks little about his own past.

What we know is that he already enjoyed considerable respect during his participation in the sixth buddhist council meeting in Myanmar in 1954 because of his deep experience with samatha meditation (concentration meditation).

When there was speculation about meditation on buddho (the qualities of the Buddha) during the council meeting, he took the floor and it became very quiet in the room because there was no one else with the same level of experience.

In 1961 he stayed in Mukyawann and was soon known as the Mukyawann Sayadaw (Sayadaw is an honourable Burmese title for a high monk) because of his knowledge of all aspects of the Dhamma.

In 1969, as a prominent meditation and Abhidhamma teacher, he became abbot of a large monastery in Yangon with thousands of followers, including the first Dutch disciples Jaap and Maria Guijt (see Pictures of Ahba in Myanmar Around 1978 to get an impression).

Among the followers were some high government officials and his influence became an increasing threat to the (military) junta.

One night in 1981 he suddenly disappeared. Not a day too early as it soon turned out. The next morning the army knocked on the monastery doors to take him into custody.

Nobody knew where he had gone, until Herman found him in 1983 in the mountains of Northern Thailand, where he lived in a small wooden monastery without water or electricity.

In the present day his monastery has grown into one of the largest monasteries in Northern Thailand where he is known as Luang Por Opart (“Luang Por” means Honourable Father).

Once again, thousands of visitors find their way to his monastery every year, including many disciples from Myanmar who couldn’t find a teacher in their own country to match Ahba.

As an abbot he heads about 25 monks and 200 novices. The monastery is mainly a Buddhist school where Pali, the language in which the teachings of the Buddha are written, is studied.

Ahba’s school has been in the top three best Pali schools in Thailand for many years, and the monastic and lay community is in awe of how he has built that up from scratch.

Because this achievement is so special, Ahba has been awarded a royal decoration and his monastery has been named a royal monastery.

In addition, Ahba has received the unique permission to be abbot of both monks from the Mahā Nikāya and the Dhammayuttika Nikaya movement, in other words, his monastery has become an official meditation monastery as well as a Pali school.

Ahba teaches a small group of people, mainly from Myanmar and the Netherlands, in samatha meditation on buddho.

He explained that when it comes to gaining insight into the workings of your own mind, the main obstacle is the lack or absence of samādhi (concentration).

People want to progress far to quickly. They want insights without first developing a foundation of morality and concentration out of which wisdom can arise naturally.

Ahba emphasizes a patient meditation practice, slowly but surely, step by step, without desire. Then you will progress easily.
A CLEAN & CLEAR MIND Samatha Meditation: Foundation for Insight
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